FORT BRAGG — Steven Young”s 22-yard field goal with a little over a minute remaining capped a 17-14 come-from-behind victory by the Fort Bragg Timberwolves over the Clear Lake Cardinals in North Central League I interlock varsity football action on Friday night at Timberwolf Stadium in Fort Bragg.
It was another frustrating night for the Cardinals (1-3), who have dropped three straight since beating Pierce in their season opener. After losing back-to-back shutouts to Willits and Middletown, Clear Lake established a 14-0 lead against Fort Bragg and was on the verge of upping that lead in the third quarter.
Clear Lake jumped ahead 7-0 in the second on quarterback Jameson Holder”s 1-yard sneak. Holder”s 30-yard pass to Michael Kroppmann in the third quarter pushed the Cardinals” advantage to 14-0 as Nathan Velez kicked his second extra point of the game.
On the ensuing kickoff, Fort Bragg fumbled and Holder recovered the ball at the Timberwolf 10-yard line, but the Cardinals were unable to take advantage. After the drive stalled, Velez attempted a short field goal that bounced off the right upright.
“That was a 14-point swing there,” Clear Lake coach Glenn Meyer said of the Cardinals inability to add to their 14-point lead after recovering a fumble at the Fort Bragg 10. “Even if we settle for the field goal they (Timberwolves) have to score three times to come back on us and that”s tough to do.”
Fort Bragg answered with a long scoring drive capped by Chris Dahl”s 1-yard run.
Dahl scored again, this time on a 44-yard run, in the fourth quarter to get the Timberwolves even at 14-14.
Young”s chip-shot field goal with 1:24 left snapped the tie.
Clear Lake”s defense bottled up the Timberwolves (4-0) in the first half, limiting them to 30 total yards, but Dahl dominated the second half.
“They found something that worked and we couldn”t stop him,” Meyer said.
