LAKEPORT — Running back Kevin Burt rushed for 292 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring runs of 24, 49 and 69 yards, and the Clear Lake Cardinals zipped past the Pierce Bears 45-14 in a non-league varsity football game on Friday night at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
“It feels great, no complaints there,” Schad Schweitzer said about the easy win in his head coaching debut at Clear Lake.
Actually, Schweitzer did have one complaint — 140 yards in penalties by the Cardinals.
“There are some things we definitely need to address and we will,” Schweitzer said.
Clear Lake took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 17-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Richardson to tight end Chris Leloup and never looked back against the Bears (1-2).
Pierce got as close as 19-14 in the second quarter but a 65-yard pass from Richardson to Leloup made it 25-14 at halftime.
The Cardinals then put the game away with 20 third-quarter points — on a Burt 69-yard run, a Ryan Lunas 68-yard run, and a Burt 24-yard run.
Clear Lake rushed for 431 yards as a team — Lunas had 107 of those — and had 578 yards of total offense.
“The line did a great job, they did some amazing things that let Burt do his magic like he does,” Schweitzer said of his senior running back.
Richardson also ran for a touchdown in addition to the two he threw to Leloup. He was 3-for-8 on the night for 147 yards.
Richardson also intercepted two passes to spark the defense, which was led by Lunas” eight tackles.
Clear Lake hosts Fort Bragg (1-0) next Friday.
