PREP FOOTBALL: Lions fall to Unity Christian

ORANGE CITY, Iowa — In a low-scoring high school football game on Friday night, Central Lyon/George-Little Rock earned a one-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter against Unity Christian and held it almost until the end.

However, Unity Christian scored with 1:05 left on the clock to earn a 19-14 victory in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The Lions were the first team on the board after a first-quarter touchdown run of seven yards by Terron Geerdes (seven rushes for 28 yards). Geerdes also converted the extra point on the play.

The touchdown was set up by a 48-yard pass from Ross Ackerman (3-for-11 passing for 73 yards) to Eric Schilling.

Unity Christian then leveled the score in the second quarter and scored again in the third quarter to take a 13-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

CL/G-LR wasted no time scoring in the fourth quarter, with Josh Hunt (30 rushes for 186 yards) charging to paydirt from 10 yards out with 11:54 still showing on the clock to tie the score at 13-13. A successful extra-point kick by Geerdes gave the Lions a one-point advantage.

Unity Christian was able to gain ground in the dying minutes of the game thanks to some big quarterback draw plays by Robert Vander Veen. UC eventually found the end zone with just more than a minute left on the clock to give the game its final score.

Luke Grooters led the CL/G-LR defense with five solo tackles, five assisted tackles and a sack. Trenton Enger had three solo tackles, four assisted tackles and a fumble recovery, and Schilling also had a fumble recovery.

The Lions (6-3) will likely host Battle Creek-Ida Grove/Odebolt-Arthur in the opening round of the playoffs, which will be played on Wednesday starting at 7 p.m.

CL/G-LR 7 0 0 7 — 14

Unity Christian 0 7 6 6 — 19

Tags: central lyon/george-little rock, central lyon, george-little rock, sports, prep, football