Clarahan, defense lead Sigourney-Keota football to victory

SIGOURNEY — Sigourney-Keota's Colten Clarahan did a bit of everything on Friday night as the 5th-ranked Cobras defeated No. 10 Columbus Catholic, 18-7, to move one win away from a repeat trip to the UNI Dome.

Clarahan threw for a touchdown, ran for one and blasted two long field goals to aid his team to victory in Class 1A’s round of 16.

“The focus is going to be there,” said Sigourney-Keota coach Jared Jensen. “These guys are on a mission, and there's no stopping them.”

The Cobras scored on their first drive of the game. After forcing a Columbus punt on the Sailors’ first drive, Sigourney-Keota drove down to open the scoring.

After converting a fourth down on the ground, the Cobras stunned the Sailor defense with their first pass of the night.

Cade Streigle sprang loose off the line and wound up wide-open past the Columbus secondary. Clarahan hit him with a 22-yard touchdown pass, and the Cobras scored on their only completed pass of the game for Streigle’s first score of the season.

“I went off the line, saw the linebackers and safety,” Streigle said. “They just kept coming up, and I stuck my hand up and kept running.”

Columbus struck back in the second quarter. After picking off Cade Molyneaux a few plays earlier, Columbus’ Caleb Holthaus caught a 66-yard touchdown pass from gunslinger Carter Gallagher, and the extra point gave the Sailors a 7-6 lead with 7:14 left in the half.

Clarahan’s leg would earn six more Cobra points in the final 2:21 of the first half. Clarahan first nailed a 41-yard field goal to give Sigourney-Keota a 9-7 lead, and then boomed an incredible 52-yarder on the final play of the second quarter.

“It's kind of fun, to be honest,” Clarahan said. “At the start of my high school career, I had never kicked. I just saw some guys doing it and thought I’d jump in.”

The Cobras led 12-7 at halftime and had the ball first to start the third quarter. Sigourney-Keota killed almost four minutes off the clock before scoring on a 10-yard run by Clarahan, one that gave the Cobras a little breathing room with an 18-7 advantage.

“Our kids are ready to go, and they know what it takes,” Jensen said. “They stepped up to the challenge, put a drive together and we put it in.”

Columbus had a couple chances to cut into the lead in the second half. Sigourney-Keota halted a Sailor drive at the 10-yard line late in the third, and saw two drives go by the wayside in the final minutes of the game.

Clarahan finished the game with 110 rushing yards and 22 passing yards to go along with the two touchdowns. Cade Molyneaux ran for 111 yards, and also threw an interception on his only pass attempt of the contest. Levi Crawford ran for 53.

Clarahan led the defense with 6.5 tackles. His younger brother, Cole Clarahan, had the only Cobra take-away with an interception in the second quarter.

Sigourney-Keota (10-0) will travel north next Friday to play at No. 4 Dike-New Hartford in the Class 1A quarterfinals. The winner of that game will be on to the UNI-Dome one week later.

“Last year it was the first time in a long time, and it's worth the hype, like it was last year,” Clarahan said. “It's pretty fun. I'd never take it for granted.“