GRAND MEADOW — The Superlarks are back on top in the Southeast Conference.

With a 48-8 win over LeRoy/Ostrander, the Grand Meadow football team wrapped up it’s first conference title since 2005 Thursday.

GM (7-1 overall, 6-1 SEC) will share the hardware with Houston (6-2 overall, 6-1 SEC), which lost to Mabel/Canton Thursday.

“It’s pretty big and it’s a good feeling bringing it back here,” GM quarterback Caleb Leichtnam said. “Even if it was a tie, that doesn’t matter.”

GM got off to a slow start against the Cardinals (0-8 overall, 0-7 SEC) as they didn’t score on two of their first possessions. While leading 7-0, GM fumbled the ball away at the Cardinals’ 30-yard line and L/O responded with a 10-play drive that stalled at the GM 13-yard line when Brennen Mensink was stuffed for a no gain on fourth and three early in the second quarter.

The Larks had a quick response when Michael Gehling busted off an 88-yard touchdown run on the next play when he broke open a sweep to the left side. GM would score on its next five possessions as it put the game out of reach.

“They came out and they stacked the line pretty good,” said Leichtnam, who had 167 yards on the ground and four touchdowns. “It took us a couple of series to see what they were doing. We adjusted and it was there all night.”

Both Gehling and Leichtnam averaged over 18 yards per carry as they kept the L/O defense off-balanced all night.

With the win, GM locked up the No. 1 seed for the section tournament. They will host Lyle/Pacelli (1-7 overall) Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“(Winning the SEC) was our goal at the beginning of the season and I don’t think a lot of people gave us a chance to do it,” GM head coach Gary Sloan said. “I told the kids, that’s the first goal, but it’s not the ultimate goal. We want to keep going here.”

The Larks were glad to finish the season with a win over one of there rivals.

“There’s still some bad blood between us, but it’s not as bad as it used to be,” Leichtnam said.

STATS

GM rushing: Caleb Leichtnam, 9-for-167, 4 TD; Michael Gehling, 8-for-150, TD; Noah Schlee, 8-for-46, TD; Killian Smith, 6-for-31, TD; Richard Bain, 1-for-12; Ethan Yost, 2-for-8; Cory Greenwood, 2-for-8; Andrew Bell, 4-for-1; Passing: Leichtnam, 2-for-4, 14; Receiving: Gehling, 1-for-10; Bryce Benson, 1-for-4; Interceptions: Jason Stier; Fumble recoveries: Collin Jacobson

L/O rushing: Ryan Grant, 18-for-97, TD; Brennen Mensink, 20-for-56; Josh Sloan, 3-for-3; Passing: Dylan Mackey, 3-for-11, 18; Jesse Rannells, 0-for-1; Receiving: Mensink, 3-for-14; John Marx, 1-for-5; Sacks: Sam Christenson, Mitch Scaglione; Fumble recoveries: Mensink, Scaglione

SCORING SUMMARY

L/O 0 0 0 8 — 8

GM 6 26 16 0 — 48

First quarter

(GM) 6:58 Leichtnam 29 run (run failed) (5 plays, 61 yards)

Second quarter

(GM) 11:42 Gehling 88 run (run failed) (1 play, 88 yards)

(GM) 7:14 Leichtnam 10 run (Gehling run) (6 plays, 34 yards)

(GM) 4:54 Leichtnam 53 run (run failed) (1 play, 53 yards)

(GM) 1:57 Smith 15 run (run failed) (4 plays 38 yards)

Third quarter

(GM) 7:27 Leichtnam 31 TD run (Leichtnam run) (5 plays, 55 yards)

(GM) 4:13 Noah Schlee 6 TD run (Schlee run) (6 plays, 38 yards)

Fourth quarter

(L/O) 2:34 Ryan Grant 4 run (Grant run) (5 plays, 26 yards)