GRAND MEADOW — Grand Meadow quarterback Caleb Leichtnam ran for four touchdowns and returned another for an interception Friday night as the No. 3-ranked Super Larks ran over Lyle/Pacelli 50-14. Leichtnam ran for 209 yards on nine carries and stretched out two of his touchdown runs for 67 yards on a night where the Superlarks (3-0 overall) controlled the ball on both sides of scrimmage.

“We came out right away on fire,” Leichtnam said. “The line opened holes and we were able to jump on these guys right away.”

Grand Meadow didn’t waste any time gaining that momentum. On the Superlarks’ first play from scrimmage, Leichtnam rolled right and then cut across field to score his first of the two touchdowns from 67 yards out with 9:31 remaining in the first.

A few seconds later, Grand Meadow recovered an Athletics fumble and with 7:34 remaining Andrew Bell punched it in from one yard out, giving Grand Meadow a 16-0 lead.

Leichtnam added his second first-quarter touchdown on a four-yard run followed by his second 67-yarder in the second quarter.

The Superlarks never looked back.

“Leichtnam’s speed hurt us,” LP coach Mark Buntje said. “You try to contain him but he is the fastest guy in the conference. He can take a busted play and turn it into a TD.”

Grand Meadow used another burst in the third quarter to establish the second half momentum starting once again with Leichtnam on a 34 yard run.

“The first couple minutes of the first and third quarters, it’s really important to establish momentum,” Leichtnam said.

Leichtnam’s interception came in the third quarter and resulted in a score from 27 yards.

The Grand Meadow defense played an equally strong part in the win, holding Lyle/Pacelli to 128 yards rushing compared to Grand Meadow’s 346 yards on the ground.

“That’s where we have some inexperienced, some young players,” Superlarks head coach Gary Sloan said. “But the guys are getting better all the time. There’s not one guy on the team that’s a standout on defense and that’s what we’re talking about.”

The best chance the Athletics (1-2 overall) had to score in the first half came towards the end of the second half.

LP started on their own six-yard line and was able to march to the Grand Meadow 33 which included a 29-yard run by Damian Haugen and a 15 yard personal foul penalty against the Super Larks.

But the drive stalled when Grand Meadow held LP on a fourth and nine play.

“We told the kids we have to be ready to play on the opening kick-off,” Buntje said. “Once (Grand Meadow) got into the flow…it’s tough.”

LP’s only scores came late in the game on a Carter Guthmiller 11-yard run and Garrett three-yard run, both coming in the fourth.

STATS

GM rushing: Caleb Leichtnam, 9-for-209, 4 TD; Jason Stier, 2-for-45; Noah Schlee, 2-for-25; Andrew Bell, 4-for-19, TD; Carmeon Turner, 6-for-16; Dezmon Johnson, 6-for-13; Richard Bain, 3-for-12; Andrew Riedemann, 4-for-9; Trenton Bleifus, 3-for-(-2)

GM passing: Leichtnam, 2-for-3, 15; Bleifus, 1-for-2, 2

GM receiving: Bryce Benson, 1-for-9; Brock Johnson, 1-for-6; Leichtnam, 1-for-2

L/P rushing: Garrett Lester, 13-for-45, TD; Carter Guthmiller, 10-for-37, TD; Damian Haugen, 4-for-31; Garrett Jenkins, 8-for-12; Sean Shapiro, 4-for-10

L/P passing: Carter Guthmiller, 8-for-14, 71; Mattt Kasel, 1-for-1, 37

L/P receiving: Ryan Rust, 4-for-61; Garrett Jenkins, 2-for-10; Skylar Meyer, 1-for-37; Colton Scherer, 1-for-2

L/P 0 0 0 14 — 14

GM 22 7 21 0 — 50

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

(GM) Leichtnam 67 run (Dezmon Johnson)

(GM) Andrew Bell 1 run (Bell run)

(GM) Leichtnam 4 run

Second quarter

(GM) Leichtnam 67 run (Morrow kick)

Third quarter

(GM) Leichtnam 34 run (Leichtnam run)

(GM) Leichtnam 27 interception return (Morrow kick)

(GM) Dakota Johnson 34 punt return

Fourth quarter

(L/P) Guthmiller 11 yard run

(L/P) Lester 3 run