Clemens to Beyer adds up to season-opening win for Coeur du Christ

WORLEY — Grant Clemens threw it, Beckett Beyer caught it and the Coeur du Christ Saints went on to a 44-16 victory over the Lewis County Eagles in the high school season opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at the Marimn Health Coeur Center. 

Clemens, a junior, completed 20 of 24 passes for 414 yards and four touchdowns for the Saints. 

Three of those TD passes went to Beyer, a junior, who finished with 12 receptions for 247 yards. 

“To their credit, they worked hard all summer,” Coeur du Christ coach Kellen Clemens said. “They were there for the summer program, and then they did a lot of work on their own, developing that (connection), especially after (sophomore receiver Matthew) Junkin goes down early."

Senior Jon Denke ran for 131 yards and a touchdown on eight carries for Coeur du Christ, and freshman Broghan Beyer, Beckett’s brother, caught a TD pass. 

Clemens also had two interceptions for the Saints, who reached the state 1A quarterfinals last year in the program's second season.

Other than the last drive of the half, which began with 15 seconds left, Coeur du Christ scored on its first four possessions to lead 28-0 early in the third quarter. 

The Saints were marching toward a fifth score when they lost a fumble, and Lewis County’s Slater Kuther threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson Soderling on the next play. 

Kellen Clemens singled out senior Liam Anderson, who “played every position on the field today on offense for us, as far as skill positions. We had a lot of young guys that stepped up and played well today.” 

“It had some of the first-game mistakes, the first-game jitters,” Kellen Clemens said. “But I was really pleased how they rallied, they pushed through it. We had some injuries, and we had some guys that stepped up for us. We had a lot of guys playing a lot of different positions; that’s 8-man football for you.” 

Coeur du Christ plays host to Clark Fork on Friday in a North Star League game at the Marimn Health Coeur Center.

Lewis County     0    0    8    8    —    16 

Coeur du Christ     14    8    6    16    —    44 

First quarter 

CdC — Jon Denke 34 run (run failed), 10:44 

CdC — Beckett Beyer 37 pass from Grant Clemens (Broghan Beyer pass from Clemens), 2:31 

Second quarter 

CdC — Br. Beyer 47 pass from Clemens (Denke run), 1:02 

Third quarter  

CdC — Be. Beyer 47 pass from Clemens (pass failed), 7:20 

LC — Jefferson Soderling 50 pass from Slater Kuther (Soderling run), 4:48 

Fourth quarter 

CdC — Be. Beyer 10 pass from Klemens (Be. Beyer pass from Clemens), 9:21 

LC — Kuther 1 run (Keezen Grant run), 2:08 

CdC —Be. Beyer 85 pass from Clemens (Be. Beyer pass from Clemens), 1:37 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING — LC, Cronce 11-49, Grant 2-10, Williams 1-1, Kuther 11-19, Moddrell 1-6, Soderling 1-3, Team 3 (-57). CdC, Denke 8-131, Be. Beyer 1-(-1), Anderson 1-5, Clemens 1-18. 

PASSING — LC, Kuther 8-16-2-118, Moddrell 0-2-0-0. CdC, Clemens 20-24-0-414. 

RECEIVING — Williams 3-29, Cook 1-13, Cronce 2-16, Soderling 1-50, Grant 1-10. CdC — Be. Beyer 12-247, Denke 4-89, Anderson 1-1, Br. Beyer 3-77. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Coeur du Christ Academy freshman Broghan Beyer (15) avoids the tackle of Lewis County sophomore Jefferson Soderling and scores a touchdown in the first half Saturday at the Marimn Health Coeur Center in Worley.