LAKEPORT — So much for the scoring drought.
The Clear Lake Cardinals, who have been struggling to reach the scoreboard in recent weeks, broke out in a big way Friday night with a 49-0 rout of the Lower Lake Trojans in a North Central League I interlock varsity football game at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
Clear Lake (3-4) led 14-0 after one quarter and then sealed the victory with a big 28-point second quarter.
Quarterback Nathan Velez ran for two touchdowns and threw for two others — all in the first half — and fullback/linebacker Collin Coddington rushed for a touchdown and returned an interception 41 yards for another score in the first half to fuel the Cardinals” lopsided victory.
Clear Lake”s offensive explosion might not have been a shocker against a Lower Lake (1-6) defense that is having trouble stopping people, but consider that until Friday the Cardinals had scored just 54 points in their first six games.
Velez (4-for-7, 123 yards) completed a 4-yard TD pass to tight end Rick Menesini and a 25-yard TD pass running back Freddy Olloqui in the second quarter. He also ran for touchdowns of 5 yards and 3 yards.
Coddington scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and his interception return in the second quarter boosted the Cardinals” lead to 35-0.
The Cardinals rolled up 424 yards while limiting the Trojans to 103 yards (all rushing). Lower Lake has been outscored (129-13) in its last three games.
“We needed to have a game like this,” Clear Lake coach Glenn “Milo” Meyer said. “We did everything we wanted to do.”
The only bad news for Clear Lake was a neck injury to defensive back Jameson Holder late in the game. He left the field in an ambulance. Holder intercepted two Lower Lake passes and also recovered a fumble.
“They took him to the hospital as a precaution,” Meyer said.
The only bright spot for Lower Lake was Mike Deakins” interception that stopped Clear Lake”s first possession of the night. The Trojans then returned the favor, fumbling the ball to the Cardinals, who quickly took control of the game.
Clear Lake”s secondary picked off four passes and the Cardinal defense came up with five turnovers overall and a sack by Menesini.
Max Beard capped Clear Lake”s scoring with a 3-yard run in the third quarter.
