UPPER LAKE — Seemingly out of it with 5:29 left on the game clock Saturday afternoon in Upper Lake, the host Cougars did something that was totally out of character for them if you use the last six seasons of Upper Lake football as your baseline.
The Cougars fought back and just missed beating the St. Helena Saints in a North Central League I South varsity football battle for first place, a game that went to the Saints 28-27 when Upper Lake misfired on a two-point conversion with 2:44 remaining.
“This is a pretty good group of kids,” Upper Lake coach Craig Kinser said after the game. “There”s not a whole lot of give-up in them. They”re not going to fold up the tent if they get down.”
In other words, unlike the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 Upper Lake squads.
St. Helena seemingly had the game all wrapped up with a pretty bow when quarterback Jake Holguin connected with wide receiver Chris Yeakey on what appeared to be a back-breaking 46-yard touchdown pass with 5:29 left. Yeakey worked his way behind two Upper Lake defenders and had a clear path to the end zone for the score. Holguin”s pass to Yeakey on the conversion made it 28-13 and the Cougars — again referring to the 2000-05 baseline — were done for the day.
But not the 2006 Cougars, as Kinser has said so many times this season when the team has fought back from deficits and actually outplayed the opposition in the second half, win or lose.
St. Helena coach Ian MacMillan wasn”t surprised by what would be a blitz of two Upper Lake touchdowns in the next two minutes and 45 seconds.
“Upper Lake”s a good ballclub, well-coached and with some nice players,” MacMillan said. “No. 80 (Jacob Widener) is a darn good receiver and the quarterback (Billy Binns) has a good arm.”
Before the celebration of Yeakey”s touchdown had quieted down, another celebration broke out, this time on the Upper Lake sideline, as Robert McCutcheon fielded a knuckleball kickoff down the middle of the field and raced 77 yards in the other direction for a touchdown. Binns” pass to Kieron McCarthy on the conversion was good to make it 28-21 and the Cougars attempted an onside kick that St. Helena recovered at its own 35.
The Saints tried to run time off the clock by keeping the ball on the ground, which is their bread and butter, but the Cougars stuffed running back John Hudson (15 carries for 93 yards) and then quarterback Holguin (11 carries for 91 yards) for no gain on first and second downs. Called for a five-yard delay-of-game penalty on third down, the Saints went up top on third-and-15 and an ill-advised Holguin pass was picked off by linebacker Joe Ogulin at the St. Helena 40. Olguin returned the ball three yards before being tackled.
Upper Lake took over at the Saints” 37 with 3:38 left and found the end zone only four plays later as fullback Dylan Kettwig rammed straight up the middle for a 4-yard touchdown run. The key play of the mini-series occurred one play earlier as Binns (8-for-13, 188 yards) hooked up with favorite target Widener (five catches for 101 yards) on a 32-yard gain on a third-and-nine play.
After Kettwig”s TD closed the gap to 28-27, the Cougars went for the two-point conversion, but before Binns could get off a pass, a St. Helena player hit him from behind, the ball popped loose and the Cougars couldn”t advance it.
“It was going to be a backside slant to Jacob,” Kinser said of the play the Cougars wanted to run. “He had inside position on his guy, but Binns got bumped.”
Kinser said he gave no thought at all to kicking the PAT for a tie. Binns had attempted two PAT kicks earlier in the game and made one.
“We”re going for two there, that”s a percentage play,” Kinser said. “There was not ever any thought process of going for one.”
“I thought they were going to go for one,” MacMillan said after the game. “There is overtime in high school (California tie-breaker).”
Under the tie-breaker rule, a game tied after four quarters is just that — a tie — and the tie-breaker simply determines who gets the nod in the event the two teams tie for a league title (the winner of the tie-breaker would get the automatic playoff berth).
Now the Saints, 2-0 in the South standings with games remaining against Cloverdale and St. Vincent, are in control. They improved to 5-2 overall while the Cougars slipped to 3-4 and 1-1 in the South.
Big plays were the order of the day, and for both teams.
An 82-yard screen play from Binns to Kettwig set up the game”s first score, a 7-yard McCutcheon touchdown run with 7:02 left in the second quarter.
St. Helena answered with a six-play, 68-yard drive that included three double-digit gains on running plays, the final one an 18-yard burst by Holguin for the touchdown. Holguin”s PAT kick knotted the score at 7.
Upper Lake”s Jayce Meri returned the ensuing kickoff 77 yards, setting up the Cougars” next score, a 13-yard Binns-to-Widener TD that made it 13-7. Binns” PAT kick was no good.
The Saints came right back with a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive that ended with Holguin”s 33-yard touchdown strike to Yeakey on a third-and-16 play. Holguin banged through the extra-point kick to make it 14-13 in the Saints” favor at halftime.
St. Helena scored the only points in the third quarter, moving 67 yards — all on the ground — in seven plays, capped by David Fanucci”s two-yard run. Holguin”s PAT kick failed, making it 20-13.
Both teams were hurt by the other”s passing game.
“We do a good stopping the run but we”re having trouble with the pass, especially our defensive backs,” MacMillan said. “And we”re not putting much pressure on the quarterback.”
St. Helena, in its two games leading up to Upper Lake, had attempted only a handful of passes, but the Saints threw the ball eight times against the Cougars and Holguin completed four for 90 yards, including two touchdowns and a conversion pass to the same guy Yeakey.
“We had some coverage mistakes that were costly,” Kinser said.
St. Helena outgained Upper Lake 377-278 overall, but 292-90 on the ground.
“St. Helena pounds the ball pretty good and we”re light in the ass (on defense), so we have to work our heads off to stay in the game,” Kinser said. “Their two main guys (Fanucci and Holguin) are good.”
Upper Lake”s defense left Holguin unaccounted for a number of times and he burned the Cougars when they did.
“I guarantee we had someone on the quarterback every single play,” Kinser said. “When we blew assignments there was no excuse for it. This was an assignment game, not a fly to the ball game and when you play a team that runs the dive-option like they (Saints) do, we should have had a guy on him every single down.
“I think we should have been out of the first half ahead 13-0,” Kinser added.
Overall though, Kinser said the Cougars played a strong game given the opponent and the circumstances of being down by 15 points with less than half the fourth quarter remaining.
“How do you fault the kids?” he said. “The game appeared to be out of reach and they came back and almost won the thing.”
MacMillan said he was just glad to be leaving Lake County with a win.
“A win”s a win, and a league win is big no matter how you get it,” he added.
