WILLITS — Dylan Kettwig rushed for 143 yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Billy Binns passed for 236 yards and three touchdowns on Friday night as the Upper Lake Cougars dominated the Willits Wolverines 40-22 in a North Central League I interlock varsity football game at Maize Field.
Upper Lake improves to 5-4 with the win and could possibly be in a position to secure an at-large playoff berth with a victory a week from today against Clear Lake (5-4) in Upper Lake, the regular-season finale for both teams. Clear Lake is in the exact same situation.
So dominant were the Cougars that they didn”t have to punt once in the game. They had seven offensive possessions, scored six times and lost the ball once on downs.
“We thoroughly dominated the game,” Upper Lake coach Craig Kinser said. “We controlled the line of scrimmage.”
The loss was the third straight for the Wolverines (6-3), who have virtually taken themselves out of the playoff picture.
“The bottom line is they couldn”t cover (Jacob) Widener,” Kinser said of the Cougars” standout senior wide receiver, who caught six passes for 136 yards, including TD grabs of 48 yards (in the first quarter ) and 14 yards (in the third quarter).
Upper Lake trailed 22-20 in the third quarter but reeled off 20 unanswered points to post the victory. Widener”s 14-yard TD reception and the ensuing conversion pass from Binns to Kieron McCarthy put the Cougars in front to stay at 28-22.
Kettwig scoring runs of 2 and 1 yards in the fourth quarter sealed the win.
“Binns had an outstanding game,” Kinser said of his senior signal caller, who went 14-for-18 with no interceptions.
“They were bringing 11 guys against our line but we were able to handle it,” Kinser said. “It”s the best we”ve played all season.”
