Week five games
Friday
Middletown 48, Upper Lake 0
Lower Lake 24, St. Vincent 20
Cloverdale 20, Kelseyville 14
Clear Lake 6, Fort Bragg 6 (tie)
Statistical leaders
Rushing — Mike Deakins rushed for 167 yards in Lower Lake”s 24-20 win over St. Vincent, Middletown”s Tyler Owen had 104 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-0 rout of Upper Lake, Kelseyville”s Josh Huston carried the ball 27 times for 99 yards in a 20-14 loss to Cloverdale, and Clear Lake”s Collin Coddington had 94 yards on only 10 carries in a 6-6 tie against Fort Bragg.
Passing — Lower Lake”s Jake Sanders completed 3 of 5 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. Middletown”s Matt Outen went 5-for-7 for 66 yards and three TDs. Kelseyville”s Mike Duman attempted just one pass and completed it for a 25-yard touchdown to teammate Charlie Anderson.
Receiving — Middletown”s Dylan Galusha had four catches for 58 yards, including TD receptions of 23 and 9 yards. Upper Lake”s Dalton Steptoe had three catches for 44 yards.
Highlights
Special teams — Middletown”s Travis Taylor went 4-for-5 in the PAT department against Upper Lake. Kelseyville”s James Ducoty blocked a Cloverdale punt.
Defense — Middletown”s Gary Dimitt had one of five fumble recoveries for the Mustangs against Upper Lake. He also had an interception. Clear Lake”s Mike Zimmerman picked off three Fort Bragg passes. His final interception set up the Cardinals” game-tying touchdown.
Blizzard of yellow flags — Clear Lake and Fort Bragg combined for 25 penalties for 230 yards, and that doesn”t include the penalties that were declined Friday night at Don Owens Stadium.
Undefeated — Middletown”s junior varsity squad is 5-0 and Clear Lake”s varsity is 4-0-1.
Adding injury to insult — Upper Lake”s top rusher, Antonio DiConza, left the Cougars” 48-0 loss to Middletown after sustaining an injury on his first and only carry of the night.
Streaks — Upper Lake has dropped four in a row. Middletown”s string of consecutive games without a rushing TD ended at four as the Mustangs ran for four touchdowns against the Cougars. Lower Lake snapped a five-game losing streak to St. Vincent.
Ring that Bell twice — Lower Lake”s Michael Bell scored on an 18-yard run and he also had a 55-yard TD reception in the Trojans” win over St. Vincent.
NCL I North vs. NCL I South — The North has a 10-9-1 advantage through the fourth week of interlock play. There are five interlock games remaining.
Man, bad night — Upper Lake”s James Eubanks attempted two passes and watched both of them get picked off in the Cougars” loss to Middletown. The Cougars turned the ball over seven times.
Ready or not, league play arrives Friday — Middletown travels to Willits and Kelseyville hosts Fort Bragg in NCL I North openers, and Upper Lake travels to St. Helena in NCL I South action. In an interlock game, Clear Lake puts its undefeated record (4-0-1) on the line at Lower Lake (3-2).
Light from above — The late Sheri Lynn Smith, who helped coordinate Middletown High School”s “light project” back in 1999, was honored at halftime of the Mustangs” home game Friday against Upper Lake. Smith spearheaded the drive to bring lights to the football field, a task that took more than two years to complete. Middletown switched from Saturday afternoon games to Friday night games beginning with the 2001 season. Smith”s son, Cody, quarterbacked the varsity Mustangs during the 2002 and ”03 seasons. Sheri died far too young, at age 42, in October of 2005 after a brief battle with cancer.
On the other hand — It”s not how long you”re on this Earth that counts, it”s what you do with that time. Smith didn”t waste any of it.
It”s getting closer and closer ? and closer — Coach Stan Weiper and the Lower Lake Trojans host the Kelseyville Knights, formerly coached by Stan Weiper, on Oct. 26. One of those two teams is going to have a real hangover Oct. 27.
I”m rooting for ? — Norv Turner to lose his job as head coach of the San Diego Chargers so that he can return to San Francisco to run the 49ers” offense. You know, the offense that used to throw the ball and even complete passes. The occasional first down was another bonus.
Rolling over — and over — in his grave — Bill Walsh.
If Kelseyville changes its name ? A new school board should switch the mascot back to Indians. Just a thought.
Just for the heck of it — Rik Hayes, Mendocino College Hall of Fame Class of 2006.
Motivated — John Woods, the first-year coach of the first-year Upper Lake cross country program is batting 1.000 when it comes to reporting his team”s results.
One thing I like about my job — *4 on my telephone (the delete function).
Let the ARod sweepstakes begin — Since New York Yankees fans are sure to blame ARod for the their team”s joke of a starting rotation and bullpen, maybe it”s time Alex move on to a team where he won”t be the whipping boy for stupid player personnel moves beyond his control. Yep, signing Roger Clemens sure did the trick.
Other MLB news — The Cubbies are the poster children for Murphy”s Law. Maybe ARod should go there.
From the Record-Bee files — Lower Lake”s last winning season was 1997 when Bill Cox was the head coach. If the Trojans do finish with a winning record this year — they”re 3-2 as of this writing — Upper Lake will inherit that dubious distinction. The Cougars” last winning season was 1999, a streak that is sure to continue unless the Cougars, currently 1-4, can somehow find a way to win their final five games.
