FORT BRAGG — Here”s more proof that the Lower Lake Trojans are back. Maybe not all the way back, but pretty darn close.
On two occasions late in the fourth quarter Friday night at chilly Fort Bragg, the Lower Lake defense stopped the Timberwolves on downs inside the Trojans” 10-yard line to preserve a 6-6 tie in a North Central League I North varsity football game.
“A tie hurts us a lot less than a loss,” Lower Lake coach Stan Weiper said with an eye toward the NCL I North race.
It was the North debut for Lower Lake (0-0-1, 3-3-1) and the second tie this season for Fort Bragg, now 1-0-1 in the North standings and 4-1-2 overall.
The Timberwolves scored first on a 40-yard pass from Brent Moyer to Colter Gudmundson with 1:33 left in the first half. Lower Lake tied it before halftime with a long drive that ended with a 1-yard A.J. Harris quarterback sneak with only eight seconds remaining in the half.
“We did a good job moving the ball and I used all three of my timeouts,” Weiper said.
And that was pretty much it for scoring opportunities until the fourth quarter when the Timberwolves twice came knocking at the door only to be rebuffed by the Lower Lake defense.
“I asked the kids what would have happened the last couple of years with a team down here in that situation ? they would have scored,” Weiper said. “But the kids made two nice stands. They played great defense.”
After stopping Fort Bragg a second time, Lower Lake took over with about three minutes remaining and drove the ball out to midfield. With time running out, Harris threw a deep pass that was intercepted by the Timberwolves with only seconds remaining.
“If we just would have had a little more time we might have won the dang thing,” Weiper said. “We had a pretty nice little drive going, but we just didn”t have the time.”
While the Fort Bragg field wasn”t muddy, it was slick because of recent rain, according to Weiper. That limited the passing opportunities for both teams.
Jake Sanders was Lower Lake”s top rusher with 56 yards on 15 carries and Mike Deakins added 49 yards on 12 carries.
