PETALUMA — The Clear Lake Cardinals have all the subtlety of a two-by-four across the forehead. Head coach Glenn “Milo” Meyer wouldn”t have it any other way.
“There”s nothing fancy or tricky about us,” Meyer said on Saturday just moments after the Clear Lake Cardinals slugged their way to a huge 14-7 victory over the St. Vincent Mustangs in a North Central League I South battle for first place at Kiely Field in Petaluma.
It was a significant win on a number of counts for the Cardinals.
— They improved to 2-0 in the South standings to take over sole possession of first place from St. Vincent (2-1).
— They remain undefeated on the season at 7-0-1.
— They notched their first win at Kiely Field in Meyer”s 10-plus seasons at Clear Lake, having previously lost there in 1998 and 2005.
— They reaffirmed that they have one of the best if not the best defense in the Redwood Empire”s small-school ranks, one that is averaging just over six points a game.
That St. Vincent scored seven on Saturday didn”t seem to bother defensive coordinator Mike Hansen in the least. “Damn extra point,” Hansen said.
Gunning for their first South championship since the NCL I split up into Northern and Southern divisions a few years ago, the Cardinals can clinch a tie for the South title and an automatic playoff berth this weekend if they beat Upper Lake on Friday in Lakeport and if St. Vincent defeats St. Helena (1-1) on Saturday in Petaluma.
The Cardinals also can complete a near-perfect regular season by winning their final two games, both of which are at home, against Upper Lake and St. Helena.
“This puts us right where we want to be,” Meyer said of the win over St. Vincent. “We had to have this game and our guys came through.”
Yes, they did, and their method was simple and straightforward.
“We”re pretty basic,” Meyer said. “We”re going to give the ball to (fullback) Collin Coddington up the middle and work Zimmy (halfback Mike Zimmerman) to the outside.”
Coddington, who at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds is a real load, plowed up the middle against St. Vincent time and time again, carrying Mustangs players along for the ride more times than not. He finished with 118 yards on 21 carries and it was his 1-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds remaining in the first half that put the Cardinals on the scoreboard.
St. Vincent drew first blood on a 5-yard touchdown run by standout sophomore running back Kris Farinha late in the first quarter and Andrew Regis kicked the extra point for a 7-0 Mustangs lead.
Clear Lake appeared to be on its way to a score in the second quarter after Aaron Adams picked off an Ian Williams pass (one of four interceptions and six turnovers on the day by the Mustangs) early in the second quarter. Starting at their own 11, the Cardinals spent the next 15 plays working the ball down the field only to have the drive stall on downs when Regis sacked Clear Lake quarterback Jameson Holder at the 22-yard line.
Three plays later Williams threw another interception that Zimmerman caught and then fumbled, an alert Holder recovering and keeping possession for the Cardinals.
Clear Lake took over at the St. Vincent 12 with 1:41 left in the half and Coddington popped up the middle and into the end zone five plays later. Zimmerman dove into the end zone on the extra-point run to put the Cardinals in front to stay at 8-7.
“You can”t have six turnovers in a game against a team like Clear Lake and expect to win,” St. Vincent coach Gary Galloway said. “You just can”t leave your defense out on the field that long.”
Galloway said the interception that set up Clear Lake”s touchdown was a “backbreaker” with the Mustangs, still leading 7-0, facing a third-and-11 from their own 21.
“We probably should have just ran out the clock, but we wanted to take one more shot down the field,” Galloway said. “That one really hurt.”
The Cardinals drove the ball deep into St. Vincent territory on each of their first two possessions of the second half, but the Mustangs” defense held firm, recovering a fumble at the St. Vincent 25 the first time and stopping the Cardinals at the 16 a few minutes later.
But Clear Lake”s defense also stopped the Mustangs cold, especially in the third quarter when St. Vincent ran only nine plays, two of which resulted in turnovers.
The Cardinals added to their lead late in the quarter after taking over on a punt at their own 38. Three running plays pushed the ball just across the midfield stripe and Zimmerman took it from there, scoring on a 49-yard run that was a thing of beauty for the Cardinals as he made a nice move to break out of traffic near the Clear Lake sideline and then weaved his way back across the field for the touchdown.
Zimmerman came up just short on the conversion run that would sealed it for the Cardinals, who could have gone up by nine.
“We never do things the easy way,” Meyer said.
St. Vincent threw a major scare at the Cardinals on its ensuing possession. On the first play, Williams and tight end Joe Fanfara hooked up on a 49-yard pass that moved the ball down to the Clear Lake 14. After a 3-yard run by Farinha, a Williams pass was picked off by Holder, who had nothing but clear field in front of him. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, he stumbled and fell at the Clear Lake 12.
St. Vincent pushed the ball deep into Clear Lake territory again in the fourth quarter, moving 38 yards in 12 plays, but once again the Mustangs were bitten by the turnover bug as Fonfara caught a short pass from Williams but lost the football, which Holder recovered.
Clear Lake took over at its 20 with plenty of time left on the clock, but the Cardinals played keep away from that point, using 10 running plays to pick up four critical first downs and milk the clock until time expired.
Offensive coordinator Rik Hayes said Clear Lake”s offensive line was a key to the win.
“They did a fantastic job ? we wore them out and I”m really proud of those of guys. We controlled the ball on the last drive and wouldn”t give it up.”
Hansen singled out the play of defensive end Victor Padilla, strong-side defensive end Christian Coddington, and linebacker Colby Butcher, who lost his uncle, Bob Butcher, earlier in the week, for their efforts in shutting down the Mustangs” running game in the second half (St. Vincent gained only 35 yards on the ground the final two quarters).
“Colby came in and played great,” Hansen said.
