Week nine games
Friday
Clear Lake 44, Upper Lake 0
Middletown 28, Kelseyville 16
Lower Lake 26, Willits 14
Statistical leaders
Rushing — Middletown”s Tyler Owen rushed for a career-best 229 yards and a touchdown in the Mustangs” North Central League I North win over Kelseyville. Lower Lake”s Jake Sanders had 200 yards on 28 carries and a TD, his second straight 200-yard effort, in a victory over Willits. Kelseyville”s Josh Huston finished 161 yards on 34 carries and a TD against Middletown, and the Mustangs” Eric Tomko rolled up 133 yards and a TD against Kelseyville.
Passing — Middletown”s Matt Outen went 3-for-5 with 52 yards and a touchdown, his Lake County-leading 14th of the season.
Receiving — Ryan Bower caught a 41-yard touchdown pass in Middletown”s win over Kelseyville.
Highlights
Special teams — Kelseyville”s Matt Jones booted a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter, officially snapping Middletown”s string of shutouts at four games. Aaron Adams jump-started Clear Lake”s rout of Upper Lake by returning the opening kickoff 89 yards for a TD.
Defense — Erik Jameson”s 56-yard interception return staked Clear Lake to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter against Upper Lake. In the same game, the Cardinals registered five sacks and limited the Cougars to seven rushing yards. The Lower Lake Trojans registered 10 sacks against Willits. Kevin Freeman had four of them and Chris Sisco three others.
Let”s get offensive — Middletown and Kelseyville combined for 717 yards of offense Friday night in Kelseyville, including 642 rushing yards.
NCL I South overview — Clear Lake already has clinched a share of the NCL I South championship and an automatic playoff berth into the North Coast Section Class A postseason field. Even so, the Cardinals (3-0 South, 8-0-1 overall) have a handful of goals to strive for when they close out the regular season this Friday at home against St. Helena. They want to win the NCL I South outright by beating the team they finished second to a year ago, and they want that undefeated season. The last time the Cardinals went undefeated in the regular season was 1973 (9-0).
NCL I North overview — It”s simple. Lower Lake (2-0-1) travels to Middletown (3-0) on Friday night needing a victory to win the NCL I North title outright. Anything less than a win — as in a tie or a loss — gives the Mustangs the title as well as a sixth straight victory. And the North winner also gets an automatic playoff berth — Middletown in Class A or Lower Lake in Class 2A.
You know you”re good when ? — You”ve got a 16-0 lead before your offense runs its first play. That”s the enviable position Clear Lake found itself in against Upper Lake.
You know you”re bad when ? — You”re trailing 16-0 before the opposing offense takes the field.
Quite the turnaround — Even if Lower Lake loses on Friday against Middletown, the Trojans (5-3-1) will have completed a winning regular season for the first time in 10 years. If coach Stan Weiper”s squad beats or ties the Mustangs, then a winning overall season is in the bag, again, the first one in 10 years.
Kudos — To the Middletown girls” soccer team on its first playoff victory, a 2-1 victory over Mendocino last week. While the Mustangs fell 3-1 to No. 1 seed Sonoma Academy in the quarterfinals on Saturday, coach Louise Owens” squad posted the best league finish (second) by a Lake County team this season.
First to 1,000 yards — Kelseyville”s battering ram of a running back, Josh Huston, topped the 1,000-yard mark for the season with his 161-yard effort against Middletown on Friday night in Kelseyville. He has 1,032 yards. “It”s the first time I”ve been over 1,000 since eighth grade,” Huston said after the game.
Closing in on 1,000 rushing yards — Middletown”s Eric Tomko has 866 and Lower Lake”s Jake Sanders has 860.
Rik Hayes deserves an apology — We threatened Clear Lake”s offensive coordinator with a demotion to the 49ers” coaching squad a few weeks back. Truth is, Hayes is much too good for the 49ers.
Streaks — Middletown has won five straight and Upper Lake has dropped eight in a row. Kelseyville snapped a two-game streak of no passing yardage when quarterback Mike Duman completed 2 of 4 passes for 22 yards against Middletown.
That”ll break your back — Leading 7-3 with 1:12 remaining in the first half against Kelseyville, Middletown drove 65 yards in three rushing plays, using only 32 secnds in the process, to take a 13-3 lead.
Milo Meyer update — If he were anything else but a Dallas Cowboys fan ?
Jury trial update — Guilty as charged, trial over.
And then, out of the blue — Freelance photographer Tina Sanderson e-mails me a batch of soccer photos of the Clear Lake-St. Vincent playoff game. That”s like found money.
