Week two games
Friday
Clear Lake 7, Kelseyville 7 (tie)
St. Helena 33, Lower Lake 8
Fort Bragg 42, Upper Lake 6
Saturday
St. Vincent 21, Middletown 14
Statistical leaders
Rushing — Middletown”s Tyler Owen and Eric Tomko were the county”s leading rushers in week two, each topping 100 yards. Owen had 12 carries for 128 yards while Tomko had 23 carres for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Kelseyville”s Mike Duman rushed for 79 yards on 11 carries against Clear Lake and teammate Steven Grossner had 75 yards on 12 carries.
Passing — Lower Lake”s Stephen Whitcomb completed 9 of 17 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown against St. Helena.
Receiving — Lower Lake tight end Ryan Walker topped 100 yards for the second week in a row, catching three passes for 104 yards and a TD.
Highlights
Special teams — Middletown placekicker Danny Beckwith is 9-for-9 on extra-point conversions this season after hitting two more against St. Vincent.
Defense — Anthony Esberg recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass in Kelseyville”s 7-7 tie with Clear Lake.
Best band defense — Clear Lake”s band was still playing as Kelseyville misfired on a play during a crucial sequence in the second half Friday night in Lakeport. The band wasn”t supposed to be playing and the play could have been whistled dead with no penalty, as it was later on in the game in an identical situation, but instead the Knights were penalized five yards for a false start. “Do they get a sticker for that?” Clear Lake assistant coach Mike Hansen wondered on the sideline, meaning a helmet decal players get for making a good play.
Game report from Upper Lake — Still haven”t received it.
Stick ”em needed — Clear Lake quarterback Ryan Richardson went 8-for-20 passing the ball against Kelseyville, but six of the passes should have been caught, probably a couple of others as well.
Streaks — St. Vincent beat Middletown for the first time since 1998.
Speaking of 1998 — The Clear Lake team that beat St. Vincent to win the North Coast Section Class A title is holding a 10-year reunion next month. Contact Tom Engstrom at 262-0652 for more information.
Streaks II — Clear Lake is now 7-0-2 in its last nine meetings with Kelseyville. The Knights still haven”t beaten Clear Lake in this century. The Cardinals are 14-0-2 in their last 16 regular-season games.
No good deed goes unpunished — In the event either Clear Lake or Kelseyville won Friday”s game, I had the first four inches of a story ready to go. So what happened? It was a tie.
This just in from Upper Lake — …
When was the last time? — Middletown had two running backs go over 100 yards and averaged better than 7 yards a carry against St. Vincent and still lost. “When was the last time you”ve seen that?” Bill Foltmer said. So what happened? Middletown had four turnovers to St. Vincent”s none, St. Vincent made a goal-line stand in the first half, then drove the length of the field late in the fourth quarter to win it, that”s what.
It”s all in the county — Four games on week three take place in Lake County as Middletown (1-1) hosts Cloverdale, Clear Lake (1-0-1) hosts Willits (0-2), Kelseyville (0-1-1) entertains St. Helena (2-0), and Lower Lake (0-2) hosts Upper Lake (1-1).
Speaking of St. Helena — The Saints won all of two games last year and already own two wins this year under new head coach Brandon Ferrell.
Just for the heck of it — Tim Lincecum.
Dead man walking update — Raiders” head coach Lane Kiffin is likely to get the boot this week, according to a variety of sources. Buzzards were circling over Oakland on Monday. For that matter, they were circling over the Raiders on Sunday in Buffalo.
NFL question — Why is Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen still employed?
Sarah Palin update — She can still see Russia from her house.
Football news flash from Upper Lake — …
Volleyball kudos — Lower Lake reached the title game of the Clear Lake Tournament on Saturday, falling to tourney favorite Marin Catholic. Darlena White and Tashee Denson of the Trojans were named to the All-Tournament team. Lower Lake also finished eighth in the sportsmanship award voting. There were eight teams there.
Hey, Meyer was just having fun — Clear Lake head coach Milo Meyer said he was just having fun with his quote, “The strip of highway between Lakeport and Kelseyville belongs to us,” in the Football Friday preview story last week. “No offense meant,” Meyer said after the 7-7 tie on Friday. “I guess half of the road belongs to them.”
