UPPER LAKE — If the St. Helena offense had spent any more time on the field than it did Saturday in Upper Lake, Cougars head coach Airic Guerrero would have been justified in charging the Saints some sort of rent.
Keeping their offense on the field had a twofold effect as the Saints beat the Cougars 27-12 in the North Central League I South opener for both of these varsity football teams. It allowed St. Helena to chew up precious time, even when the Saints didn”t score, and it kept Upper Lake and its very dangerous running back, Joe Barnes, off the field.
“The best defense is a good offensive team and a good running game,” first-year St. Helena coach Brandon Farrell said after watching his Saints not only win their league opener, but improve to 4-2 on the season.
“The mentality of being 1-0 and 4-2 instead of 0-1 and 3-3 is pretty big,” Farrell said. “And now we have a nice two-game winning streak going into the Middletown game.”
The Saints host Middletown (5-1) Friday in the final NCL I interlock contest for both schools. While Farrell said the Mustangs are going to be tough to beat, he said a strong performance against Middletown would do his team a world of good before it embarks on its final three games, all NCL I South contests.
“We try to build off of each game and that”s a big one,” Farrell said.
While Farrell had every right to be optimistic after the game, such was not the case for Guerrero”s Cougars (0-1, 3-3), who lost their second straight after a promising 3-1 start. An injury sustained by offensive lineman Robert Oldham (concussion) and the loss of Gerald Thomas (sickness) early in the game left the Cougars with just five linemen the rest of the way.
More than that, Guerrero said it was the way the Cougars lost that really bothered him.
“The first thing, we gave up big plays,” Guerrero said. “And we committed some stupid penalties. I think we lost this game, I don”t think we got beat.”
The Saints ran 42 offensive plays in the first half to Upper Lake”s 16, opening the game with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 5:57 on the clock and ended with a 17-yard run by quarterback Morgan Densberger, a real thorn in Upper Lake”s side on offense and defense.
After the Cougars went three-and-out on their first possession, St. Helena marched 50 yards in nine plays for another touchdown and another five minutes off the clock. Densberger”s 20-yard pass to running back Edger Caldera and Will Saladin”s extra-point kick made it 14-0.
St. Helena had a chance to add to its lead after forcing another Upper Lake punt, only this time the Cougars caught a break when Saladin missed wide right on a 30-yard field goal try.
Upper Lake took over at its own 20 and needed only two plays — both Barnes runs — to get back into the game. After breaking loose on a 14-yard run, Barnes (18 carries for 121 yards) rambled 66 yards for a touchdown, working his way to the outside in a hurry and then racing down the Upper Lake sideline for the score. The conversion run failed, leaving the Cougars trailing 14-6 with 7:06 left in the half.
The score remained unchanged until Upper Lake quarterback Brandon Mendoza was intercepted by Densberger in Cougars territory late in the second quarter. Densberger returned the ball 19 yards to the Upper Lake 15-yard line and the Saints had a 20-6 lead six running plays later when fullback Ezequiel Valdivia blasted up the middle for an 8-yard score. The Cougars did block the extra-point kick.
Upper Lake dominated the third quarter but could only close to 20-12 by quarter”s end. The Cougars took the second-half kickoff and made it as far as the St. Helena 18 before turning the ball over on downs. St. Helena gambled a bit on its next possession, going for it on a fourth-and-five play from the Upper Lake 45, but Densberger was hauled down after only a 3-yard gain.
Upper Lake took over on downs and struck quickly. Two running plays brought up a third-and-one and Mendoza found Jeff Lovrin downfield for a 38-yard gain to the St. Helena 11. The same two players hooked up on the next play for a 9-yard gain to the 2-yard line, and Mendoza pushed his way into the end zone moments later. Once again the Cougars failed on the conversion run.
St. Helena”s offense regained the initiative from Upper Lake in the fourth quarter and played keepaway most of the final period. The Saints put the game away on Valdivia”s second touchdown run of the day, a 5-yard burst up the middle to cap a 60-yard drive.
The Saints finished the game with 340 yards on the ground, led by Densberger (20 carries for 128 yards), Valdivia (14 carries for 91 yards) and Caldera (13 carries for 71 yards).
“I have to give it up to the offense, they did step it up,” Farrell said. “They stepped up when they needed to. Morgan, Edgar and Zeke ran hard.”
St. Helena went 8-for-15 on third down, a statistic that didn”t escape Guerrero”s attention.
“We should have been able to step it up,” Guerrero said. “They had a lot of big third-and-fours, third-and-fives and we overpenetrated.”
Whenever the Cougars did that, the speedy Densberger simply took off running, often for big yards.
“We just had a bad day,” Guerrero said. “Now we face an uphill battle with our final three league games.”
And just as St. Helena faces a big challenge this coming weekend against Middletown, the Cougars face no less of a challenge when they hit the road Saturday to play St. Vincent (6-0), the only team to beat Middletown this season.
For game highlights, see Record-Bee Video Online on the Home Page
