LAKEPORT — Clear Lake scored on each of its first two possessions and built a 26-7 halftime lead, then held on to beat the Cloverdale Eagles 32-29 on homecoming Friday night at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
It was the North Central League I South opener for the Cardinals (1-0 league, 4-2-1), who honored members of their 1998 North Coast Section Class A championship team earlier in the evening. Clear Lake did a good impersonation of that ”98 team (which went 11-2) early on, storming out to a 20-0 lead in the second quarter.
Cloverdale (0-2 South, 3-4 overall) did make a game of it in the second half, closing to 32-29 on a Jarod Domenichelli 4-yard pass to Brandon Freitas with a little over a minute to play. Domenichelli passed to Casey Berry on the conversion.
Clear Lake used up all but 20 seconds of the remaining clock before turning the ball over on downs. Ryan Richardson, who had a great night at quarterback (10-for-11, 193 yards) for the Cardinals, sealed the victory by intercepting a Domenichelli pass, his sixth interception of the season.
The first half was almost all Clear Lake.
The Cardinals chewed up plenty of clock on each of their first two drives, both of which ended on short runs. Noel McCormack scored on a 4-yard run with 7:42 left in the first quarter and Christian Coddington plunged in from a yard out with 10:52 remaining in the second quarter to make it 12-0.
Clear Lake struck again a few minutes later on a McCormack 3-yard run. McCormack added the conversion, also on a run, to push Clear Lake”s lead to 20-0.
Cloverdale scored with 1:22 left in the half on a Henry Duna 80-yard punt return, but the Cardinals needed only two plays and 25 seconds to cover 80 yards and add another touchdown to their lead right before halftime.
A long run by McCormack (11 carries for 106 yards) pushed the ball to the Cloverdale 33-yard line, and quarterback Ryan Richardson hooked up with wide receiver Chris Leloup on the very next play for a touchdown to make it 26-7.
Cloverdale closed to 26-21 in the third quarter before Aaron Adams” 3-yard run with 5:32 left in the period made it 32-21.
“A good team will find a way to win these games,” Clear Lake coach Milo Meyer said. “We were able to get one more TD in the third quarter (on Adams” run) and then we held on defense. It was a very good team effort.”
See game highlights on Record-Bee home page.
