Rushing — Middletown”s Eric Tomko was the county”s leading rusher in week seven with 138 yards on only 12 carries and a touchdown. Lower Lake”s Chris Perry had 124 yards and a TD, and Clear Lake”s Noel McCormack gained 106 yards with two TDs against Cloverdale.
Passing — Clear Lake”s Ryan Richardson went 10-for-10 with 218 yards and a TD against Cloverdale. Upper Lake”s Brandon Mendoza went 7-for-15 with 137 yards and a TD against St. Vincent. Middletown”s Matt Outen attempted only four passes but completed three for 118 yards and two TDs against St. Helena.
Receiving — Upper Lake”s Sloan Hennig caught six passes for 123 yards and a TD. Middletown”s Dylan Galusha also finished in triple digits with three catches for 118 yards and two TDs. Clear Lake”s Chris Leloup caught three passes for 84 yards and a TD.
Highlights
Special teams — Kelseyville”s Tony Mendez booted a pair of field goals in the Knights” victory over Willits. Middletown”s Danny Beckwith added five more extra points to his count. Upper Lake blocked a field goal against St. Vincent.
Defense — Kelseyville”s Mike Davis intercepted two passes and returned both for touchdowns — one 64 yards and the other 48 — against Willits. Clear Lake”s Ryan Richardson sealed the Cardinals” 32-29 victory over Cloverdale with his sixth interception of the season. Middletown”s George Garcia logged his fifth sack of the year.
Season highs — In beating Upper Lake 28-6 on Saturday in Petaluma, the undefeated Mustangs (7-0) had their longest run of the season — 65 yards by Cullen Carroll — and their longest pass play of the season — an 80-yard touchdown from Josh Wheless to Nick McCarthy. St. Vincent also sacked Upper Lake quarterback Brandon Mendoza seven times.
Streaks end — Middletown”s three-game shutout streak and Lower Lake”s three-game scoreless streak ended in week seven.
Two big games — Middletown travels to Fort Bragg and Clear Lake hosts St. Vincent on Friday, two games that could very well decide the championships in the North Central League I North and South.
County”s only undefeated team — Middletown”s junior varsity squad beat St. Helena 41-6 to improve to 7-0. Lower Lake”s JVs lost their first game, 18-6 to Fort Bragg.
Don”t see that very often — Fort Bragg running back Jake Cimolino rushed for 356 yards and four touchdowns without playing in the fourth quarter of his team”s 62-6 rout of Lower Lake on Friday night at Gordon Sadler Field (the number of yards was originally reported at 383 but Fort Bragg officially put the total at 356). Cimolino beat the school”s single-game rushing record of 317 yards set by Jon Cunha in 2005 at Upper Lake. Fort Bragg also has scored more than 60 points in its last two games, both against Lake County schools. It”s safe to say that”s one streak that won”t continue this Friday against Middletown.
On a pretty good roll ? Clear Lake quarterback Ryan Richardson actually went 10-for-10 and not 10-for-11 passing the ball (as previously reported) against Cloverdale. In his last two games, the junior is 18-for-18 with 317 yards, three TDs and no interceptions.
Better late than never — Lower Lake fullback Chris Perry scored on a 4-yard run with 10 seconds left Friday night against Fort Bragg. The touchdown provided the Trojans with their first points in the month of October. Lower Lake”s night began with a drive to the Fort Bragg 1-foot line, where the Trojans lost a fumble.
For all the bitchin” … — Upper Lake fans did about the officiating Saturday at St. Vincent, here was the final tally for penalties: Upper Lake, three penalties for 30 yards. St. Vincent, two penalties for 20 yards. Boy, those officials really know how to influence a game, don”t they?
Man, some schedule — Of St. Vincent”s first seven games this season, six were at home. Now they finish up with three straight road games — at Lakeport, at St. Helena, at Kelseyville.
That will be different — When coach Stan Weiper”s Lower Lake Trojans play his old team, the Kelseyville Knights, on Friday in Kelseyville, Weiper will be standing on the visitor”s sideline for the first time during his long career.
Time to get healthy — Since starting the season 3-1, the Upper Lake Cougars have dropped three straight. But don”t worry Upper Lake fans, help is on the way in the form of the 0-7 Willits Wolverines.
Call it the R-B death penalty — If we send a photographer out to a certain team”s game in any of the fall sports and that coach fails to phone in results, we won”t be sending a photographer out again until next season … if then. One team”s already made the list.
Class A Dude Rankings North Coast Section Div-ision IV Football Great 8:
1. Ferndale (7-0) — Beat Hoopa 50-6.
2. St. Patrick-St. Vincent (6-1) — Beat Albany 26-12.
3. Middletown (6-1) — Defeated St. Helena 35-7.
4. Fort Bragg (6-1) — Crushed Lower Lake 62-6.
5. Dougherty Valley (5-2) — Idle, next up Mission San Jose.
6. Berean Christian (5-2) — Beat Harker 46-22.
7. Justin Siena (4-4) — Lost to Novato 30-0.
8. Clear Lake (4-2-1) — Beat Cloverdale 32-29.
So much for the bounce — I was listening to a well-known NFL prognosticator on the radio Friday, who said the 49ers would not only beat the Seahawks, but the firing of former head coach Mike Nolan would provide the team with “a bounce.” Well, the 49ers lost 34-13 to a truly awful Seahawks club, and the bounce was what you would expect from a shotput hitting wet turf.
Parents who berate high school coaches — Are a pathetic lot for the most part. Get your butt down on the field or on the court and do it if you think it”s so easy.
People who berate officials — See above.
