LAKE COUNTY — With two weeks to go in the regular season, the North Central League I North and South varsity football races could be over by Saturday.
The picture in the NCL I North is as clear as it gets. Middletown (2-0, 7-1) hosts Kelseyville (2-1, 4-3-1) tonight in Middletown needing a victory to wrap up the championship regardless of what happens in the final week. Should Kelseyville pull off an upset, the North would likely end in a three-way tie, Middletown, Kelseyville and Fort Bragg all getting a piece of the title at 3-1. And if the North does end in a three-way tie, Kelseyville gets the league”s automatic playoff berth because of a number draw held before the start of the season.
The NCL I South race could be over by Saturday if two things occur. If St. Vincent (2-1, 7-1) wins tonight in St. Helena (1-1, 4-4) and Clear Lake (2-0, 5-2-1) beats Upper Lake (0-2, 4-4) Saturday in Upper Lake, the Cardinals clinch the South championship for the second year in a row. If St. Helena and Clear Lake both win, the Cardinals clinch a tie for the title but St. Helena could still win the automatic playoff berth and a share of first by beating Clear Lake on Nov. 14 in St. St. Helena.
In the event St. Helena and Upper Lake both win, the undisputed South championship and the league”s automatic playoff berth would go to the winner of the St. Helena-Clear Lake game on Nov. 14.
In other action tonight, the Lower Lake Trojans (0-2, 0-8) travel to Maize Field in Willits where the Wolverines (0-2, 0-8) await them. It”s the last and best chance for each team to get a win this season since Lower Lake plays Middletown and Willits faces Fort Bragg on the final week of the season.
Kelseyville at Middletown
That Kelseyville and Middletown once again find themselves playing for a title in early November is nothing new. Throw out last year and this game has meant a lot in past seasons. Such is the case again tonight.
Middletown is coming off its biggest win of the season, a 22-8 victory at Fort Bragg, a game in which the Mustangs pretty much shut down Timberwolf star running back Jake Cimolino.
Kelseyville used a big second half to turn back Lower Lake 33-14 last weekend, a win that put the Knights back over the .500 mark for the season. A win tonight would not only give coach Thad Owens” squad some share of the league title but a winning season as well, a great improvement from last year”s 1-9 train wreck.
Middletown enters action tonight without one its best players, middle linebacker/running back Tyler Owen, who is sitting out the game for disciplinary reasons.
“We worked real hard this week to let them know the importance of this game,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said of his players. “If Kelseyville comes down here and beats us, it won”t be because our kids don”t know the importance of the game.”
Fearing a letdown after a big game like Fort Bragg, Foltmer said he first broached the subject during his postgame talk following the victory over the Timberwolves.
“I told them we can”t stumble next week,” Foltmer said. “And the last three days we”ve practiced into the dark to get ready. There hasn”t been any let up.”
Kelseyville, which gets running back Steven Grossner back tonight, is also fully aware of what”s at stake.
“We win this thing and it makes us league champs, we get a guaranteed playoff berth and a home game in the first round of the playoffs,” Owens said.
Addressing his players earlier this week, Owens told them, ?No matter what else happens you”ve put yourself in a position to win a league championship. You”ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.””
Owens has coached his current seniors since they were freshman and said tonight”s stakes are the biggest they”ve ever played for.
“It”s the biggest game they”ve had. I told them to play with all their heart and let the chips fall where they may,” Owens said.
While the Knights have had an up-and-down season to this point, one game could change all of that, according to Foltmer.
“Suddenly a so-so season for them could be a great one, and a great one for us could become so-so,” Foltmer said. “But like I”ve told you before, if we play our game there is no doubt in my mind we”ll be successful.”
Replacing Owen at tailback will be a platoon of Jake Davis, who had a season-best 138 yards last week against Fort Bragg, Trevor Finley and Max Dixon.
“It”s going to be a great game for both teams,” Owens said.
Clear Lake at Upper Lake
Clear Lake head coach Milo Meyer isn”t a big fan of Saturday afternoon games and this is the Cardinals” only day game during the 2008 regular season. His squad is coming off a hard-fought 8-7 victory over previously undefeated St. Vincent, a game that put Clear Lake in the driver”s seat in the NCL I South standings.
“We”re putting things together with a bounce here and a roll there,” Meyer said. “We”re in a position to win league and like I told the kids the other day, in all the years I”ve been here (since 1997), we”ve never won back-to-back championships. It”s something that doesn”t happen very often here.”
Upper Lake snapped a three-game losing streak a week ago with a 35-8 victory at Willits. The Cougars wrap up their home season against Clear Lake and would like nothing better than to put a little more suspense into the South race by beating the Cardinals. If the Cougars are going to pull off an upset, chances are they”ll need running back Joe Barnes to have another big day. He enters play as Lake County”s leading rusher and is just 114 yards shy of 1,000. The last Upper Lake back to reach that milestone was Curtis Smith with 1,015 yards in 2005. Before that, it was Nick Thompson with 1,108 yards in 2000.
“We”re looking for a very good game,” Meyer said. “They”ve got some players we”re very aware of, that receiver (Sloan Hennig), Barnes and their quarterback (Brandon Mendoza) are all good athletes.”
Clear Lake”s Kevin Burt, whose big first-down runs late in the fourth quarter helped the Cardinals use up precious time on the clock against St. Vincent, also has a shot at 1,000, if not in the regular season perhaps in the postseason. He is Clear Lake”s leading rusher with 730 yards. Quarterback Ryan Richardson also has been on a pretty good roll of late for the Cardinals and has completed 45 of 89 passes (for a Lake County-leading 50.6 percent) for 644 yards and five TDs.
In fact, both quarterbacks in Saturday”s game — Richardson and Mendoza — are running and passing threats. Mendoza has 332 yards rushing to Richardson”s 303 and he is 37-for-91 for 598 yards in the passing department.
Don”t expect many changes in Clear Lake”s game plan, according to Meyer.
“We”re just trying to do things that we”ve done in the past,” Meyer said. “We”re healthy and we”re ready.”
Showers are in the forecast for Saturday so there”s no telling how slick the field conditions will be at kickoff.
Lower Lake at Willits
Two winless teams play for the right not to be 0-10 at season”s end. It”s a far cry from where these two teams were last year when Lower Lake won the NCL I North and Willits came in third.
Lower Lake certainly showed some signs of life on offense a week ago against Kelseyville. The game was tied 14-all at halftime and Lower Lake just missed taking the lead right before halftime when a drive ran out of time at the Kelseyville 1-foot line.
Willits has scored a grand total of 25 points all season, eight of them coming a week ago in the first half against Upper Lake, which sat a handful of starters in that first half for disciplinary reasons.
Unless the Wolverines can find the offense they”ve lacked all year, the Trojans might be able to win with just a couple of scores.
