LAKE COUNTY — Through the first week of interlock play it”s the South 3, North 2. Of course, just like a major league game, it”s still plenty early and the outcome is far from certain.
Middletown and Fort Bragg smacked down their South opponents last weekend, while Cloverdale, St. Helena and St. Vincent returned the favor against their North adversaries. As week three looms, all of the interlock match-ups carry at least a hint of intrigue with the exception of Fort Bragg at Upper Lake on Saturday. Barring some sort of Cougar miracle — or mechanical failure with the Fort Bragg team bus — Upper Lake is looking at another long day on the gridiron following last weekend”s 62-0 pasting in Middletown.
This weekend the Cougars (1-1) will have the homefield advantage and the thermometer advantage — it”s projected to be another warm autumn afternoon — but that”s unlikely to slow down the Timberwolves (2-0) much.
In other interlock action in week three, all under the lights tonight, Middletown (1-1) is home to face St. Vincent (2-0), Clear Lake (1-1) calls on Kelseyville (0-2), and Lower Lake (0-2) travels to St. Helena (2-0). In another interlock game not involving a Lake County team, Willits (0-2) is home against Cloverdale (2-0).
Fort Bragg at Upper Lake
If there”s one glaring stat for the Cougars this season, it”s in the turnover column. Upper Lake”s offense has coughed up the football 15 times in its first two games and its defense has only three takeaways. A minus-12 turnover ratio at this early point of the season is certainly an alarming trend that head coach Airic Guerrero hopes to correct as soon as possible.
The Cougars certainly don”t need to give the Timberwolves any extra chances to score as they”ve rolled up 117 points in their first two games.
“We”re doing extra ballhandling drills every day,” Guerrero said. “As far as the interceptions go, we”re giving him (quarterback Mike Cox) more reps on the combo routes we run. When he floats the ball, he tends to throw off his back foot, so we need him to stay forward. He also needs to trust his line. He rushed some of his throws against Middletown when he had another second and a half to throw the ball. The line protection was actually pretty good.”
The Cougars enter the game beat up on the offensive line and at running back, so much so that Guerrero promoted a junior varsity back this week to help out.
“Of our five linemen, only one is in his normal position,” Guerrero said.
Running backs James O”Conner, the team”s leading rusher, has been out sick part of the week and another running back, Mark Umalin, is nursing a knee injury.
“The good news is we”ve been begging for heat all week and it”s supposed to be in the 90s for the game,” Guerrero said. “I definitely think we”ll be more ready for the heat than Fort Bragg, we”ve been practicing in it all week and we”ve had a good week of practice.”
Lower Lake at St. Helena
After playing their first two games against teams that like to spread the field when on offense, the Lower Lake Trojans aren”t likely to see that tonight in St. Helena against the run-oriented Saints.
“They”re basically run with a short passing game,” Lower Lake coach Stan Weiper said. “They”ll run straight at us.”
Led by running back Ezequiel Valdivia, a 220-pound senior, the Saints figure to test a Lower Lake defense that had trouble tackling opponents in weeks one and two.
“A lot of it is just experience,” Weiper said of the younger Trojans. “I look at other teams and see four or five core seniors. We have maybe one or one and a half players with varsity experience.”
That inexperience, according to Weiper, translates into players being out of position at times and not as aggressive as they need to be.
“We need to be more aggressive and in better position to make tackles,” Weiper said. “With so many sophomores and juniors, we just need more experience.”
If the Trojans can be patient, that patience will pay off at some point, according to Weiper.
“Last year we were defenseless against most everybody, but this year we do have ability,” he said. “We”re going to have our opportunities to win.”
The Trojans figure to give the Saints their first test of the season. St. Helena beat Calistoga 45-6 in its opener before beating Willits 37-14 a week ago. Calistoga and Willits are both 0-2 and the Wolverines will be trying to snap a 12-game overall losing streak tonight at home against Cloverdale. They haven”t won since the final game of the 2007 season.
Clear Lake at Kelseyville
It”s not time to push the panic button yet, but the Kelseyville Knights don”t want to open the 2009 season with three straight losses. They can avoid an 0-3 start by beating their archrivals tonight. Clear Lake hopes to follow a script of a different sort and improve to 2-1 in its first road game of 2009.
“It”s one of those games you”ll remember if you win or lose it,” Clear Lake coach Schad Schweitzer said of the Kelseyville-Clear Lake rivalry.
While that rivalry has lost some of its luster since the NCL I split into North and South divisions, it”s still a big game.
“When I was a senior (1994 season at Clear Lake) the game was such a big deal that all the captains from both sides met (before the game) to make sure there wasn”t going to be a problem,” Schweitzer said. “The coaches were there, too. It was a principal thing. They didn”t want any trouble.
“Times have changed, but it”s still a game the kids look forward to. They”re excited,” Schweitzer said.
Clear Lake enters play completely healthy, according to Schweitzer, who said the Cardinals need to do a better job tackling this week than they did in a 49-20 loss to Fort Bragg a week ago.
One silver lining in the Fort Bragg game was the play of the Cardinals in the second half — they outscored the Timberwolves 20-7.
“We”ll take that second half from last week and move on,” Schweitzer said. “I told them to go have fun, play relaxed and not be overexcited.”
Containing Kelseyville”s triple-option formation is Schweitzer”s biggest concern.
“If we let him (running back Steven Grossner) get out of the box, we could be in for a long night,” Schweitzer said.
While the Knights haven”t shown much of a passing attack yet, Schweitzer said the Cardinals need to be cautious.
“They like to pound the ball in the triple-option formation, but if one of their wings gets loose, it could be trouble,” Schweitzer said.
“Given that it”s homecoming and it”s Clear Lake, it”s a big game,” Kelseyville coach Thad Owens said. “I won”t say it”s the biggest game I”ve ever coached, but as far as rivalries go and kids being keyed up, I”ve never coached a team that is this keyed up.”
And while that can work to the Knights” advantage, Owens said it can also work against them if they lose focus of the task at hand.
“We need to stay focused and play error-free football,” Owens said. “Defensively we need not to give up the big play early, which is what we”ve done in our first two games. We get behind and then play well. We need to get into our game without giving up points early.”
Containing speedy Clear Lake running back Kevin Burt is one of the Knights” primary goals.
St. Vincent at Middletown
It”s the annual battle of Mustangs vs. Mustangs. A year ago, St. Vincent handed Middletown its only regular-season loss. Both teams are defending league champions — St. Vincent claimed a co-championship in the South and Middletown won the undisputed North title — and both teams are title contenders again this year.
St. Vincent, coming off a 34-14 victory last week in Lower Lake, is led by three-year varsity veteran Kris Farinha, a senior who might lack flash but who possesses everything else you could want from a running back ? quick feet, explosive acceleration, good hands and tremendous field sense.
“Bottom line is we have to tackle Farinha,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. “He”s an All-Redwood Empire running back. He”s deceptive, he makes people miss, he breaks a lot of tackles. If you take a wrong angle on him, he”ll beat you around the corner.”
The Mustangs — as in the ones from Middletown — will also need to keep a sharp eye on St. Vincent quarterback Josh Wheless.
“He can pass the ball and he”s a threat to run, too,” Foltmer said.
“Ask any of the coaches around here and they”ll tell you St. Vincent always has athletic kids,” Foltmer added.
Middletown will have receiver/linebacker/kicker Danny Beckwith back in the lineup.
“He”s back but he”s not 100 percent,” Foltmer said. “(Dylan) Galusha might start, but he”s not 100 percent either.”
The Mustangs are also without lineman Marcus Gabaldon, wide receiver/defensive back Ryan Fontenot and running back/defensive back David Pike.
“We”re better off than last week,” Foltmer said of the Mustangs” 62-0 win over Upper Lake, a game in which six Middletown starters were missing.
Foltmer said the other Mustangs — from Petaluma — should also have their hands full stopping Middletown”s running game.
“Last year when they beat us I don”t think we completed a pass, but we had two running backs rush for over 120 yards,” Foltmer said.
