Week five games
Friday
Middletown 28, Clear Lake 14
Kelseyville 42, Upper Lake 6
Cloverdale 67, Lower Lake 14
Statistical leaders
Rushing — Clear Lake”s Kevin Burt led all county rushers in week five with 159 yards on 13 carries, nearly half of that total coming on a 78-yard touchdown run, in a 28-14 loss to the Middletown Mustangs. Kelseyville”s Nick Rodrigues had 124 yards on 17 carries and two TDs in a 42-6 victory over Upper Lake. Teammate Steven Grossner added 115 yards and a TD. Upper Lake”s James O”Connor had 118 yards and a TD. Lower Lake”s E.J. Jermany ran for 148 yards on 11 carries with a TD in a 67-14 loss to Cloverdale.
Passing — Middletown”s Kyle Harmyk completed 4 of 12 passes for 172 yards, three of them for touchdowns, in the Mustangs” win over Clear Lake. Upper Lake”s James O”Connor was 10-for-19 for 88 yards against Kelseyville.
Receiving — Middletown”s Ryan Johnson caught two passes for 105 yards. Both of the receptions went for touchdowns. Upper Lake”s Mike Cox had three receptions for 48 yards.
Highlights
Special teams — Cloverdale”s Hugo Orozco booted a 44-yard field goal in Cloverdale”s rout of Lower Lake. Said Lower Lake assistant coach Joe Delprete, “It would have been good from 54 yards.” Orozco also had plenty of PAT practice, going 8-for-8.
Defense — Steven Grossner had the hit of the week in Kelseyville”s win over Upper Lake. An Upper Lake receiver coming across the middle had the ball tipped away from him by another Kelseyville defender before Grossner, who was closing in at full speed, leveled the Cougar player with a direct but clean hit. Mike Allen, also of Kelseyville, had 2 ? of the Knights” five sacks.
Deuces are wild — Jake Youngs of Kelseyville intercepted two Upper Lake passes.
Dialing long distance — Of the six combined touchdowns scored by Middletown and Clear Lake on Friday night in Lakeport, four came on plays of 30 yards or longer.
Bookend blowout — Lower Lake scored on the first play from scrimmage and the last play of the game in its 67-14 loss to Cloverdale. In between those two TDs was nothing but bad news for the Trojans.
Coming-out party — Seldom used until Friday night, Kelseyville running back Chad Marshall rushed for 61 yards and two TDs, intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble and had a sack in the Knights” rout of the Cougars. His number? Thirteen, of course.
JV update — Middletown and Upper Lake improved to 4-1 in the junior varsity ranks with road wins on Friday night.
Back-to-back fumbles — Upper Lake fumbled a kickoff return to Kelseyville in the third quarter Friday night. Kelseyville fumbled the ball right back on the next play.
Streaks — Middletown has won four straight since losing to Salesian in week one. Upper Lake has lost four straight since beating Potter Valley in week one.
Interlock update — The NCL I North leads the NCL I South 11-9 with five games remaining.
Just for the heck of it — Healdsburg High School”s Class of 1979 met for its 30th reunion bash Saturday night in the beautiful Dry Creek Valley (outside Healdsburg). More than a third of the graduating class attended, including an old girlfriend who I did not recognize at first. Way to go. Also, another former classmate, Carol Garcia Kovatch, reminded me that her talented daughter Victoria, a freshman at Maria Carrillo High School, is starting and doing well for the powerful varsity Pumas, one of the top large-school teams in the Redwood Empire. And Carol”s son, Riley, is a member of Cal-Berkeley”s soccer team.
League play ? here it comes — The NCL I North and NCL I South races open this weekend. On Friday, Kelseyville visits Willits and Lower Lake travels to Fort Bragg in the North, while Clear Lake visits Cloverdale in the South. On Saturday, Upper Lake celebrates its homecoming in a South contest against St. Vincent. Middletown closes out interlock play Friday at home against St. Helena (the Mustangs open their North schedule the following Friday at home against Fort Bragg).
Personal foul-personal foul-unsportsmanlike conduct ? adios — That was the sequence of penalties late in the fourth quarter Friday night in Kelseyville. The personal fouls against Upper Lake and Kelseyville were offsetting. The unsportsmanlike conduct was assessed and an Upper Lake player ejected. It reminded me of your average Raiders game.
It”ll happen sooner or later — Kelseyville will throw a touchdown pass.
Balance, who needs balance? — Kelseyville gained 408 of its 429 yards of offense on the ground against Upper Lake. The Cougars” defense allowed two 100-yard rushers and nearly a third for the second week in a row.
Soccer shoutout — The Middletown High School girls” soccer team is 10-1.
Say what? — A Lake County coach playing in the county called way after my deadline last week. His excuse for being so late? It was the long ride home (probably 15-20 mintues tops). No, I couldn”t make something like that up if I tried.
Nearly neighbors — Kelly Lewis, Healdsburg High School Class of ”79, a resident of Lucerne.
No wonder the Rockies lost and Phillies won ? Colorado”s Jason Giambi, Huston Street, former Oakland A”s. Philadelphia”s Scott Eyre, Pedro Feliz, former San Francisco Giants.
Class A
Dude”s Rankings
(Through Sunday)
North Coast Section Division IV Football Great 8 Rankings
1. Ferndale (6-0) — Defeated South Fork 51-7.
2. Fort Bragg (5-0) — Dominated St. Helena 42-7.
3. St. Mary”s (4-1) — INT return for TD on the last play of the game to beat St. Patrick-St. Vincent 26-20.
4. Salesian (4-1) — Pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Berean Christian 35-25.
5. St. Patrick-St. Vincent (3-2) — Tough loss to St. Mary”s.
6. Middletown (4-1) — Defeated Clear Lake 28-14.
7. Cloverdale (4-1) — Blew out Lower Lake 67-14.
8. Berean Christian (4-2) — Played Salesian tough.
