LAKE COUNTY — The Middletown Mustangs are a win away from the undisputed North Central League I North championship, Clear Lake running back Kevin Burt is five yards away from the school”s single-season rushing record, the and the Lower Lake Trojans, Kelseyville Knights and Upper Lake Cougars are a game away from the end of the regular season.
Welcome to week 10 of the high school football season in Lake County.
While all five of Lake County”s teams are under the lights on Friday the 13th, including Kelseyville (3-6) at home to face Fort Bragg (7-2) and Lower Lake (1-8) at home to play Clear Lake (5-4), the small school game of the week takes place tonight in Cloverdale where the host Eagles (3-0, 8-1) take on the St. Vincent Mustangs (3-0, 7-2) in a winner-take-all NCL I South finale. Win or lose, both teams are headed to the playoffs — Cloverdale in Division IV and St. Vincent in Division V, most likely as the No. 1 seed.
Also headed to the Division IV playoffs is Middletown (3-0, 8-1) of the NCL I North and Clear Lake of the NCL I South. The difference is in the details as the Mustangs are trying to secure an automatic berth into the Division IV field — a tie or victory against Willits would achieve that objective — and Clear Lake, regardless of how it fares tonight at Lower Lake in NCL I interlock action, will be an at-large team.
Middletown at Willits
The NCL I North could have one champion, co-champions or tri-champions by the end of the night depending on how the Mustangs fare in Willits against the Wolverines (2-1, 3-6) and how Fort Bragg (2-1, 7-2) does in Kelseyville (1-2, 3-6). Middletown can put the issue to rest by beating a Willits team that had its three-game winning streak end with a thud last weekend in a 56-6 loss to Fort Bragg.
If the Mustangs lose, here are the other scenarios:
— Willits wins and Fort Bragg loses tonight, in which case Willits is the automatic North selection for the playoffs and Middletown and Fort Bragg take the at-large route.
— Willits and Fort Bragg both win, in which case the league ends in a three-way tie and the North”s automatic playoff representative would be determined by a number draw.
“The game has meaning for them, which makes them dangerous,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said of the Wolverines. “Even if it didn”t have meaning, our philosophy is to take our opponent seriously no matter who it is. The game isn”t played on paper.”
On a purely greedy level, Foltmer said the Mustangs, who clinched a co-championship last week, don”t want to share the North title with anyone else.
“I”m a coach and I want to win every game,” Foltmer said. “The day I don”t is the day I leave.”
Middletown has won eight straight since losing to Salesian in its season opener and the Mustangs are committed to rolling into the Division IV playoffs with a nine-game winning streak, according to Foltmer. Depending on how many teams make the Division IV field — the field is being expanded from eight up to a maximum of 16 this season — the Mustangs could also find themselves with a first-round bye next week, a thought Foltmer doesn”t cherish.
“Who wants a bye at this point of the season?” Foltmer said. “I don”t think the coaches like it and I know the basketball coaches don”t like it.”
While preparing for Willits this week, the Mustangs even practiced on their off-day (Wednesday). “We”ve practiced until it”s dark and I”ve watched just as much film on Willits as I did on Fort Bragg,” Foltmer said. “I”m a coach who is overly cautious and I think it”s games like this that make me more nervous ? because we”re expected to win.”
Foltmer said the Mustangs need to stop the blitz, a favorite tactic of the Willits defense, and they”ve worked hard in practice this week to accomplish that objective.
“We”ve had a good week of practice,” Foltmer said. “We want that 4-0 and that 9-1.”
Clear Lake at Lower Lake
Clear Lake and Lower Lake players will wear white wristbands tonight as part of the My Strength Campaign that raises awareness of sexual violence and other forms of violence among youth. The cause is dear to the heart of Clear Lake coach Schad Schweitzer, who works for the Lake Family Resource Center.
Lower Lake coach Stan Weiper said he was more than happy to comply with Schweitzer”s request that Trojan players wear the wristbands because of the worthy nature of the My Strength Campaign. Tongue in cheek, Weiper said the Trojans are more than qualified for the honor given how their season has unfolded.
“I can”t find a violent person on my team,” Weiper joked.
Running back E.J. Jermany, injured in the loss to Middletown last week, is expected to start tonight.
“It looks like he”ll play,” Weiper said. “We”ll use it (the game) as a chance to take a look at some of our juniors who will be back next year, and the seniors still want to finish strong.
“We”ve been on the cusp of putting together a decent game and I”m hoping we can do that,” Weiper said.
If the Trojans come out on the short end against the Cardinals, it will mark a second straight 1-9 finish for Lower Lake, which returns the bulk of its starters next season.
Clear Lake is hoping to put some distance between itself and the Trojans early.
“We didn”t do that last week against St. Helena,” Schweitzer said. “Are we going to be a team that let”s them play with us early or a team that comes out firing?”
Schweitzer said he would like to build a big lead early so that the Cardinals can try some of the things they may need in the playoffs.
“We”d like to run our two-minute drill, to try a field goal or two,” Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer said he”s also mindful that the Cardinals are headed to the playoffs, so he doesn”t want to risk losing any of his players.
“We”re hoping to get through it without injuries, we don”t want to lose anyone now,” Schweitzer said.
Burt, a senior, likely won”t have to wait long to break the school”s single-season rushing record of 1,298 yards set by Elijah Calder in 1998. He enters play with 1,294 yards and one or two carries should be enough to earn him the record.
“We”re not overlooking the game,” Schweitzer said. “We”ve been an up-and-down team with our personality and I don”t know which team we”re going to see.”
With an eye toward the playoffs, Schweitzer said he wants his players fully committed to the cause, otherwise they”re just wasting his and their own time.
“I told them, ?If you”re going to be in this thing, you have to be in it 100 percent.””
Fort Bragg at Kelseyville
While the Knights lost any chance of finishing .500 when they fell 35-12 to St. Vincent last weekend, they can still end up a respectable 4-6 with a victory over the Timberwolves. It beats a 3-7 finish, that”s for sure. And depending on what happens in Willits tonight, Kelseyville might still have some say in how the final North standings are ordered.
Upper Lake at St. Helena
Something has to give tonight as the St. Helena Saints, losers of six straight, are home to face the Upper Lake Cougars, losers of eight in a row. The winner stays out of the South cellar and ends the regular season on a much-needed high note.
