UPPER LAKE — Running back Jason Harlan and the Upper Lake Cougars certainly made the fourth quarter eventful, but the Clear Lake Cardinals were never in any real danger during a 35-18 victory on Saturday in Upper Lake.
The outcome of the North Central League I South varsity football game sets up a title showdown on Friday night in St. Helena between the Cardinals (3-0, 3-5) and the Saints (2-0, 3-5). It”s winner-take-all as far as the South championship and an automatic berth in the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs are concerned.
“I”m already thinking about St. Helena,” Clear Lake coach Schad Schweitzer said just minutes after finishing off the Cougars (0-2, 1-7), who have now dropped seven straight. “The effort we put out today is not going to get it done against St. Helena,” Schweitzer added. “Our attitudes and behavior ? it just wasn”t there.”
On top of that, the Cardinals lost starting quarterback Steven Edwards to a shoulder injury late in the first half. His status for the St. Helena game remains questionable, according to Schweitzer.
Jaime Lopez, who played running back in the first half, did a commendable job filling in for Edwards in the second half. On top of rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown, it was a Lopez 26-yard pass to Tanner Mansell with 2:11 left in the game that sealed the victory after the Cougars had cut a 28-0 Clear Lake lead after three quarters to 28-12 with 3:14 remaining.
“You can always go basic with Jaime and that”s what we did in the second half,” Schweitzer said of his backup quarterback. “His game each week is getting better. He”s a good kid, he knows how to play football, he knows what he”s doing out there.”
Clear Lake scored touchdowns on all three of its first-half possessions, including time-consuming drives of 13 and 16 plays. The Cardinals” also scored the first time their defense took the field as Tyler Beets stepped in front of an Anthony Duncan pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown to make it 13-0. Minutes earlier Jake Chapin scored on a 3-yard run to cap a 62-yard drive.
The second quarter produced more ball-hawking dominance by the Cardinals. After Upper Lake gambled and lost on a fourth-down try from near midfield, Clear Lake moved 46 yards in five plays, capped by a Lopez two-yard touchdown run. Edwards” pass to Mansell on the conversion made it 21-0.
Clear Lake then moved 73 yards in 16 plays as Edwards snuck it in from the 2-yard line to make it 28-0.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Cougars gave their fans something to cheer about. Harlan, held to 23 yards through three quarters, rushed for 130 in the fourth quarter alone, including a 55-yard TD run to make it 28-6. The Cougars then recovered an onside kick and drove down to the Clear Lake 5 before a Duncan pass on fourth-and-two fell incomplete.
Clear Lake fumbled three plays later and Stoney Timmons recovered at the Cardinal 18. Harlan”s 18-yard dash to the end zone made it 28-12 with 3:14 left.
Upper Lake tried another onside kick but Clear Lake recovered. With time running out and the Cougars stacked up front looking for the Cardinals to run, Lopez dropped back into the pocket and hit a wide-open Mansell for a 26-yard touchdown.
Upper Lake moved 50 yards for its final score, Duncan scrambling for nearly half that total on a 23-yard run that made it 35-18 with 8.7 seconds left.
Clear Lake recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.
While the Cardinals play the Saints next Friday for first place in the South, the Cougars travel to Cloverdale to play the winless Eagles (0-2, 0-8) in a battle to get out of the South cellar.
