Week nine games
Friday
Middletown 51, Lower Lake 0
Kelseyville 44, St. Vincent 7
St. Helena 52, Clear Lake 14
Cloverdale 35, Upper Lake 12
By Brian Sumpter —
Friday
Middletown 51, Lower Lake 0
Kelseyville 44, St. Vincent 7
St. Helena 52, Clear Lake 14
Cloverdale 35, Upper Lake 12
Statistics
Rushing — Middletown”s David Pike needed only 11 carries to score four more touchdowns in a 51-0 rout of the Lower Lake Trojans. All 11 carries came in the first half as he finished with 71 yards. Upper Lake”s Jason Harlan rushed for 180 yards on 22 carries with a TD in a 35-12 loss to Cloverdale. Kelseyville”s tandem of Geno Poloni and Nick Rodrigues each topped 100 yards in a 44-7 victory over St.Vincent. Rodrigues had 108 yards on 14 carries with two TDs and Poloni added 104 yards on 16 carries and two TDs.
Passing — Middletown”s Kyle Brown completed four of five passes for 100 yards and a TD against Lower Lake.
Receiving — Middletown”s John-Wesley Davis had three catches for 93 yards and a TD.
Highlights
Special teams — Danny Cardenas of Middletown converted all seven of his extra-point kicks. Kelseyville”s Diego Barajas booted five of six extra points and a 32-yard field goal. Clear Lake”s Tanner Mansell returned a kickoff 55 yards for a touchdown against St.Helena.
There”s safety in numbers (as in two points) — Middletown”s Marcus Gabaldon tackled Lower Lake running back E.J. Jermany in the end zone for a safety, giving Middletown a very baseball-like 2-0 lead in the first quarter.
One record down, couple to go — Middletown”s David Pike broke the school”s single-season TD record Friday night at Lower Lake. He entered play with 21 rushing scores and now has 25, breaking the “old” record of 23 by Jake Davis last season. The Lake County record is 28 and was set by Kelseyville”s Jared Holley in 1998. Pike is also closing in on school and county single-season scoring records. Davis (164) holds the Middletown record and Holley (188) holds the county record. Pike has 158 points with at least two more games to play.
Ray of sunshine — Upper Lake”s Jason Harlan needed 86 yards rushing Friday night against Cloverdale to reach 1,000 for the season and he easily accomplished that with 180.
High-rent district — Upper Lake junior varsity back Ward Beecher gained 269 yards on only 10 carries as the Cougars improved to 9-0 with a 28-0 victory over the Cloverdale Eagles. Beecher has 1,686 yards and 22 rushing TDs with one game to go.
10 … times two — Middletown”s Jereomy Hoefer and Luke Parker each had a sack against Lower Lake on Friday. They are tied for the county lead with 10.
Sack attack — Mike Allen sacked St. Vincent quarterback Conor Brown four times on Friday, doubling his season sack total.
Clinching ties — Middletown and St. Helena clinched ties for first in the NCL I on Friday ? Middletown in the North, St. Helena in the South — while also wrapping up automatic playoffs berths in the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs.
Clinching a championship ? That would be your 2010 San Francisco Giants, aka World Champions.
Nice job ? not — The officiating crew in Saturday”s quarterfinal-round girls” soccer playoff game between Middletown and Clear Lake at Middletown. The Mustangs won on penalty kicks. By the way, the penalty kick rules are listed ? clearly ? on the NCS Web site. Maybe everyone should read them.
Nice job ? really — The soccer playoff win means that the Middletown girls advance to the section semifinals for a third straight year. They lost to Sonoma Academy in 2008 and St. Vincent last year. A trip to the finals would be their first. After winning the section three years in a row, Sonoma Academy had to move up into Division I this year. They lost in the first round of the playoffs.
What you call a rough start — St. Helena had a 28-0 lead before Clear Lake picked up its initial first down Friday night in St. Helena.
Last of the Mohicans — The NCL I interlock game Friday night between Clear Lake and Lower Lake at Lakeport will be the last one. Starting next season the NCL I will no longer have North and South divisions as St. Vincent and Upper Lake are departing for the NCL II, where they will be joined by Tomales and Calistoga. The “new” NCL I will be Cloverdale, Clear Lake, Fort Bragg, Kelseyville, Lower Lake, Middletown, St. Helena and Willits. The NCL II will play a double round-robin schedule.
Good night — Kelseyville”s Blake Sedrick had two sacks, a fumble recovery, three other tackles and an assist against St. Vincent. Teammate Ethan Rohner added seven tackles and an assist.
Did I mention? — San Francisco Giants, World Champions. Torture was never so sweet.
Messin” with Texas — Wade Phillips, now unemployed.
Just for the heck of it — Val Kilmer.
Just for the heck of it II — Francis Ford Coppola, who won his first Oscar as a screenwriter for the movie Patton in 1970.
Something that”s not fun — Gallstones.
One and one — Middletown receiver/defensive back Connor Chick had two catches against Lower Lake, one on each side of the line of scrimmage.
Two more fans — The St. Helena radio announcers working the Clear Lake-St. Helena game Friday night were certainly impressed with the punting of Omar Vazquez, who was called up from the JV squad and making his varsity debut.
Deuces are wild — While Clear Lake”s 52-14 loss to St. Helena was about as ugly as it gets, Tanner Mansell did score both of the Cardinals” touchdowns. Other two-TD games this past weekend went to Kelseyville”s Geno Poloni and Nick Rodrigues.
But back to the real important stuff — San Francisco Giants win the World Series.
And she”s just a freshman — Middletown soccer star Hannah Diaz.
Getting closer — The 17th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic basketball tournament Dec.13-18 at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.
Sorry, just not ready for it — Christmas commercials on the TV.
Down in the SCL — My alma mater, Healdsburg, won a big game with El Molino on Friday night. The Greyhounds should be a high seed in the upcoming Division IV playoffs.
Best Topix comment of the week — The officials at St. Helena were to blame for Clear Lake”s 52-14 loss.
Nolo contendere (sports version) — Fort Bragg 35, Willits 0.
Win, lose, draw — Soccer coaches Eduardo Ledesma (Kelseyville boys), Paul Larrea (Clear Lake girls) and Mike Sheets (Upper Lake girls) reported all of their results this season. Much thanks.
Class A Dude”s Division IV Rankings
Monday, Nov. 8
1. Healdsburg (7-2) — Defeated El Molino 41-27.
2. St. Patrick-St. Vincent (8-1) — Crushed Swett 63-13.
3. Salesian (7-2) — Hosts Berean Christian for the Bay League title.
4. El Molino (6-4) — Next game will be in the playoffs.
5. Middletown (8-1) — Dominated Lower Lake 51-0.
6. Berean Christian (7-2) — Could surprise Salesian next Saturday.
7. Fort Bragg (8-1) — Faces Kelseyville for second place in the NCL I North.
8. Fortuna (5-4) — Faces a Del Norte team they beat 28-21 earlier in the season.
9. Ferndale (6-2) — Defeated McKinleyville 24-0.
10. Kelseyville (7-2) — Beat St. Vincent 44-7.
