CLOVERDALE — The winless Cloverdale Eagles hosted the undefeated Upper Lake Cougars on Friday night and the result was as you might expect ? both teams played true to form.
Behind 269 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Ward Beecher, the Cougars posted a 28-0 victory in the North Central League I South junior varsity football game at Daly Field in Cloverdale.
Upper Lake, now 3-0 in league and 9-0 overall, hosts St. Helena in a winner-take-all South final on Saturday. The Cougars were in the identical situation a year ago when they took 3-0 and 9-0 records into St. Helena only to lose.
The Cougars started slow against the Eagles (0-3, 0-9) and didn”t post their first points until the second quarter.
Beecher carried the ball only 10 times and averaged nearly 27 yards a carry. He has 1,686 yards and 22 rushing touchdowns on the season. Alex Castillo added 112 yards and Joey Valdez caught a 28-yard touchdown pass and ran for another score. Both Valdez and Beecher added two-point conversions.
Valdez also recovered a fumble and had six tackles on defense. Castillo was the tackles leader with 10 solo stops and three assists. Conner McVey added six tackles and three assists, and Wesley Thaxton had five tackles.
“Upper Lake did not play up to its potential and we looked a little sluggish,” Upper Lake coach Frank Gudmundson said of his team”s latest win. “We also suffered our first injury of the season when Luke Mai, our starting corner, went down with a knee injury. With 18 players, it”s hard to come up with a corner this late in the season.”
