HOOPA — Upper Lake”s Joey Valdez was tripped up at the Hoopa 3-yard line on the game”s final play as the Warriors held on to beat the Cougars 26-22 in a back-and-forth varsity football thriller on Friday night in Hoopa.
In a game matching the North Coast Section Division V”s top-ranked teams, it was the No. 1 Hoopa squad improving to 4-0 on the season while No. 2 Upper Lake fell to 2-1. Both teams are likely to meet again in the Division V championship game in November.
“We definitely did give them a game,” Upper Lake coach Alex Stabiner said. “It was a barnburner. The Hoopa coaches and players had a lot of respect for us when we were shaking hands after the game. I think it”s the first time they”ve been behind and they were behind a couple of times.”
The Warriors scored with three minutes remaining on quarterback Sonny Ryles” 15-yard run to wipe out a 22-20 Upper Lake lead. The Cougars were on the move in the final minutes and the game ended when Valdez (17 carries, 155 yards) was brought down in the open field trying to score on a trap play from the Hoopa 16. As he was approaching the goal line, a Warriors defender caught just enough of Valdez from the side to bring him down at the 3-yard line.
“It”s a non-league game, a preseason game and now we know what it”s like to play up there. It was a scouting trip for the playoffs. We”ll meet again,” Stabiner said.
Upper Lake”s offensive line of center Jerry Musick, guards Anthony Woodcock and Bruce Tucker and tackles John Karlsson and Javier Gonzales came up big against the Hoopa defense, according to Stabiner.
“As always our offensive line did a great job,” Stabiner said.
Running behind them, Valdez had a big night although Ward Beecher had the only two rushing TDs for Upper Lake with an 11-yard run in the second quarter that put the Cougars up 14-6 and a 2-yard run in the third quarter that knotted the score at 20. On the ensuing conversion play, quarterback Travis Coleman reversed field and shoveled the ball with his left hand while being hit near the sideline. The pass found Valdez in the end zone, giving the Cougars a 22-20 lead.
“Travis Coleman pulled off a great play,” Stabiner said.
One area Upper Lake came up short, according to Stabiner, was in the conditioning department. “Hoopa was in better shape than we were in the fourth quarter.”
Upper Lake grabbed an 8-0 lead in the opening seconds of the game as Bradley Brackett returned the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. Beecher added the conversion run to make it 8-0.
Hoopa answered minutes later with a touchdown run to make it 8-6.
Neither team had a turnover although Hoopa put the ball on the ground five times, recovering all five of its own fumbles.
Valdez caught all three of Coleman”s completions for 25 yards. Brackett finished with 76 yards rushing on 16 carries. He also had two sacks.
Robert Simondi led the Cougars on defense with five solo tackles, including one sack, and 13 assists.
