UPPER LAKE — Most coaches would be grinning ear to ear following a 42-3 victory, no matter what the circumstances.
But how about a 42-3 first quarter?
“We have the perfect offense to distribute the ball to our three running backs,” Upper Lake coach Alex Stabiner said after the Cougars distributed it … and redistributed it … to Bradley Brackett, Joey Valdez and Ward Beecher during a 70-13 non-league thrashing of the South Fork Cubs on Saturday afternoon at Upper Lake.
The Cougars (3-1) played every reserve they had — and probably a few they didn”t — in the second half when a running clock saved the Cubs from further humiliation in a game that was over just minutes into it.
Upper Lake scored six touchdowns in the opening quarter, the longest drive being five plays. It was 20-0 less than five minutes into the game and the Cougars added another 22 points in the final 3:57 of the period.
The one-sided beating continued into the second quarter when the Cougars needed just three plays to boost their lead to 56-6.
If you like balance in a running game, try this one on for size: Beecher had 148 yards and two TDs at the half, Brackett 147 yards and three TDs, and Valdez 142 yards and three TDs. They didn”t carry the ball at all in the second half.
“Defenses really can”t key on any one of them,” Stabiner said. “They can all beat you.”
South Fork, which uses three or four wide receivers on nearly every play in order to spread out the opponent”s defense, didn”t have a whole lot to cheer about in this one. While Cubs quarterback Joey Wittlake did attempt 34 passes, he completed only 10 for 158 yards and one touchdown. He also threw five interceptions, including one that Justin Robinson returned nearly the length of the field (95 yards) for the final points of the game.
“It was nice to play against a pass offense like that because that”s something we haven”t seen yet and it should help us down the road against teams like St. Bernard and St. Vincent, who run similar spread-type offenses,” Stabiner said.
One bright spot for the Cubs (1-3) was kicker and wide receiver Levi Paine, who scored all of his team”s points. He kicked a pair of field goals, including a 41-yarder in the first quarter, and caught four passes for 72 yards, including a 24-yard TD with 1:04 left in the first half, and he then added the extra point.
Upper Lake”s counter and trap plays resulted in a handful of incredibly easy and uncontested touchdowns.
“Teams are taught to key on your guards and our guards are moving one way and the ball comes back the other,” Stabiner said.
The Cougars” touchdown parade in the opening quarter went like this: Brackett scored on a 43-yard counter, Beecher went 40 yards on a single-play drive, Valdez burst up the middle on a 60-yard run, another single-play drive; Brackett scored on a 37-yard run, Valdez set up his own 3-yard TD run with a 64-yard gain on a trap play, and Valdez scored again on a 13-yard run.
In the second quarter, the Cougars went 40 yards in two plays, the final 35 on a Brackett run, and Beecher rambled 80 yards on another single-play drive, that following a South Fork punt.
With the clock stopping only a couple of times in the second half — it even ran during one timeout — the Cougars scored on their only pass attempt of the game, a 73-yard hookup between backup quarterback Brandon Pennewell and receiver Nick Mai in the third quarter.
Robinson”s interception return in the fourth quarter put the Cougars at the 70-point mark, something few county teams have ever accomplished (since the Record-Bee began keeping records, the highest total in one game is the 76 Lower Lake scored against Clear Lake in 1995).
Upper Lake finished with 472 yards rushing and 536 overall to South Fork”s 221, most of which came in the second half against the Cougar reserves, all of whom played a lot.
While South Fork was a giant step down in competition for the Cougars after back-to-back games against Hoopa and Middletown, Stabiner said Upper Lake continues to improve.
“We”re doing a better job at substituting players in at key positions so we can give our starters a little bit of a break,” Stabiner said. “We”re making smarter substitutions.”
Added Stabiner, “We were able to breathe a little bit today after the last couple of weeks. It was nice to be at home. The logistics of a trip to Hoopa are very consuming.”
Upper Lake opens its North Central League II schedule at home Saturday against Tomales (2-2). The junior varsity kickoff has been moved back to 1 p.m. with the varsity game to follow.
