LOWER LAKE — Victor Montanez rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns Friday night as the undefeated Middletown High School junior varsity football team handed the Lower Lake Trojans their first loss of the season, 40-6, in the North Central League I opener for both teams at Gordon Sadler Field.
Montanez added a third touchdown on defense, picking off a Lower Lake pass and returning it for a score in the final seconds of the first half to give Middletown (1-0 league, 4-0 overall) a 33-0 lead.
Brad Beckwith rushed for two touchdowns and Brett Southern returned a punt for another Middletown score.
Beckwith anchored the Middletown defense with 11 total tackles and two fumble recoveries. Montanez also had two sacks.
Both teams hit the road this Friday night as Middletown travels to Willits and Lower Lake plays at Fort Bragg. Act-ion begins at 5:30 p.m.
Upper Lake 32, South Fork 0
UPPER LAKE ? KJ Anderson rushed for 105 yards on only six carries Saturday afternoon as the Upper Lake Cougars notched their first win of the season, a 32-0 non-league decision over the South Fork Cubs on Saturday in Upper Lake.
Jeremiah Swaney rushed for 85 yards and caught a 65-yard pass from Steven Savage. Nicholas Bills added 51 rushing yards on only two carries.
Anchoring the Upper Lake defense were Swaney and Anderson with eight tackles apiece. Anderson also had two sacks.
“We played really solid on defense and our offensive line did a really good job blacking for our backs,” Upper Lake coach Billy Binns said. “We were down a couple of starters but we had some kids step up and do a really good job for us. We got to get a lot of kids in and our second team did a really good job as well.”
Upper Lake hosts Tomales in the North Central League II opener for both teams Saturday at 1 p.m. The varsity game follows.
Fort Bragg 21, Clear Lake 7
LAKEPORT ? Fort Bragg kept Clear Lake off the scoreboard until the third quarter and beat the Cardinals 21-7 in a North Central League I junior varsity football game Friday night in Lakeport.
It was the league opener for both teams.
Fort Bragg dominated time of possession in the first half after scoring on a 72-yard run midway through the first quarter. The Timberwolves used up the final minutes of the opening period and half of the second quarter marching the length of the field for a touchdown that made it 14-0.
After Clear Lake (0-1 league, 1-3 overall) went three plays and out, the Timberwolves scored again on a halfback option pass in the final seconds of the half.
Clear Lake finally put together a drive in the third quarter, going 48 yards on seven plays, the final one a 20-yard run by freshman Gabe Wolfin, his first high school touchdown. Cole Brodnansky kicked the extra point.
“We struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half,” Clear Lake coach Tom O”Rourke said. “The kids played much better in the second half, but we had dug ourselves into too deep of a hole by then.”
O”Rourke cited the efforts of Brodnansky, Cory Banfill and Gabe Strong on defense. Brodnansky and Strong had two sacks apiece while Banfill led the team with seven tackles, including a sack.
The Cardinals return to action Friday night in Cloverdale. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m.
Editor”s note: All JV results reported to the Record-Bee will be printed.
