LAKE COUNTY — Upper Lake and Tomales battle it out for sole possession of first place in the North Central League II varsity standings tonight as Week 8 of the high school football season takes place exclusively under the Friday night lights.
Also tonight, Lower Lake (0-7) looks to get into the win column while celebrating its homecoming against the Cloverdale Eagles (1-6) in NCL I action; Kelseyville (0-7), also pursuing win No.1, hosts Middletown (3-4); and the Clear Lake Cardinals (3-4) travel to St. Helena looking to derail the undefeated Saints (7-0).
Upper Lake at Tomales
Both teams enter play 2-0-1 in league play. Upper Lake, 5-1-1 overall to Tomales” 4-2-1, tied the Braves 8-8 in the league opener for both schools Oct. 8 at Upper Lake. The Cougars did win the California tiebreaker, which only comes into play should the two teams end up tied in the final league standings. In the unlikely event that they tie again tonight in Tomales, another tiebreaker would be held. If the Braves win that and the two teams go on to tie in the standings, a number draw would likely decide which co-champion advances to the postseason as the league”s automatic entry.
Upper Lake will have a slightly revamped offense tonight with fullback Joey Valdez sitting out a second straight week with an injury. Head coach Alex Stabiner didn”t want to say who would be starting where with Valdez out, but it”s likely that Travis Floyd, who rushed for 108 yards and three touchdowns a week ago in a 44-0 win over Calistoga, will join Bradley Brackett and Ward Beecher in the Upper Lake backfield.
“We”re going to have more speed in there,” Stabiner said. “It”s nice to have that depth this year.”
Valdez won”t be the only player missing the Tomales game.
“A few guys are sitting out this week, but we are having positive practices. We have guys ready to step up and fill those positions.”
Tomales limited Upper Lake to a season-low 178 yards of offense in their first league meeting. The Braves spent almost as much time in Upper Lake”s offensive backfield as did the Cougars.
Upper Lake”s defense was equally up to the task, holding the Braves to 194 yards. Neither team scored in the second half in the Oct. 8 game.
“The way I”m seeing it, our defense can play defense, but we have to get our offense going against them. We fixed some things that we didn”t do very well the first time we played,” Stabiner said.
“Tomales will do everything it can to control the tempo of the game as much as possible. They want to chew up as much clock as they can,” Stabiner added. “That”s one reason we can”t have turnovers. If we do, we won”t see the ball again for another six or seven minutes. We”ve got to be more productive when we have the ball.”
Lower Lake at Cloverdale
The Lower Lake Trojans held leads of 20-14 and 26-20 in a 34-26 loss to Clear Lake a week ago at Lakeport. While the Trojans were opportunistic on defense ? all four of their touchdowns were the result of Clear Lake lost fumbles ? the defense didn”t have much success stopping the Cardinals, who did a pretty good job of that all by themselves with the four turnovers.
Cloverdale”s lone win this season was a come-from-behind 34-29 victory at Kelseyville two weeks ago.
The Trojans will open the game minus three starters, who will sit out the first half. The area most impacted will be the offensive line, according to coach Mike Huffman.
“But we have quality kids ready to step up in that first half,” Huffman said. “We”re going to overcome it.”
While it might not be noticeable in their win-loss record, the junior-dominated Trojans are progressing, according to Huffman.
“We”re getting better every day,” he said. “My running backs are solid and the way Rich (Tucker) is throwing the ball, it”s looking better and better.”
Tucker leads Lake County with 736 passing yards.
Middletown at Kelseyville
The Middletown Mustangs didn”t score a point on offense last week in a 16-2 setback to St. Helena, but the defense played very well while holding the Saints to a season-low point total.
Middletown will be in better shape from a manpower standpoint this week as tight end/defensive lineman Nick Dellia returns from a school suspension and Ben Pike makes his season debut after missing the first seven weeks with an injury. In fact, Pike will start at quarterback for the Mustangs, replacing Kyle Brown, who volunteered to play wide receiver.
“It was his decision,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said of Brown. “He thought we could generate a little more offense that way. It was a pretty unselfish thing to do on his part. I wouldn”t have made that move if Brown hadn”t made the decision.”
Entering the game favored to beat the winless Knights isn”t much of a comfort to Foltmer.
“I”m more nervous for a game where you are the favorite because you are expected to win. The pressure is all on you,” Foltmer said.
Middletown”s offense also isn”t as bad as most people think, according to Foltmer. “We”re moving the ball fine between the 20s, but we”re shooting ourselves in the foot with mistakes and turnovers,” he said. “We”ve been our own worst enemy.”
Kelseyville didn”t play poorly in a 17-7 loss at Fort Bragg last week, but the Knights simply didn”t take advantage of the scoring opportunities that presented themselves. They also gave up four points on a pair of safeties.
One thing is for sure and that is Kelseyville running back Geno Poloni will get plenty of work. The senior running back has 166 carries ? 71 more than any other county player ? through the first seven weeks. He is second in rushing yardage with 954 yards, trailing only Upper Lake”s Brackett (972).
Clear Lake at St. Helena
It might be a tall order, but the Clear Lake Cardinals can stay in the thick of the NCL I race with a win tonight at St. Helena. Clear Lake is 3-1 in league play and can pull even with St. Helena (4-0) with an upset victory. Willits also takes a 4-0 record into its home game tonight against Fort Bragg.
The Cardinals started strong, sputtered and then rallied to beat the Lower Lake Trojans a week ago in their homecoming game. They lost four fumbles and still won, something they can”t do tonight against the Saints, who didn”t commit a single turnover last week in their 16-2 win at Middletown.
“It”s going to be a very difficult game,” Clear Lake coach Milo Meyer said. “St. Helena has some very good players and is a good team.”
The last time Clear Lake played a league favorite, the Cardinals fell 42-0 to Willits two weeks ago in Lakeport.
“I just hope we can do better this time,” Meyer said.
To have any shot against the Saints, the Cardinals need to not only control the ball on offense, according to Meyer, but they need to use up as much time as possible.
“We need to keep their offense off the field,” he said.
