TOMALES — The Tomales Braves scored on a long pass with four minutes remaining to beat the Upper Lake Cougars 24-20 in a battle for first place atop the North Central League II varsity football standings Friday night in Tomales.
Upper Lake (2-1-1 league, 5-2-1 overall) turned the ball over on downs near midfield on its next possession. When Tomales (3-0-1, 5-2-1) got the ball back, the Cougars used their final timeouts to stop the clock but the Braves were able to use up the remaining time.
Upper Lake built a 14-12 halftime lead on the strength of a Ward Beecher 9-yard run in the first quarter and Bradley Brackett”s 30-yard run in the second quarter. Quarterback Travis Coleman added the conversion run following Brackett”s score although the play was designed to be a pass, according to Upper Lake coach Alex Stabiner.
With Tomales leading 18-14 in the third quarter and driving for another score, Brackett recovered a Braves fumble and returned it 85 yards for a TD to put his team on top 20-18.
While both teams scored more in their second league meeting — the first was an 8-8 tie on Oct. 8 in Upper Lake — the Cougars finished with 178 yards of total offense, the same total they had on Oct. 8.
“They (Braves) ended up winning the defensive battle,” Stabiner said.
Upper Lake was without star fullback Joey Valdez for the second straight week and a handful of other players did not play for disciplinary reasons.
“We were still right there with them,” Stabiner said. “This group earned a lot of respect on the field tonight.”
Brackett finished with 84 yards on 16 carries, moving him past 1,000 yards for the season (1,056). Beecher went over 700 yards with 84 on 16 carries. He leads the team with 12 rushing TDs to Brackett”s 10.
In addition to his fumble recovery, Brackett had 11 assisted tackles on defense.
Upper Lake and Tomales each have two league games remaining and both schools must face St. Vincent (2-2, 4-4) one more time. The Cougars draw St. Vincent at home a week from today.
