Week one scores
Salesian 7, Middletown 3
Upper Lake 52, Kelseyville 6
Durham 27, Clear Lake 20
Hoopa 41, Lower Lake 14
Statistical leaders
Rushing — Clear Lake”s Luke Punzalan rushed for 163 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown in a loss to Durham. Upper Lake”s Ward Beecher gained 123 yards on 11 carries with three TDs in the Cougars” rout of Kelseyville. Lower Lake”s Jared Thompson had 85 yards on 11 carries in a loss to Hoopa. Upper Lake”s Joey Valdez finished with 91 yards on 10 carries with two TDs.
Passing — Clear Lake”s Kenny Henninger completed 7 of 18 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown. Middletown”s Ben Pike aired it out 23 times, completing 13 passes for 88 yards in a loss to Salesian. Lower Lake”s Richard Tucker went 6-for-14 for 46 yards.
Receiving — Clear Lake”s David Mansell had five catches for 77 yards and a TD. Middletown”s Tyler Rockwell caught five passes for 26 yards.
Highlights
Special teams — Touching the ball for the first time in his high school career, Upper Lake senior Jeremy Martin, who hadn”t played football since his Pop Warner days, returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown against Kelseyville. Lower Lake”s Jared Thompson returned a kickoff (following a safety) 50 yards for a touchdown against Hoopa. Middletown placekicker Tyler Drew booted a 22-yard field goal, the only points scored by the Mustangs against Salesian.
Defense — Middletown”s Adam Cade recovered two fumbles and had a sack against Salesian; Lower Lake”s Mike Warren received a fumble and had two sacks against Hoopa; and Upper Lake”s Joey Valdez had a fumble recovery and a sack against Kelseyville. Luke Punzalan registered two sacks against Durham.
Doesn”t happen often — Middletown won the turnover battle against Salesian (3-1) and still lost the game, falling to the Pride for the eighth time in the last nine meetings.
Solid showing for JV teams — Lower Lake, Clear Lake, Middletown and Kelseyville all won in week one.
Game of the week — For week two, that”s an easy call. Middletown travels to Upper Lake on Saturday.
Passing, who needs passing? — Upper Lake quarterback Travis Coleman completed one of two passes for 15 yards and Kelseyville counterpart John Mark Reagan went 0-for-3 on Friday night in Kelseyville.
Football business to serious business — Kelseyville High School”s football field was all about football Friday night when Upper Lake and the host Knights met, and all about real life Saturday when it served as the site of the Sgt. Richard Essex Memorial. Essex, a Kelseyville High graduate, was killed Aug. 16 when his Black Hawk helicopter went down in Afghanistan. It was a touching service.
Hey, it was only a cramp — When an Upper Lake player went down with a leg cramp on the Kelseyville sideline late in Friday”s game, the first coach on the scene, Upper Lake assistant Frank Gudmundson, joked with his player, “You mean I came all the way over here for a leg cramp?” Head coach Alex Stabiner was more to the point, recognizing the potential windfall for the Kelseyville concession stand. “That”s OK,” he told his player, “They can sell more sandwiches while you”re down.”
Bad luck happens — What proved to be the winning touchdown in the Clear Lake-Durham game came on a fourth-and-10 play with Durham positioned at the Clear Lake 40-yard-line. A pass deep down the field ricocheted off two Cardinal defenders who were trying for the interception and bounced right to a Durham player, whose touchdown wiped out a 20-19 Clear Lake lead. Clear Lake finished the game inside the Durham 10, throwing three incomplete passes before time ran out. Had the Cardinals scored to make it a 27-26 game, they were prepared to go for two points and the win.
