UPPER LAKE — Ward Beecher and Joey Valdez ran for touchdowns in the final four minutes as the Upper Lake Cougars used a strong second half to beat California School for the Deaf 20-3 in the North Central League II opener for both teams on Friday night in Fremont.
Upper Lake (1-0, 2-2) trailed 3-0 at halftime, the result of a partially blocked 37-yard field goal in the second quarter that hit the crossbar and bounced over, the only points the Eagles could manage all night against a Cougar defense that forced four turnovers and recorded three sacks.
“The defense really stepped up for us,” Upper Lake coach Alex Stabiner said. “Forcing four turnovers and allowing only three points is great.”
Upper Lake went ahead 6-3 in the third quarter on a 22-yard Beecher scoring run. That lead looked like it was going to be short-lived when CSD marched down the field on its next possession, but Travis Coleman intercepted a pass at the goal line, one of his two interceptions on the night.
The Cougars nursed their 6-3 lead late into the fourth quarter when Beecher scored again, this time on a 4-yard run to make it 12-3. On the ensuing kickoff, Upper Lake recovered what amounted to an unintentional onside kick as the ball came off of Coleman”s foot wrong and wobbled down the field. The Cougars parlayed that bit of good fortune into another touchdown with two minutes left as Valdez scored on a 37-yard run and Coleman added the conversion run.
Beecher finished with 145 yards on 22 carries and Valdez had 147 on 12 carries.
Connor McVey had two of Upper Lake”s three sacks.
“We just had to stay close going into the fourth quarter and believe what we were doing was right,” Stabiner said.
The win was a bit of sweet revenge for the Cougars, who lost 27-24 to CSD in last year”s Division V playoffs.
