Week four games
Friday night
Middletown 55, Lower Lake 12
Upper Lake 20, CSD 3
Willits 32, Kelseyville 0
Fort Bragg 22, Clear Lake 0
Statistical leaders
Rushing — Middletown”s Austin Benson rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-12 rout of Lower Lake. Upper Lake”s Joey Valdez had 147 yards on 12 carries and a TD in a 20-3 victory over California School for the Deaf (CSD). Teammate Ward Beecher added 145 yards on 22 carries and two TDs. Freshman Javier Otero gained 57 yards on five carries with two TDs in Middletown”s win.
Passing — Middletown”s Ben Pike went 5-for-7 for 91 yards. Clear Lake”s Kenny Henninger had a game he”d just as soon as forget, going 3-for-16 for 29 yards with four interceptions in a 22-0 league-opening loss to Fort Bragg.
Receiving — Middletown”s Anthonie Guzman had three catches for 33 yards.
Highlights
Special teams — Back on the field following an ankle injury in week two, Middletown placekicker Tyler Drew went 7-for-8 on his extra-point tries.
Defense — Linebacker Nicholas Bills had 10 tackles to spark Upper Lake”s defense, which allowed a mere field goal in a league-opening win over CSD. Teammate Travis Coleman, who plays in the secondary, added seven tackles and two interceptions, one of those picks at the goal line to thwart a CSD drive. Clear Lake”s Vince Rave recovered two fumbles and had a sack in a 22-0 loss to Fort Bragg. Upper Lake”s Connor McVey sacked the CSD quarterback twice.
Three — Middletown”s winning streak.
Five — The number of fumbles recovered by Clear Lake against Fort Bragg.
Eight — The number of rushing touchdowns the Middletown Mustangs scored in their homecoming win over Lower Lake.
10 — The number of turnovers Clear Lake and Fort Bragg combined for in their North Central League I opener Friday night in Fort Bragg (five by each team).
10 (Chapter II) — The number of touchdowns scored by Middletown running back Austin Benson the last three weeks (nine rushing, one receiving).
17 — With its 55-12 loss to Middletown on Friday, Lower Lake has now gone 17 straight league games without a victory (0-16-1 in that span). The Trojans last won a league game on the second-to-last week of the 2008 season, a 23-6 victory at Willits (both teams were 0-8 going into that game).
Stuck in traffic — Besides being shut out in their league openers on Friday, the Clear Lake Cardinals and Kelseyville Knights (32-0 losers to Willits) shared something else in common; they both got stuck in traffic just south of Willits on their way home. A lumber track dumped its load on the grade between Willits and Ukiah, forcing a long shutdown of Highway 101. Clear Lake coach Milo Meyer said he didn”t get home until 4 a.m.
This one you have to see — Upper Lake fullback Joey Valdez literally carried a handful of CSD players on his back during a long gain Friday night in Fremont. Upper Lake JV coach Mike Smith put the video on Facebook.
As perfect as you can be — The Clear Lake JVs are 4-0 with four shutout victories. Upper Lake”s JVs have won two straight following their 34-0 rout of CSD.
Can”t share ”em if I don”t have ”em — Lower Lake statistics.
Homecoming and more homecoming — Kelseyville celebrates its homecoming Friday against undefeated St. Helena (4-0) as does Clear Lake against Cloverdale (0-4). Upper Lake”s homecoming is Saturday against Stellar Prep, the Cougars” first home game of the season.
So I guess 16-0 and 0-16 isn”t happening — San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders, respectively. After the first two weeks of the NFL season, fans of both teams were talking like it was a distinct possibility.
Not much bang for the buck — Los Angeles Dodgers.
Self-serving plug for daughter — Sarah Sumpter of UC Davis finished second at the Pac-12 cross country opener Friday evening at UCLA.
A fitting tribute — The Celebration of Life for longtime Kelseyville coach and teacher Lloyd Larson on Saturday at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville was really nice. At least the left-handers in the crowd enjoyed it (inside joke).
It”s all in the county — All five county football teams are home this weekend. On Friday night, it”s Willits at Middletown (game of the week), Cloverdale at Clear Lake, St. Helena at Kelseyville, and Fort Bragg at Lower Lake. On Saturday, Stellar Prep visits Middletown.
Cross country note — At four different meets this season, a different Upper Lake varsity boy has been first across the finish line for the Cougars (Jared Wade, Gage DeHeer, Cory Rodriguez and Alex Rogers). That”s not only parity; it”s a winning chemistry.
Undefeated Mustangs — Middletown”s varsity girls” soccer team is 4-0 in league and 8-0 overall.
Hey, never do it — Make a mistake while reporting on women”s golf club news.
