Week eight games
Friday night
Middletown 34, Kelseyville 0
St. Helena 26, Clear Lake 13
Lower Lake 26, Cloverdale 7
Calistoga 10, Upper Lake 6
Statistical leaders
Rushing — Middletown”s Brad Beckwith had a career night with 177 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns in a 34-0 rout of Kelseyville. Teammate Austin Benson finished with 130 yards on 19 carries and a TD. Clear Lake”s Vince Rave had 81 yards and a TD and Luke Punzalan added 79 yards and a TD in a 26-13 loss to St. Helena. Upper Lake”s Ward Beecher ran for 94 yards and a TD as the Cougars were upset 10-6 by Calistoga. Lower Lake quarterback Richard Tucker had 65 yards on 11 carries and two TDs and running back Jared Thompson 56 yards and two TDs as the Trojans notched their first win of the season with a 26-7 victory over Cloverdale.
Passing — Kelseyville sophomore A.J. Cromwell went 6-for-14 for 89 yards in his varsity debut against Middletown. Lower Lake”s Richard Tucker was 5-for-6 for 43 yards.
Receiving — Kelseyville”s Robert McLean caught five passes for 70 yards. Ward Beecher caught Upper Lake”s only two completed passes for 35 yards.
Highlights
Special teams — Calistoga”s Danny Alfaro booted a 40-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 10-0 lead in the fourth quarter against Upper Lake. Middletown”s Tyler Drew went 4-for-5 on his extra-point kicks.
Defense — The Lower Lake defense sacked Cloverdale”s quarterback six times, picked him off once and also recovered a fumble while shutting down the Eagles” spread offense. Austin Escalante led the way with two sacks. County sack leader Joey Valdez of Upper Lake logged his seventh sack against Calistoga before leaving the game with a broken left ankle in the third quarter.
Making up for lost time — Middletown”s Brad Beckwith had no touchdown through the first six weeks of the 2012 season. He scored his first three TDs in week seven against St. Helena and added two more on Friday night against Kelseyville.
NCL II headliner — Upper Lake (4-1) and St. Vincent (4-1) collide Saturday in Upper Lake. CSD also owns a share of first at 4-1.
Erase that zero — In his 18th game as Lower Lake”s head coach, Mike Huffman logged career win No. 1 as the Trojans took care of Cloverdale.
Bass Bowl III — Takes place Friday night at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport between the Clear Lake Cardinals and Kelseyville Knights. Those living in the vicinity will probably be rooting for a low-scoring contest given their windows will be rattling every time the Civil War-era cannon fires.
Playing ”em close — St. Helena”s 13-point margin of victory over Clear Lake was its smallest over an opponent this season. The undefeated Saints” previously small est margin was 17 points back on week one.
Yowza! — Trailing 32-13 to Willits on Friday night, the host Fort Bragg Timberwolves rallied in the fourth quarter for a dramatic 33-32 win to remain perfect in league play at 5-0. They host 5-0 St. Helena on Friday night.
Running out of QBs — With Clear Lake starter Kenny Henninger unable to play Friday night against St. Helena, backup Adrian Adams was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury midway through the first quarter. Andre Buendia, a running back, took over. Although he hadn”t taken a single snap all season, he did play the position at the JV level.
Speedy recovery — Upper Lake fullback/defensive end Joey Valdez is expected to miss six to eight weeks with his broken ankle, which will cut into the first part of the winter sports season for the senior, who plans to wrestle and play basketball.
In the world of prep soccer — The Middletown varsity girls take a league record of 11-0-1 to Cloverdale today to play the 10-0-2 Eagles. A win will clinch a fifth straight league championship for the Mustangs while a loss most likely means a second-place finish. If the two teams tie, as they did in their first league meeting, Middletown probably will need a tie or a win against Clear Lake on Thursday to win the title (or some share of it).
NCL I volleyball race — Clear Lake (9-1), Middletown (9-1), St. Helena (8-2) and Kelseyville (7-3) are battling for the top spot with two weeks remaining.
Not missing it — The NHL, not even a little bit.
Just for the heck of it — The San Francisco Giants, 2012 National League champions.
