LAKE COUNTY – Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Middletown are coming off successful season openers and are looking to go 2-0 as week two of the high school football season arrives.
The Upper Lake Cougars, who lost 68-8 to Kelseyville in week one, will try to make sure that doesn”t happen — at least in Clear Lake”s case — as they host the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon. In action under the lights tonight, Middletown is home against Healdsburg (1-1), Kelseyville travels north to Miranda to take on South Fork (1-1), and Lower Lake has a two-hour bus trip in front it as it heads to Butte County to play Durham (0-2), a 37-6 loser to Clear Lake a week ago.
Lower Lake at Durham
Still riding high after a 53-20 victory over Marshall of San Francisco in week one, the Lower Lake Trojans prepare for a Durham Trojans team hungry for their first win of the season.
“We”re still a young team learning what it takes to be disciplined,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said. “We can”t be satisfied with one win. We all know we have a lot of work to do.”
Gaddy, the first-year coach at Lower Lake, said he was happy to deliver a win in his coaching debut at the school, but the excitement following the victory over Marshall quickly gave way to the reality of the post-game film session on Saturday.
“The eye in the sky doesn”t lie and some of the things we were able to get away with (against Marshall) are things we might not be able to get away with against Durham or the teams that play in our league.”
Specifically, Gaddy said Lower Lake”s wide receivers need to run better routes, special teams have to play better and the Trojans” defense has to improve.
“Durham ran into the strength of the Clear Lake defense … and Clear Lake does a good job,” Gaddy said.
Lower Lake has a few bumps and bruises after its Marshall win but no significant injuries.
Kelseyville at South Fork
The long bus ride to Miranda in Humboldt County may be the most daunting part of the Knights” game against the Cubs, who beat John Swett of Crockett 16-13 (Kelseyville”s opponent next week) in their season opener on Aug. 30. The Cubs lost their home opener to Calistoga a week ago, falling 28-6 to a pretty good Wildcats team.
First-year Kelseyville coach Mike McGuire had nothing but praise for his team”s effort a week ago against Upper Lake, and how could you blame him? The Knights scored on all eight of their offensive possessions in the first half against the Cougars and went on to win 68-8.
The Cubs are going to have to contend with a big and mobile Kelseyville line and two first-rate running backs in Kevin Duty and Robert McLean. Sophomore quarterback Noah Lyndall was barely used against the Cougars, but he certainly offers another dimension to the Knights” attack.
Kelseyville”s defense also shined against Upper Lake, forcing five turnovers and limiting Upper Lake to one first down through most of the first half.
Healdsburg at Middletown
It”s the first meeting between the Mustangs and the Greyhounds since Middletown”s dramatic 10-0 semifinal-round victory over Healdsburg in the 2010 North Coast Section Division IV playoffs at Middletown. The stakes aren”t as big this time around although the Mustangs certainly don”t want to drop their home opener at Bill Foltmer Field. It”s the first of two straight Sonoma County League opponents for the Mustangs, who host El Molino in their homecoming game on Sept. 20.
The best news for Middletown is the return of All-League running back/defensive back Austin Benson to the starting lineup. Benson gained 1,193 yards for the Mustangs last season but was unavailable in last week”s 21-14 win over Salesian because of a concussion.
“I think you”ll see a little more flow to our offense,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said.
The Greyhounds present a serious challenge, according to Foltmer.
“I think they”ve got a good football team. They were mostly sophomores and juniors last year and they have a lot of their better kids back. They”re also well-coached.”
Healdsburg runs a spread offense out of a shotgun formation but loves to run the ball, according to Foltmer.
“Their line traps and pulls a lot. They spread you out and run the ball and they throw the ball OK,” Foltmer said. “They”re a balanced team.”
Beating Salesian and Healdsburg in back-to-back games would constitute a nice start to the Mustangs” season, according to Foltmer.
“They”re a tough, quality opponent,” he said. “If we beat Healdsburg, I think people can say Middletown has a good, quality team.”
Clear Lake at Upper Lake
The Clear Lake Cardinals successfully ran and threw the ball while also excelling on special teams against Durham. They look to make it two wins in a row against an Upper Lake team trying to rebound from its blowout loss to Kelseyville.
“We”re taking Upper Lake seriously,” Clear Lake coach Milo Meyer said. “It”s easy to overlook someone but we”re not doing that. We”re taking it one week at a time.”
Clear Lake is still experimenting with a few things but is closer to naming a starting unit.
“We”re still trying to figure out what”s our best group. We”re still juggling some linemen around to see what works best,” Meyer said.
With an extra day to prepare because of the Saturday game, Meyer said the Cardinals are ready to go.
“We”re ready to play now, too bad we”re not playing on Friday. You get comfortable with a routine of playing on Friday,” he said.
The Upper Lake Cougars are nursing a handful of injuries going into Saturday”s action. Kyle Karlsson, Charles Martinez, Hunter Ables and Augie Duarte are out with injuries and Ryan Kitchens is questionable.
“We”re still breaking in a young team,” Upper Lake coach Alex Stabiner said. “We”re going to need all three games in our preseason to figure everything out.”
One of those things his younger players need to figure is when they”re hurting and when they”re really hurt, according to Stabiner.
“Sometimes you have to play through the pain, but that doesn”t mean we want players who are really hurt out there risking themselves,” Stabiner added. “We don”t want that.”
Looking ahead to Clear Lake, Stabiner said the Cougars have a tough assignment for a second week in a row.
“They definitely showed off some of their talents against Durham,” Stabiner said. “They have size and strength. It”s one of the fastest Clear Lake teams I”ve seen a while.”
Upper Lake”s defense will have to be disciplined to contain the Cardinals, according to Stabiner.
“You have to be on assignment on defense, you have to be disciplined. If one guy misses, it could go all the way for a touchdown,” Stabiner said. “We have to play assignment defense.”
Clear Lake”s kickoff and punt return teams — led by speedy David Mansell — are another concern.
“You definitely have to have a strategy with your kicking game,” Stabiner said.
Upper Lake has had an up-and-down week in practice following the loss to Kelseyville and is looking for a much better outcome this week.
“Our strategy is the same as it”s always been. Keep the game close going into the fourth quarter and win the fourth quarter,” Stabiner said.
