LOWER LAKE >> If Isazah King isn”t the best football player in Lake County, he”ll do until someone better comes along.
That person would be hard put to perform anything close to what King did for the Lower Lake Trojans in defeating Durham”s Trojans 27-18 on Friday night at Gordon Sadler Field in Lower Lake.
Most importantly, King”s 90-yard return of a pass thrown by Brycen Buck, the Durham quarterback, in the final four minutes of the third quarter was a game-turner. Until that moment Durham had all the momentum it needed to overtake a 21-0 lead Lower Lake built in the first 21 minutes of the game.
But King”s interception return made it 27-12 and put Durham into a situation in which it would need two scores to win.
It did score once more with 4:43 remaining and Lower Lake clinging to a nine-point 27-18 lead. But Lower Lake stood up at the end and visiting Durham wound up throwing incomplete on fourth down near the Lower Lake 20 as time ran out.
“That was a big play,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said of King”s 90-yard interception return, “but it took playing four quarters to win.”
Gaddy”s assessment notwithstanding, this game had King”s fingerprints all over it. He scored three of the Trojans” four touchdowns. The fourth — Lower Lake”s first in the game — was scored by James Clark only a minute and 48 seconds into the first quarter.
King had 124 yards rushing on 15 carries — including a 31-yard scoring run — and 47 yards passing.
The home-standing Trojans scored in the first quarter on a 10-play, 60-yard drive, capped by King”s 31-yard run. The drive began one play after Clark recovered a Durham fumble, which, ironically, occurred on the first play after Durham, in turn, had recovered a Lower Lake fumble.
Lower Lake scored again in its next series which began at the 26 and ended with King”s 1-yard run for the TD.
That put Lower Lake up by 21-0, but not for long. Duirham”s Trojans responded with a perfect 50-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Buck Brycen to running back Joe Murphy, who was in full stride behind the Lower Lake secondary.
Durham closed the gap to 21-12 with an eight-play drive in the third quarter, capped by Hayden Southam”s 8-yard run.
And the visiting Trojans were threatening to score again with 3:40 left in the third quarter when King made his fateful interception and made a beeline for the goal line before most of Durham”s Trojans knew what hit them.
Brycen teamed with wideout Zach Argo for another lengthy pass play that covered 78 yards and Durham scored for its last time three plays later.
Lower Lake improved to 1-1 with the win and will celebrate its homecoming next Friday against Upper Lake (0-3).
