LAKE COUNTY >> The North Central League I football season not only opens tonight, but it debuts entirely in Lake County with four games at four county venues.
Considering that the eight teams making up the NCL I all went 2-1 or better in the preseason would seem to suggest an exciting race is in the works. Preseason favorites St. Helena (3-0) and Middletown (2-1) join Fort Bragg (2-1) as the teams to beat based on early returns, but two other squads — Kelseyville and Clear Lake — went undefeated in the non-league portion of their schedules and might have something to say about that. In Kelseyville”s case, the Knights can move into the title picture front and center with a homecoming victory tonight against St. Helena.
In other action tonight, Middletown celebrates its homecoming against Willits (2-1), Clear Lake hosts Cloverdale (2-1) in another homecoming game, and the Lower Lake Trojans, fresh off a big homecoming win last week against Upper Lake, draw Fort Bragg and standout junior quarterback Kaylor Sullivan, who is on a pace to throw for more than 4,000 yards.
“I think after Friday we”ll have a better idea of just how good some of these teams are,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said.
Foltmer includes his Mustangs in that assessment as well.
“I think all the teams are a little bit better this year except us and St. Helena, we”re both down a little,” Foltmer said. “It could be one heck of a race.”
Upper Lake, a member of the NCL II, has a bye this weekend before returning to action Oct. 4 at home against Tomales.
St. Helena
at Kelseyville
This game is intriguing on a number of counts, not the least of which is both teams enter play with 3-0 records. The Knights also took a 3-0 mark into their league opener a year ago at St. Helena and were crushed 42-12 by the Saints, the first of four straight league losses for Kelseyville head coach Mike McGuire in his first season with the Knights.
Now in year two, McGuire is looking to make a much better showing this time around against a St. Helena team that owns preseason wins over Healdsburg (13-10), Winters (33-20) and St. Vincent (27-21). Coming off a bye week, the Knights have had two full weeks to prepare for the Saints, which wasn”t the case a year ago.
Big advantage to Kelseyville?
“You”d like to think so,” McGuire said. “But in high school athletics, you never really know until you get on the field. I don”t think there are going to be a whole lot of surprises for us.”
McGuire said the Saints have “a fantastic coaching staff, a good quarterback” and are deserving of their early season status as the team to beat in this year”s NCL I race.
“Most people going into the season had them pegged as the team to beat,” McGuire said.
The strength of St. Helena”s offense is its ability to attack all over the football field, according to McGuire.
“They move the ball around and make you defend the whole field,” he said. “They find ways to get it done.”
Kelseyville entered its bye week healthy only to lose senior lineman Codi McGuire, a standout on both sides of the line of scrimmage, to a non-contact injury nine days ago. His status for tonight”s game is “probable,” according to his dad and coach. “It will be a game-time decision. If there are any doubts (as to his health), he won”t go. We won”t risk it.”
Even without his son, Kelseyville”s coach says the Knights are a legitimate threat to beat the Saints. He”s positive about that, too.
“Just think what that would do for us if we beat them without Codi and knowing we”ll have him back the following week (for Cloverdale)?” McGuire said.
McGuire is definitely counting on his team”s physical style of play to be a factor not only tonight but the remainder of the league race.
“We were a physical team last year and we”re even more physical this year,” McGuire said. “That can really help us.”
Fort Bragg
at Lower Lake
The two best quarterbacks in the NCL I square off tonight at Gordon Sadler Field. One is a passing quarterback (Sullivan) and the other is better known for his wheels (Isazah King). Both are off to great starts although in Sullivan”s case phenomenal might be a better description of what he”s accomplished against McKinleyville (46-36 loss), Encina (55-0 win) and El Molino (35-19 win).
Sullivan enters plays having already completed 79 of 117 passes (68 percent) for 1,227 yards, 14 touchdowns and only three interceptions. His counterpart, King, has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his first three games for a total of 404 yards and four TDs. He”s passed for another 217 yards and one TD.
The two teams have one common opponent — El Molino. The Trojans fell 28-6 to the Lions in their season opener Sept. 5 in Forestville.
“He”s a good kid, a good athlete and he does a great job of keeping his eyes down the field to find his receivers,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said of Sullivan. “He can throw, read and handle pressure.”
The best way to deal with Fort Bragg”s offense may simply be keeping it off the field as long as possible, but that”s easier said than done, according to Gaddy.
“In a perfect world, yes,” Gaddy said. “But we just need to go out and execute and play football on offense and defense. We can”t control what they do, only what we do.”
While the Trojans open league play with games against Fort Bragg and St. Helena, a tough early schedule to be sure, Gaddy said this year”s NCL I doesn”t afford any breaks.
“This year”s league is going to be great. The league champion might have one loss or even two. Everybody is going to have to be on their game. There is not a week when you can exhale for a second.”
While the Trojans have been doing the right things on the gridioron early this season, their performance off the field — as in the classroom — has been stellar. The team”s overall GPA is 3.48, including four players with GPAs of 4.0 or higher.
“We have only five guys below 3.0 and they”re around 2.8,” Gaddy said. “It”s nice to see so many kids doing the right things.”
Willits
at Middletown
The Middletown Mustangs tuned up for their league opener with back-to-back road wins over Sonoma County League schools Healdsburg (12-0) and El Molino (26-7), that after a 33-7 loss to Salesian in week one. Middletown”s defense will run into a Willits offense that has scored 126 points in its first three games, including a 47-34 loss to El Molino in week one. The Wolverines bounced back with lopsided victories over Hoopa and Elsie Allen, teams with a combined record of 1-7.
“They”re a scrappy group, aggressive and they hustle all over,” Foltmer said of the Wolveriners. “After the Elsie Allen game you know they”re coming to Middletown confident. And they have moved the ball against everybody.”
The Willits offense,led by 6-foot-3 sophomore running back Will Smith, faces its most formidable defense to date in Middletown, which shined in wins over Healdsburg and El Molino. The Wolverines” defense also figures to have its hands full with a Middletown offense coming off a 326-yard rushing, three-touchdown night against El Molino last week.
“I think it”s a game we should win,” Foltmer said. “Look at El Molino (a common opponent) and we”re playing at home.”
The Mustangs should be backed by a large homecoming crowd as well. While the event can be a distraction during the week because of related activities, Foltmer said his players are pretty locked on as far what”s important and what”s not.
“We have film sessions at lunchtime during the week, they”re voluntarily, and everyone”s been there,” Foltmer said. “Homecoming can fire your kids up, too.”
Cloverdale
at Clear Lake
The Clear Lake Cardinals are coming off a bye week as they entertain the Cloverdale Eagles. First-year coach Darin Brodnansky is looking for a fourth straight victory against an Eagles squad off to its best start in years. Cloverdale shut out Calistoga 34-0 and beat up St. Vincent 28-7 in its first two games before losing 40-21 to a 2-2 Berean Christian team a week ago. All three games took place on the road, which is exactly where the Eagles find themselves again tonight at Don Owens Stadium.
“They run a lot of I-formation,” Brodnansky said of the Cloverdale offense. “They throw some, but they seem to be be mainly a running team.”
Cloverdale”s defense also has played well in the early going, according to Brodnansky.
“They seem to be fairly stable on the defensive side of the ball,” he added.
Brodnansky said veteran Cloverdale coach Rick Berry will have the Eagles playing at a high level in their league opener tonight and the Cardinals need to bring their A-game to the field tonight in they want to compete.
“Rick is a seasoned coach who knows how to get the maximum out of his kids,” Brodnansky said.
While the Cardinals were fairly healthy going into their bye after their last game on Sept. 12, the extra week off allowed them to heal a handful of minor bumps and bruises and also to deal with the flu bug that bit the team last week.
“Everybody”s on the mend now,” Brodnansky said.
Despite homecoming week festivities, the Cardinals haven”t been too distracted, according to Brodnansky.
“The kids are fairly focused … we had a good week of practice,” Brodnansky said.
