LOWER LAKE >> While three of the four North Central League I varsity football openers on Friday night turned out to be lopsided affairs, not so in Lower Lake where the Trojans fell 29-28 to the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
Lower Lake built a 28-7 halftime lead on the strength of two long interception returns for touchdowns — one each by James Clark and Isazah King — and two King TD runs. A pair of key injuries near the end of the first half to starting running backs Mason Sanders and Johnny “Bubba” Egger no doubt hurt the Trojans” chances in the second half as Fort Bragg reeled off 22 unanswered points to pull out a dramatic victory.
Sanders (bruised sternum) and Egger (neck) might play on Friday when the Trojans visit St. Helena, but both are likely to be game-time decisions, according to Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy.
“Health is the important thing,” Gaddy said. “They”ll both take it easy this week in practice.”
Other Week 4 games had Middletown beating Willits 54-6, St. Helena defeating Kelseyville 44-7, and Cloverdale blanking Clear Lake 26-0.
Here are the Week 4 highlights and lowlights:
Statistics
Rushing — Lower Lake”s Isazah King rushed for 247 yards and two TDs while Middletown”s Wyatt Hall had 243 yards and three TDs. Also topping 100 yards was Clear Lake”s Cole Brodnansky with 116 yards.
Passing — Kelseyville”s Noah Lyndall completed four of 11 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. He”s thrown at least one touchdown in every game for the Knights this season. Middletown”s Connor Armstrong was 9-for-14 for 93 yards and two TDs against Willits.
Receiving — Kelseyville”s Devin Dugger caught two passes for 80 yards and a TD. Middletown”s Anthonie Guzman had four catches for 61 yards and a TD.
Highlights
Special teams — Tyler Holt kicked six extra points in Middletown”s win over Willits.
Defense — Lower Lake”s Isazah King and James Clark returned interceptions for touchdowns. King”s pick-six covered 98 yards and Clark”s 84 yards. King also had half a sack. Antonie Guzman picked off his third pass of the season in Middletown”s win. Guzman and King each have three interceptions to lead the county.
Sweet 16 — The number of tackles Lower Lake”s Robert Calderon had against Fort Bragg.
Lightning delay — The start of Middletown”s junior varsity game against Willits was delayed 30 minutes because of lightning in the area. The thunder soon followed as the Mustangs shut out Willits 28-0 to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Another 4-0 JV team — Clear Lake beat Cloverdale 16-8 to remain undefeated.
Big chunks of yardage — Wyatt Hall”s three touchdown runs for Middletown were, in order, 70, 44 and 40 yards. The 70-yarder came on the first play from scrimmage.
Sack attack — Lower Lake sacked Fort Bragg”s Kaylor Sullivan four times and picked him off three times. Clear Lake registered three sacks against Cloverdale, including one by Cole Brodnansky, his Lake County-leading fourth of the season.
Homecoming times three — Clear Lake, Kelseyville and Middletown all celebrated homecoming last weekend. The final homecoming for the county teams is Saturday when Upper Lake hosts Tomales in the North Central League II opener for both schools. Just a reminder that Tomales has no JV team, so the varsity game kicks off at 1 p.m.
Hit the road Jack — All four NCL I openers took place Friday night inside Lake County. This Friday, it”s the exact opposite as all four NCL I games take place outside the county. Middletown (1-0) visits Fort Bragg (1-0) in the game of the week, Lower Lake (0-1) travels to St. Helena (1-0), Kelseyville (0-1) visits Cloverdale (1-0), and Clear Lake (0-1) calls on Willits (0-1).
Don”t be 0-2 — If that”s your league record after this coming Friday”s round of games in the NCL I, you”re in a tough spot.
Doesn”t happen often — Lower Lake won the turnover battle with Fort Bragg (four to one) and still lost the game.
So much for lucky seven — Clear Lake coughed up the ball seven times in its lost to Cloverdale (four lost fumbles, three interceptions).
Recruiting trip — Three members of the Kelseyville varsity football team attended a recruiting trip Saturday to the UC Davis-Eastern Washington football game at UC Davis. Attending were linemen Codi McGuire (who is already signed with Eastern Washington) and Jason Vaughn and running back Robert McLean. The three were treated to, among other things, a facilities tour and field access to the football game. Eastern Washington won the game 37-14.
Position available — Pro football experience not a requirement. Deer-in-headlights look a plus. Speaking in cliches at media sessions while saying nothing of substance a must. If this is you, you qualify to be the next ex-head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Apply in person with next ex-general manager of the Raiders.
Big week in NCL I girls” soccer — Middletown (4-0) hosts Cloverdale (4-0) today and Clear Lake (3-1) on Friday.
One more time ? and with feeling — The Monday-Thursday deadline for reporting high school results is 9:30 p.m. If you phone in results after that, the odds are they won”t appear in the following day”s print section. If you”re playing on the road, please call from the road if it”s an issue regarding the 9:30 p.m. deadline.
How will they blow it this year? — Dallas Cowboys.
Just for the heck of it — Derek Jeter.
From the clich? file — I give 150 percent each time I sit in front of the keyboard.
227-0 — California School for the Deaf of Fremont has outscored its first five opponents, including Upper Lake and Calistoga, by a combined 227-0.
Dude”s Rankings (by Ralph Gibson):
Division IV — 1. St. Mary”s (5-0), defeated Hercules 42-0; 2. Piedmont (4-0), crushed Albany 59-7; 3. Justin-Siena (3-2), beat Drake 35-7; 4. San Marin (3-2), hosts Redwood on Thursday; 5. Fort Bragg (3-1), came from behind to beat Lower Lake 29-28; 6. Del Norte (3-2), beat Fortuna 26-7; 7. Fort Bragg (3-2) visits McKinleyville on Friday; 8. Kelseyville (3-1), travels to Cloverdale on Friday.
Division V — 1. Salesian (2-2), beat Pinole Valley 35-7; 2. St. Helena (4-0), defeated Kelseyville 44-7; 3. Valley Christian (3-2), lost big to El Cerrito 54-0; 4. St. Bernard (3-1), travels to Ferndale on Saturday; 5. Middletown (3-1), travels to Fort Bragg on Friday; 6. CSD (5-0), beat Chavez of Washington D.C. 27-0; 7. Cloverdale (3-1), beat Clear Lake 26-0; 8. Swett (4-0), defeated St. Patrick-St. Vincent 42-18.
