ST. HELENA >> The St. Helena Saints dominated on the line and hammered the Lower Lake Trojans 48-14 in North Central League I varsity football action on Friday night in St. Helena.
St. Helena led 14-0 after one quarter, 27-0 at halftime and 41-0 through three quarters before a running clock was used in the final period.
Lower Lake (0-2 league, 2-3 overall) did scored twice in the fourth quarter, the first time on a James Clark 25-yard run and later on quarterback Isazah King”s 49-yard run. Clark made his first start at running back and was one of the few bright spots for the Trojans on an otherwise gloomy night as he finished with 124 yards on 25 carries. King added 89 yards on 11 carries.
“St. Helena played very, very well,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said of the Saints, who improved to 2-0 in league play and 5-0 overall. They host Middletown (2-0, 4-1) next week in a battle for sole possesion of first place. “Their quarterback did a great job and they are well-coached,” Gaddy added of the Saints, who finished second to Middletown in last year”s league standings.
Lower Lake was coming off a 29-28 loss to Fort Bragg last week and Gaddy was hoping to give the Saints some sort of battle, but it never materialized as the Saints took control from the start.
“They had excellent line play,” Gaddy said. “They beat us up front.”
Running backs Johnny “Bubba” Egger and Mason Sanders played sparingly after sustaining injuries last week against Fort Bragg. Egger carried the ball four times for 36 yards and Sanders had three carries for 25 yards. Clark helped take up the slack.
“He had an opportunity and did a good job,” Gaddy said of Clark.
Lower Lake had only one turnover. The Trojans” defense forced two turnovers as Clark had an inteception and Anthony Williams recovered a fumble.
Lower Lake goes after its first league win next Friday at home against a Clear Lake (0-2, 3-2) team also looking for its first NCL I win.
