LAKE COUNTY >> There”s a little bit of something for everyone tonight as Week 6 of the high school football season kicks off with a couple of games of note.
The headliner is certainly Middletown (4-1) at St. Helena (5-0) in a battle of teams tied atop the North Central League I standings at 2-0. Close behind is Fort Bragg (3-2) at Kelseyville (4-1), a game matching two 1-1 teams trying to stay in the thick of the league hunt. And in what essentially amounts to a NCL I elimination game, Lower Lake (2-3) hosts Clear Lake (3-2). Both teams are tied for last in the league standings at 0-2.
Switching to the NCL II, Upper Lake (0-5) visits St. Vincent (1-4) on Saturday in Petaluma.
Middletown at St. Helena
“It”s a real big game for us. They (Saints) were the team to beat at the start of the season,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said.
Nothing has occurred so far this season that would diminish the Saints” preseason team-to-beat status. They played a quality preseason schedule before smacking around Kelseyville, 44-7, and Lower Lake, 48-14, to open league play. Middletown hammered Willits 54-6 in its league opener, then rallied at Fort Bragg to beat the Timberwolves 28-19 a week ago.
The Saints” program mirrors the Mustangs” in many ways.
“They”ve got a good coach,” Foltmer said. “Brandon Farrell has built it to be one of the teams in the division. Their players are always where they”re supposed to be, they”re fundamentally sound. Their line gets off the ball real well. That”s how you become successful over a long period of time.”
Foltmer said the Saints” team speed and the location of tonight”s game is definitely advantage St. Helena.
“They have exceptional team speed and playing on that turf makes them a little quicker,” Foltmer said.
The winner tonight emerges 3-0 and in control of the league race. If that winner is Middletown, the Mustangs also have the added advantage of having already played and beaten Fort Bragg, a team St. Helena won”t face until Oct. 24 in Fort Bragg.
Fort Bragg at Kelseyville
Fort Bragg”s passing attack makes a stop in Kelseyville tonight as the Knights brace for the Kaylor Sullivan show. The junior quarterback boasts gaudy season numbers of 1,888 yards and 17 TDs. That”s compared to a grand total of 468 rushing yards for the Timberwolves. In fact, Sullivan is the team”s leading rusher with 161 yards.
“They throw the ball about 85 percent of the time,” Kelseyville coach Mike McGuire said. “He (Sullivan) gets the ball into a lot of receivers” hands.”
Five Timberwolf receivers have more than 200 yards in catches. Lucas Triplett (513 yards, 7 TDs) and Tyler Baker (418 yards, 2 TDs) are Sullivan”s favorite targets.
While Kelseyville isn”t the passing machine that Fort Bragg is, McGuire likes the success the Knights” are enjoying throwing the ball this season. Junior quarterback Noah Lyndall has thrown for 395 yards and a Lake County-leading six TDs with only one interception. He”s averaged nearly 100 yards a game in his last three games, something that has complimented a solid Kelseyville running attack very well, according to McGuire.
“We”re averaging about 400 yards of offense a game and 100 of those yards are passing, which is exactly where we want to be,” McGuire said.
Lake County”s top rusher, senior Robert McLean, enters play with 821 yards and seven TDs.
On the injury front, the Knights have several players dinged up and most of them will be game-time decisions, according to McGuire.
“All of our kids could go, but it”s still a question if they will go,” McGuire said. “We”ll have to wait and see.”
Clear Lake at Lower Lake
Both teams need a win after dropping their first two league games and both teams are coming off especially disappointing road efforts a week ago. Clear Lake surrendered 32 unanswered points in a 32-8 loss at Willits while Lower Lake didn”t score until the game had long been decided in a 48-14 setback at St. Helena.
“We need to dictate how this game goes,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said. “Our defense needs to play better all the way around. We had players out of position last week. It was a huge letdown.”
A tough week in practice and a number of minor injuries haven”t helped the team prepare for the Cardinals, according to Gaddy.
“You”re going to have all kinds of adversity during a football season and this will be a good test of how we handle it. We do have a number of players who are banged up, but they need to play through it. Right now we need to play our hardest and push through it.”
Gaddy is looking forward to seeing the stands filled with screaming Trojan fans tonight.
“It”s a big boost for the kids,” Gaddy said.
Upper Lake at St. Vincent
From defending against the smash-mouth style of offense used by the Tomales Braves last week in Upper Lake to slowing down a much more balanced offense in St. Vincent. That”s the challenge facing the winless Cougars this week.
St. Vincent can moved the ball through the air and on the ground. Quarterback Dominic Pedersen is 43-for-92 for 521 yards, four TDs and seven interceptions. The team”s leading rushing is George Sammon with 447 yards and seven TDs.
And don”t be deceived by the Mustangs” 1-4 record. Their losses were 13-6 to a 4-1 St. Bernard team likely head to the Division V playoffs, 28-7 to a Cloverdale team that could reach the Division V playoffs, 17-14 to a 3-3 San Rafael team, and 27-21 to undefeated St. Helena, a game the Mustangs nearly came back to win.
St. Vincent picked up its first victory a week ago with a 68-13 victory over winless Calistoga (0-5) in the NCL II opener for both teams. And the Petaluma private school will be looking for more of the same Saturday against the Cougars, who are still looking to crack the scoring column in 2014.
Upper Lake will suit up just 13 players after a string of injuries and team discipline took its toll on the roster this week.
“The good news is the players found some rhythm on offense and defense,” Upper Lake coach Frank Gudmundson said. “There is a core group of players that want to play and find reasons for showing up every day.”
