LAKE COUNTY >> Three teams advance, two are done.
Welcome to mid-November, which can only mean one thing and that”s playoff time for Lake County”s high school football teams. Middletown, Lower Lake and Kelseyville all made the cut as at-large teams — Middletown in Division V and Lower Lake and Kelseyville in Division IV — and put their seasons on the line this weekend (see related story, this page).
The final week of the regular season, Week 10, produced one tremendous individual performance — see Middletown”s Anthonie Guzman — and one upset as Willits knocked off Kelseyville 16-13. Upper Lake came up short in its bid to end one of the North Coast Section”s longest losing streaks but did make it through the season without forfeiting a game or folding its varsity program, a victory of another sort.
Following are the highlights and lowlights from Week 10:
Statistics
Rushing — Middletown”s Anthonie Guzman set personal bests for carries — 35 — and yards — 217 — while leading the Mustangs to a 28-13 victory over a red-hot Lower Lake team entering play. He also had three touchdowns. His backfield mate, Joey Burns, added 106 yards and a touchdown. Kelseyville”s Edgar Ramirez made his first start of the season and finished with 157 yards on 23 carries with a TD in a loss to Willits.
Passing — Clear Lake”s Damian Lopez went 6-for-17 for 183 yards and a TD in a 28-16 loss to Fort Bragg. Lower Lake”s Isazah King went 10-for-15 for 131 yards and a TD against Middletown. Kelseyville”s Noah Lyndall went 6-for-15 for 91 yards.
Receiving — Marcus Sugimoto caught only one pass for Clear Lake, but he made the most of it, taking a 3-yard slant and turning it into a 98-yard touchdown against Fort Bragg. His teammate, Jared Strate, had five catches for 89 yards. Lower Lake”s James Clark caught five passes for 100 yards and a TD and Kelseyville”s Tyler Riewerts had two catches for 58 yards.
Highlights
Special teams — Cole Brodnansky booted a 41-yard field goal for Clear Lake”s first points against Fort Bragg. Upper Lake punter Derek Di Andrea had kicks of 55 and 65 yards against Calistoga. Middletown placekicker Tyler Holt went 4-for-4 on his extra-point tries.
Defense — Middletown held Lower Lake quarterback Isazah King to a season-low 40 rushing yards on Friday night in Middletown. King”s previous low was 89 yards in a loss to St. Helena. On the other side of the football, King was in on 17 tackles against Middletown. Upper Lake”s Derek Di Andrea had four touchdown-saving tackles against Calistoga, according to coach Frank Gudmundson. Middletown”s Cody Chorjel recovered two fumbles.
Sack attack — Wyatt Hall had three of Middletown”s five sacks against Lower Lake, giving him a county-leading nine on the season.
Penalties, penalties stay away — Lower Lake has been penalized for more than 1,000 yards this season, according to head coach Justin Gaddy. Their opponents? Less than 500 yards, according to Gaddy.
1,000/1,000 — Lower Lake quarterback Isazah King needs 66 more passing yards to give him 1,000 for the year and become the first Lake County quarterback to reach 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing in a single season.
More on Guzman — He not only had a season-best 217 rushing yards, but he caught the only two passes Middletown completed against Lower Lake for another 27 yards.
Best quote of the week — “We somehow found a way not to win the game,” Kelseyville coach Mike McGuire said after racking up nearly 400 yards of offense in a 16-13 loss at Willits.
Streaks — Upper Lake was hoping to end a 22-game losing streak Friday night in Calistoga, which is where the streak started late in the 2012 season. Maybe next time. The Cougars lost 12-0 and will take a 23-game losing streak into 2015. Clear Lake ends the season with a seven-game losing streak.
10-0 times three — Kelseyville”s youth football teams — varsity, junior varsity and Pee Wee — all went 10-0 this season, which is a Lake County first.
Yep, it”s true — Basketball season opened Monday with the first official day of practice.
Commitment to 0-9 — Your Oakland Raiders.
In the semifinals — The Middletown girls” soccer team beat Clear Lake 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the sectional playoffs on Saturday in Middletown. If the Mustangs can beat No. 2 seed St. Vincent on Wednesday in Petlauma, they”ll advance to the sectional championship game for a third year in a row and with a different coach each time.
At least one more match — The Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Middletown and Upper Lake volleyball teams reached the sectional playoffs and play Wednesday in first-round action (see story, Page A6).
All-League teams — Coaches in all the fall sports except cross country met Monday in Cloverdale to select their respective All-League teams. They will be released once all the North Central League I teams are eliminated from the playoffs and not before … per Coastal Mountain Conference directive.
Hoop Classic — The 21st annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic boys” basketball tournament is Dec. 18-20 at Lower Lake High School”s new gym. Starting times on Thursday and Friday are 30 minutes earlier than last year. Saturday”s schedule is the same.
Week 12? — That”s up to Middletown, Lower Lake and Kelseyville.
JV ranks — One year after going 10-0, the Middletown junior varsity squad finished a solid 8-1-1.
Sidelined — Fort Bragg star quarterback Kaylor Sullivan sat out the Timberwolves” 28-16 win over Clear Lake on Friday night, the result of an injury he sustained against Cloverdale the week before.
You don”t say? — An anonymous source relaying information from another anonymous source about an alleged team mutiny.
Kudos — To all the fall sports coaches who called in their results win, lose or draw during the course of the season, kudos to you and thank you very much.
Man, don”t even go there — One Facebook poster commented, then deleted said comment, about Lower Lake”s lack of football coverage this season. Does Isazah King ring a bell?
Coming soon — The All-Lake County football team … and I”m guessing Isazah King has a pretty good at making it.
