LAKE COUNTY >> The Lower Lake Trojans take on their second Sonoma County League opponent in as many weeks tonight when they host the Healdsburg Greyhounds in non-league action at Gordon Sadler Field in Lower Lake.
Head coach Justin Gaddy watched his squad rally for a 21-14 win over the El Molino Lions of Forestville a week ago at home, led by the passing of sophomore quarterback Hokulani Wickard, who went 23-for-26 for 185 yards and three touchdowns in his varsity debut.
While El Molino (0-2) and Healdsburg (1-1) compete in the same league, that’s pretty much where the similarities end, at least this season, according to Gaddy.
“Our offenses are very similar,” Gaddy said of the Trojans and Greyhounds, both of whom can run and throw the ball.
“El Molino runs a double-tight (end), double-wing formation and it’s hard to simulate that in practice,” Gaddy said.
“Healdsburg’s offense is closer to ours, which helps out in terms of preparation,” Gaddy added.
All three of Lower Lake’s games during the preseason involve teams from Sonoma County schools. They hit the road a week from tonight to play Elsie Allen, a Santa Rosa school and a member of the North Bay League.
In other games tonight involving Lake County teams, Clear Lake (0-1) travels to Colusa (1-1) while Middletown (0-1) hosts Berean Christian (1-1) of Walnut Creek. Kelseyville’s junior varsity squad plays at Esparto, but the Knights’ varsity club has a bye. On Saturday, Upper Lake (1-0) and Calistoga (1-0) square off in eight-man North Central League III action at Upper Lake. Kickoff for both the Upper Lake JV and varsity games has been moved up to 10 a.m. and noon because of the recent heat wave.
Healdsburg at Lower Lake
Healdsburg held off Kelseyville 20-13 a week ago in Healdsburg to collect its first win of the season. The Greyhounds needed a last-second goal-line stand to preserve the victory as they stopped the Knights on downs at the Healdsburg 1.
“I love the caliber of competition,” Gaddy said with an eye toward tonight’s opponent. “Healdsburg historically has a great program.”
Gaddy said Healdsburg running back Bryant Herrguth (88 yards rushing against Kelseyville) and quarterback Levi Yeley (13-for-22, 186 yards, 2 TDs) pose several challenges for the Lower Lake defense.
“They have a really good running back and their quarterback’s got a heck of an arm,” Gaddy said. “They’ve got good skills. I think defensively for us it’s going to be a dogfight.”
Tonight’s game is also the Trojans’ homecoming, a week most coaches dread because of the many non-football distractions that present themselves each year.
“Focus is the word of the week,” Gaddy said. “We know it’s a big event not only for the football team, but for the entire school and community. It’s almost a college atmosphere here. Our drumline and cheerleaders are involved and most of the clubs on campus are taking part. I understand one of the REACH helicopters is going to do a flyover during the parade (in downtown Lower Lake).”
While injuries became an issue for the Trojans even before their opener against El Molino, Gaddy said the Week 2 report also include a few flu casualties.
“It’s going around and I hope we’re done with it,” he said. “We got a couple of guys back this week (from the injury list) but we also lost a couple.”
Gaddy said his quarterback’s varsity debut speaks for itself — the sophomore also led the team in rushing with 62 yards — but added that all of his sophomores distinguished themselves at some point in last week’s win over El Molino.
“Peerliss Brooke had a big interception near the end of the game,” Gaddy said. “All of the sophomores are stepping up.”
Berean Christian at Middletown
Coming off a 41-19 loss to Salesian in Week 1, Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said tonight’s opponent, Berean Christian, is not a gimme team.
“They (Eagles coaches) are pretty high on this group,” Foltmer said. “They have a bunch of seniors and the coaches have been waiting for this group.”
Berean Christian blew a 24-7 lead in a 28-24 season-opening loss at Cloverdale two weeks ago but rebounded nicely with a 49-0 home win over Mount Diablo last week.
“They run a spread offense, often with twins and trips sets,” Foltmer said. “They have a running back (Joey Esco, 257 yards in two games) who lines up behind the quarterback when they’re in a shotgun formation. They like to bounce the ball outside, but they also have a big fullback (Joshua Smith) who likes to run straight ahead. When he’s in the game, that’s what they do.”
The Eagles also like to throw what Foltmer calls “50-50 balls” to 6-foot-3 wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins.
“They throw it up there and he goes after it,” Foltmer said. “That concerns me with (Robby) Carey not able to play.”
Carey, who starts on offense, defense and special teams for the Mustangs and also does all of the team’s punting and kicking, is nursing an ankle injury after he was roughed kicking an extra point in the first quarter against Salesian.
“I’m bringing up a JV kid (Trey O’Neill) to take his spot (in the secondary),” Foltmer said. “But it hurts not having Carey. It’s like you lose a guy at six different positions.”
The Mustangs also will be without lineman Josh Rebolledo (knee).
On a positive note, starting halfback Coleman Drew and do-everything Wyatt Jones make their season debuts after missing the Salesian game because of their participation showing animals at the Lake County Fair.
Middletown’s JV squad also will be looking for its first win of the season tonight at Bill Foltmer Field.
Clear Lake at Colusa
The Clear Lake Cardinals make their first road trip of the season and they’ll visit the Colusa Redhawks, who are 1-1 after a 41-6 road win at Quincy to open the season and a 51-20 road loss to East Nicolaus last week.
“They run a lot of option offense,” Clear Lake coach Darin Brodnansky said.
The numbers certainly bear that out as the Redhawks have 504 yards and seven TDs on the ground and just 28 yards and on TD through the air. Lucas Davison and Jorge Braves lead the team in rushing with 170 and 101 yards, respectively.
Colusa runs a base 4-4 defense, according to Brodnansky.
Clear Lake quarterback Tyler Dore, who was forced out of the Cardinals’ season-opening 50-7 loss to Durham with an ankle injury, will start tonight, according to Brodnansky.
“We would like to use him sparingly, but we’ll see how it goes,” Brodnansky said.
Clear Lake suited up 14 players against Durham and the Cardinals haven’t added any new players since then, so fatigue could definitely become a factor as the game progresses, according to Brodnansky.
“We need to play disciplined and I’m hoping we can give them a game,” he added.
Calistoga at Upper Lake
It’s only week two of the season, but the winner of Saturday’s varsity contest between the visiting Wildcats (1-0) and the host Cougars (1-0) is going to be a good spot atop the NCL III standings.
“We’re lucky to get them early (in the season) because I’m sure we’re both trying to figure out eight-man football,” Upper Lake coach Frank Gudmundson said of these two former NCL II and 11-man football programs.
“On film it looks equal,” Gudmundson said.
The Wildcats wiped out Laytonville 46-8 in their season and eight-man opener a week ago in Laytonville. Upper Lake beat Rincon Valley Christian 36-20 the next day in their first try at the eight-man game, also on the road.
“Calistoga has large offensive and defensive lines and some really fast kids in the backfield,” Gudmundson said.
Upper Lake’s defense, which has plenty of speed but not the size of a Calistoga, will attack at the line of scrimmage from several angles.
“We’ll make those big guys guess where we’re coming from,” Gudmundson said.
Upper Lake also will have Zack Sneathen in its starting lineup. The senior, playing football for the first time, missed the Cougars’ opener because of his involvement showing animals last weekend at the Lake County Fair.
“He’ll start at nose tackle,” Gudmundson said of the 6-foot-0, 155-pound wrestling and former cross country star at the school.
“He is greased lightning … he is fast and strong,” Gudmundson said.
Upper Lake enters play injury free.
Kelseyville JVs at Esparto
While the Kelseyville varsity (0-2) has a bye this weekend, the Kelseyville JVs (1-0) hit the road to take on Esparto. The JV Knights mauled Healdsburg 51-15 a week ago. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m.
