TOMALES >> As Fecht would have it, it was Upper Lake’s turn to do to Tomales what the Braves have done so often to the Cougars in seasons past; run them over.
Chris Fecht, the lone freshman starter for Upper Lake in its first year of playing eight-man football, made a major contribution to the Cougars’ big-time running attack on Saturday night in a 44-16 North Central League III victory over the Braves, who suited up just 12 players.
On a night when extremely windy conditions made it nearly impossible for a potent Upper Lake passing attack led by quarterback Justin Pritchard to throw the ball, the Cougars’ ground attack more than compensated, and with a big assist from Fecht. He rushed for 79 yards, two touchdowns and three two-point conversions.
“He really stepped up,” Upper Lake assistant head coach Mike Smith said. “He also had the block of the game on (Andreas) Santos’ first touchdown in the fourth quarter. He took care of his guy (a Tomales outside linebacker) and opened up a huge hole.”
Upper Lake rushed for 244 yards and five touchdowns as a team while improving to 3-1 in the NCL III standings, which leaves the Cougars one game behind Anderson Valley (5-0) and Calistoga (4-0) in the loss column. Upper Lake hosts Anderson Valley on Saturday.
“The two-week preparation paid off,” Upper Lake head coach Frank Gudmundson said of Upper Lake’s layoff (which included a bye week) since its last game on Sept. 19 against Potter Valley. “We were introducing this group to the toss (offense run by Tomales) and they (Braves) came out and ran exactly what we scouted.”
While Upper Lake’s defense did its job by limiting the homecoming-celebrating Braves to single touchdowns in the second and third quarters, the Cougar offense set the tone on the second play of the game when Fecht busted loose on a simple dive play and sprinted 53 yards for a touchdown. He also ran in the conversion to make it 8-0. Isaac Nevarez, Upper Lake’s other primary weapon against the Braves, added to the lead with a 16-yard run later in the quarter. Fecht again scored on the conversion to push the Cougars’ advantage to 16-0.
Nevarez rushed for 34 yards and also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Upper Lake used him at quarterback as well as wide receiver, something Tomales wasn’t prepared for, according to Gudmundson.
“When we put Nevarez at QB and Santos and Fecht in the backfield as we lined Florida (starting QB Pritchard’s nickname) up at wideout, you could feel the panic from across the field,” Gudmundson said.
Nevarez took the snap from center on his 16-yard touchdown run and swept left into the end zone.
The Cougars added to their lead on Fecht’s 1-yard TD run in the second quarter and led 22-8 at halftime.
Upper Lake busted the game open with a 16-0 fourth quarter, both touchdowns coming on long Santos runs of 35 and 31 yards. Ray Gutierrez scored on the conversion pass from Pritchard to make it 36-16 after Santos’ first TD run, and Fecht’s third conversion run following Santos’ second TD run made it 44-16.
Santos led the Cougars with 91 rushing yards.
Pritchard, who had thrown 11 touchdowns in Upper Lake’s first three games, attempted just seven passes and completed five for 37 yards.
“It was a Katrina windstorm (in Tomales),” said Gudmundson, referencing the 2005 hurricane that battered the Gulf Coast, especially New Orleans.
Austin Hill, filling in for injured placekicker Francisco Flores (ankle), benefited from the ultra-windy conditions, his squib kickoffs proving elusive as the Braves had a hard time picking up the football. One of them was even recovered by the Cougars after the Braves failed to cover the ball.
Santos anchored Upper Lake’s defense with 15 total tackles and Nevarez had nine.
