UPPER LAKE >> In every conceivable way, the Anderson Valley Panthers outplayed the Upper Lake Cougars on Saturday afternoon during the annual Redwood Bowl at Upper Lake High School.
Unlike the first meeting between these two North Central League III co-champions on Oct. 10 in Upper Lake where the Cougars prevailed 34-22, it was the Panthers who immediately took the initiative on Saturday with a game-opening 12-play, 68-yard drive that consumed more than seven and a half minutes of the clock.
True, the Cougars (7-2) made the Panthers (9-1) chip their way down the field, but it was simply a portent of things to come for an Upper Lake defense that struggled against a powerful Anderson Valley running attack led by Cesar Soto, who finished with 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Not only did Anderson Valley outgain Upper Lake 269-50 on the ground, but the Panthers’ defense and special teams all played better than their Cougar counterparts.
And it wasn’t just in the statistical realm where Anderson Valley’s dominance presented itself. While both teams were amped up before the game and made some silly early mistakes, the Panthers finally settled down whereas the Cougars never really did. It was plainly obvious to Upper Lake head coach Frank Gudmundson, who watched his team go from last in the standings a year go to first this year, the Cougars’ first season of eight-man football.
“It was a lack of discipline, especially when it counted. Discipline and poise,” Gudmundson said.
Upper Lake made a bundle of mistakes, physical and mental, on five separate trips deep into Anderson Valley territory, five drives that yielded exactly no points.
The best example came early in the fourth quarter of a game which was still winnable at that point with Upper Lake trailing only 26-12. The Cougars had a first-and-goal from the Anderson Valley 8-yard line only to turn it over on downs at the 15.
The Panthers certainly contributed to the Cougars’ red-zone woes. Their pass rush in the second half had Upper Lake quarterback Derek Pritchard running for his life more times than not. They sacked him five times in the second half alone and six times overall. He also was flagged twice for intentional grounding, both times while under heavy pressure.
Upper Lake also dropped passes at key points — including one late in the second quarter that cost them a sure score — and was flagged three times for delay of game penalties that bogged down drives. Another penalty, this one offsides on the Upper Lake defense, gave the Panthers a key first down and eventually led to their final touchdown.
Anderson Valley earned another check mark in the “big plays” column. After Upper Lake pulled even at 6-6 on a Jacob Kalawaia 5-yard run early in the second quarter, the Panthers returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown and added the two-point conversion for a 14-6 lead. Soto’s 54-yard touchdown with two minutes left in the half was another of those big plays as he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage on third-and-six and raced to the end zone to make it 20-6.
There were a few bright spots for the Cougars, the biggest being Isaac Nevarez, who accounted for 150 of Upper Lake’s total yards on offense. He had four catches for 122 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter to get Cougars as close as 20-12, and a 65-yard TD reception late in the fourth quarter to make it 32-18. It also was Nevarez who intercepted a pass and returned it 64 yards to set up Kalawaia’s touchdown run in the second quarter.
Pritchard finished 13-for-31 for 232 yards but also threw two interceptions that led to Anderson Valley touchdowns.
Perhaps the biggest difference between Saturday’s game and the league meeting on Oct. 10 was Anderson Valley’s ability to neutralize Upper Lake’s running game. Dre Santos, who had 74 yards in the first meeting, gained only seven yards in the Redwood Bowl. Anderson Valley simply ignored Upper Lake’s running game in the second half and came hell bent after Pritchard, a strategy that worked.
“They didn’t sit back and let us dunk and dink like in the first game,” Gudmundson said of the success of Upper Lake’s short passing attack in the Oct. 10 meeting. “Anderson Valley pressed us and never let us get comfortable.”
On a brighter note, Gudmundson said winning the Redwood Bowl was one of the few things Upper Lake didn’t accomplish in 2015. The Cougars weathered two winless seasons in 2013 and 2014, the latter with Gudmundson at the helm, before switching to the eight-man game this year. They finished 7-1 in the NCL III standings and earned a co-championship after winning their last six league games.
“We lose only five seniors and three of them are starters,” Gudmundson said. “We didn’t get it done today, but we’re still a first-place team. Our kids turned the program around.”
And what about next year?
“Our goal is to be right back here (in the Redwood Bowl),” Gudmundson added.
