LOWER LAKE >> Offseason workouts, weight training, camps, open field days, passing league, Lake County Scrimmage and three weeks of practice later, the Lower Lake Trojans have arrived at the moment they’ve long been waiting for, tonight’s season opener against the De Anza Dons of El Sobrante at Gordon Sadler Field.
“It’s an awesome thing for our community to see the lights on at our field and I expect to see a lot of people at the game dressed in blue and white,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said.
While the high school survived the recent Clayton Fire with minimal damage, the rest of the Lower Lake community wasn’t nearly as fortunate as 189 single-family homes burned down less than two weeks ago. Lake Street, which is the location of the high school, sustained significant damage all the way up from Main Street to the high school campus. Sections of the downtown are gone and entire neighborhoods have disappeared.
“It’s a chance for the community to come together,” Gaddy said of tonight’s game. “I think the atmosphere is going to be electric.”
The fire disrupted the lives of many in the Lower Lake/Clearlake area, the football team included. Practices had to be moved to Haverty Field in Clearlake until the high school had been checked out and declared safe to occupy, a process that took more than a week.
Lower Lake did participate in the annual Lake County Scrimmage, which had to be moved from Lower Lake to Middletown because of the Clayton Fire. The preseason tuneup pointed out a number of problems that the Trojans have been busy trying to correct in practice this week.
“We were average,” Gaddy said when asked to rate his team’s scrimmage performance. “The line was the most improved of all our groups.”
While Gaddy said the Trojans enter 2016 a better team “on paper” than they were in 2015, he was quick to point out that doesn’t mean much once the season arrives.
De Anza, a Division III team to Lower Lake’s Division IV, is coming off a rare winning season. The Dons were 6-5 a year ago, including a 13-7 non-league win at Kelseyville, and finished 3-3 in the Tri-Counties Stone League. It was their first winning season since 2004 (7-5). Between 2004 and 2015, De Anza averaged less than two wins a season, including three consecutive winless campaigns in 2008-10.
“Last season they used a two tight end set and were all about power football,” Gaddy said.
The Trojans didn’t receive any game film on the Dons until late Wednesday night, so Gaddy is still pouring through it to study the Dons’ tendencies.
“They are a power running team, big up front and physical,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how we match up against them.”
Lower Lake reached the playoffs in 2014 with senior quarterback Isazah King at the helm. A year ago the Trojans didn’t come close. Despite winning all three of their non-league games to open the season, they could manage only a 1-6 league record and tied Clear Lake for last place.
With many players back from the 2015 squad, including quarterback Hokulani Wickard, wide receiver Marlon Jones and running backs Eric Egger and Nick Santi, the Trojans aren’t without weapons on offense. A bigger concern is a defense that simply didn’t get it done in 2015, allowing 247 points overall, all but 28 of those in seven league games.
While the Trojans are relatively healthy as the season begins, they did lose outside linebacker Jordan Lott to a broken ankle in the Lake County Scrimmage.
“It was very unfortunate,” Gaddy said. “He has been one of our hardest workers in the offseason and at practice.”
Gaddy, who is in his fourth year at Lower Lake, is 2-1 in his previous season openers.
While the Trojans are the only Lake County team in action during “zero week” on the North Coast Section calendar, all of the county teams play next week in week one. Lower Lake visits Esparto in non-league action a week from tonight while Clear Lake hosts South Fork, Kelseyville entertains Healdsburg, and Middletown is home against Salesian. On Sept. 3, Upper Lake hosts Rincon Valley Christian.
