LOWER LAKE >> More than anything else on Friday night, the Lower Lake Trojans wanted to give their fans, some of whom had lost homes in the Clayton Fire earlier this month, a season-opening win against the De Anza Dons of El Sobrante.
It wasn’t to be.
De Anza was simply too big, too fast and too physical for Lower Lake as the Dons rolled to a 32-0 victory at Gordon Sadler Field. Still, there was a game played at Lower Lake less than two weeks after the Clayton Fire ravaged this Southshore town, destroying close to 200 single-family homes and threatening the high school’s very existence.
“We got to play football at Lower Lake under the light after a horrific fire,” Lower Lake head coach Justin Gaddy said. “Our high school is still standing and we are very fortunate to be able to play here after what happened. It’s just too bad we couldn’t put on a better show.”
It wasn’t for a lack of effort as the Trojans had the ball in De Anza territory the entire first quarter, a quarter they dominated only to come away with no points on the scoreboard. Lower Lake had the ball inside the Dons’ 10-yard line twice. The first time, facing a fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line, quarterback Hokulani Wickard’s pass over the middle was snatched out of the air by De Anza middle linebacker Rick Tolefree, who went 97 yards in the opposite direction for a touchdown.
Lower Lake was knocking on the door again minutes later thanks in large part to a Wickard 43-yard pass to Ethan Watson. The Trojans pushed the ball to the De Anza 5 only to stall on downs as a Wickard fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
De Anza pushed its lead to 20-0 in the second quarter on a 2-yard keeper by quarterback Taemond Evans that capped a nine-play, 95-yard drive, and on a Evans 14-yard touchdown pass to running back Devon King with just 33 seconds remaining in the first half.
King, who is all about speed, was the catalyst for De Anza throughout the game. Although he carried the ball only nine times for 81 yards, he was in the middle of everything the Dons did. His 4-yard touchdown run in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter following a Lower Lake fumble deep in its own territory sealed the victory. Moments later he returned a punt 46 yards for another touchdown that gave De Anza a 32-0 lead. The senior had two other TD runs of 72 and 51 yards negated by penalties, of which there were 21 assessed during the game … not counting the ones that were declined.
To their credit, the Trojans never gave up. De Anza controlled the ball all but eight plays of the third quarter and moved from its own 16-yard line to the Lower Lake 1 where Evans was dropped for a three-yard loss by Nathan Chatoff on a fourth-and-goal play. Unfortunately the Trojans coughed the ball up on their next play, setting up King’s short touchdown run.
“The guys stayed strong and were talking to each other on the sidelines,” Gaddy said. “We were fighting to the end.”
Lower Lake’s only scoring opportunity in the second half came in the third quarter. The Trojans took the kickoff and moved the ball to the De Anza 17 only to lose possession on downs at the 16.
The Trojans finished with 138 yards of offense. Wickard completed 10 of 24 passes for 93 yards and also was the team’s leading rusher with 26 yards. Wide receiver Ethan Watson had five catches for 67 yards.
Among the positives Gaddy said the Trojans took out of the game were competing against an opponent in a higher division — De Anza resides in Division III to Lower Lake’s Division IV.
“They (Dons) were a good team and they made some adjustments that we weren’t ready for,” he said. “Playing a team like that will only help us get ready for what’s coming down the road. It was an eye-opening experience that we’ll learn from. The most important thing now is to come back and have a good day of practice on Monday.”
Lower Lake plays at Esparto next Friday.
The Trojans did beat De Anza in the junior varsity game 32-7.
