UPPER LAKE >> Big plays by Rincon Valley Christian’s offense, constant breakdowns in Upper Lake’s pass coverage coupled with poor tackling, and 140 yards worth of penalties against the Cougars added up to a 46-22 Eagles victory in the North Central League III football opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Upper Lake High School.
And just like that, Upper Lake (0-1), the defending co-league champion, faces a make-or-break game on Friday night in Calistoga against the Wildcats (1-0), who mauled Laytonville 74-14 in their opener.
“It’s the worst nightmare scenario,” said first-year Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith, who predicted a few weeks ago the Cougars would be seriously tested in their first two league games.
“Rincon Valley had a great gameplan and came out and punched us in the mouth,” Smith said.
The Eagles tried to move the ball on the ground against Upper Lake’s defense with no success the first two times they had the ball. After that, they changed up tactics and relentlessly attacked the Cougars’ cornerbacks, who had all kinds of trouble covering wide receiver Tyler Emond and running back Paul Bartholow man-to-man.
Emond and Bartholow caught all 14 of quarterback Cory Olson’s completions. Emond was particularly effective with seven catches for 195 yards and four touchdowns. Bartholow had seven receptions for 129 yards and one TD though he added another rushing score. Emond’s final two touchdowns were absolute back-breakers, the first a 59-yard reception with 26.8 seconds left in the third quarter that gave the Eagles a 34-22 lead, the second a 55-yard catch with 9:18 remaining in the fourth quarter that made it 40-22. That one hurt even more because it came on a third-and-14 play.
“They just flat out beat us, beat our corners,” Smith said. “And you know that word will get around the league if this keeps up.”
Big plays by Rincon Valley Christian were a constant them in the upset win. In the second quarter with Upper Lake leading 8-6 and seemingly on the verge of getting the ball back with great field position, the Eagles converted on a third-and-19 from their own 2-yard line as Olson and Bartholow connected on a short pass that turned into a 58-yard tackling misadventure for the Cougars. Four plays later Bartholow scored on a 13-yard run on a fourth-and-three play to put Rincon Valley ahead to stay.
Upper Lake’s pass coverage also didn’t adjust to Rincon Valley Christian’s three-receiver package in the first half. The Eagles would line up three receivers on one side of the field and the Cougars’ mystifying response was to guard them with only two defenders. Needless to say, it didn’t work.
When it looked like the Cougars might get away with trailing only14-8 at the half, Rincon Valley Christian marched nearly the length of the field in just more than a minute on five straight passing plays, the final one a 15-yard Olson pass to Emond for the touchdown with 2.8 seconds left in the half. The Eagles tacked on their second straight two-point conversion to go up 22-8.
It was more of the same to open the third quarter as the Eagles took the kickoff and marched 65 yards for another touchdown on a 17-yard Olson-to-Emond pass play. The Cougars let the Eagles off the hook along the way, Rincon Valley Christian converting on a 15-yard pass from Emond to Bartholow on fourth-and-five from the Upper Lake 32.
With the game about to get out of hand, Upper Lake responded with the type of play and execution that made its 2015 season such a giant success.
The Cougars not only answered with a touchdown, but with back-to-back scores in a little less than three minutes. Switching to a no-huddle offense against a Rincon Valley Christian team that had only three reserves, Upper Lake capped a 65-yard drive with a 20-yard swing pass from quarterback Derek Pritchard to fullback Jacob Kalawaia, who broke a tackle five yards down the field and rambled into the end zone.
After a three-and-out by the Rincon Valley Christian offense that was keyed by a Kalawaia sack of Olson for a seven-yard loss, the Cougars scored the very next time they touched the ball as Pritchard and running back Dre Santos hooked up for a 45-yard scoring strike that included some shifty moves by Santos to avoid being tackled. Pritchard’s pass to Kalawaia on the conversion made it 28-22 with 6:10 left in the third quarter and you could feel the momentum shift on both sideleines.
Upper Lake’s defense forced another three-and-out and when the Cougars got the ball back on a punt, they actually had a chance to tie the game or take the lead. They did pick up a first down before the drive stalled and brought about a punt.
It remained a one-touchdown advantage for the Eagles until the quarter’s final seconds when Olson hit Emond with a short pass, good for four or five yards on the completion, but Emond broke a tackle and raced down the Upper Lake sideline 59 yards for the touchdown that turned the game decisively in Rincon Valley’s favor once and for all.
Just as two quick touchdowns by the Cougars had shifted momentum in their favor only minutes earlier, Emond’s breakaway score sent that momentum boulder hurtling downhill at the Cougars.
Upper Lake moved the ball into Rincon Valley territory on each of its first three possession of the fourth quarter only to come away empty each time.
The Eagles scored the game’s final points on a 35-yard interception return with time running out.
Upper Lake did enjoy the lead one time courtesy of a Pritchard 21-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Fecht with 6:02 left in the first quarter. Pritchard’s pass to Santos on the conversion made it 8-0 and the Cougars appeared to be on their way. Upper Lake was driving for another score a few minutes later but a 5-yard pass on fourth down from Pritchard to Nathan Sneed came up a yard short thanks to a nice open-field tackle by Rincon Valley Christian.
That’s when things started to unravel for the Cougars and not because of their secondary, but because of three 15-yard penalties, one each for pass interference, a personal foul and a facemask, on Rincon Valley’s next possession. Olson’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Bartholow put the Eagles on the board at 8-6.
Neither team did much on the ground against the other — the Cougars finished with 64 yards rushing to Rincon Valley’s 56. It was a different story in the air where Pritchard finished 30-for-51 for 339 yards while Olson was 14-for-26 for 324 yards.
Yet another factor working in Rincon Valley Christian’s favor was turnovers. They committed none while the Cougars coughed the ball up three times, two of them leading to touchdowns.
“Our mental toughness has got to be better than it was today,” Smith said. “We’ve got to tighten things up for Calistoga and we’ve certainly got to tackle better than we did today.”
About the only bright spot for the Upper Lake defense were five quarterback sacks, four of them by Kalawaia.
While his offense didn’t have a bad day, Smith said the Cougars didn’t do a good enough job of taking advantage of pretty good field position most of the game.
“We have to be ready shoot it out with teams,” Smith said of the mentality he wants his players to have when engaging other teams in high-scoring games. “We have the kind of offense that can do that.”
Looking ahead to a big and physical Calistoga team that runs the ball well, Smith said the Cougars face an entirely different challenge this week.
“If we beat Calistoga, it’s a heck of a shootout as far as the league (race) goes,” Smith said.
If the Cougars can bounce back against the Wildcats, they won’t have to wait long for the Calistoga-Rincon Valley Christian game, which is Sept. 17 at Rincon Valley Christian.
