LAKE COUNTY >> How many times do you see a player score six touchdowns in one game? Well, it happened not once but twice to Lake County players this past weekend although in one case it wasn’t enough to get his team into the win column.
Clear Lake’s Sam Long rushed for five touchdowns and returned a kickoff for another score in the Cardinals’ 52-22 league win over Willits on Friday night at Maize Field in Willits. Less than 24 hours later it was Jacob Kalawaia’s turn as the Upper Lake junior running back rushed for five TDs and caught a pass for a sixth in a wild 80-54 non-league loss to Branson School of Ross at Upper Lake High School.
In all, three of Lake County’s five teams visited the win column in Week 4. Middletown beat Lower Lake 22-8 in the North Central League I game of the week at Gordon Sadler Field in Lower Lake while Kelseyville routed South Fork 46-7 at Kelseyville.
Following are some of the highlights/lowlights and everything else Week 4 had to offer:
Statistics
Rushing — Upper Lake’s Kalawaia missed nine minutes of the second quarter with a stomach ailment but still finished with 242 yards on 23 carries against Branson. Long had 167 yards on 18 carries against Willits. Middletown’s Ty Chorjel carried the ball 17 times for 129 yards and a TD against Lower Lake. Kelseyville’s Dwayne Yiggins didn’t play the entire second half against South Fork but still had 57 yards on six carries with two touchdowns.
Passing — Upper Lake’s Derek Pritchard went 10-for-25 for 193 yards and two touchdowns against Branson. Clear Lake’s Alex Adams finished 6-for-12 for 158 yards and a TD against Willits. Lower Lake’s Hokulani Wickard completed 17 of 27 passes for 151 yards against Middletown.
Receiving — Clear Lake’s Brandon Orozco had three catches for 121 yards with a TD. Upper Lake’s Chris Fecht caught three passes for 78 yards and a TD. Lower Lake’s Ethan Watson was a busy man against Middletown, catching 10 passes for 59 yards.
Special teams
Quick scores — Clear Lake’s Sam Long returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter against Willits. Kelseyville’s Dwayne Yiggins returns a punt 50 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter against South Fork.
Touchback — Branson kicked off 12 times in its win over Upper Lake and seven of those kicks went into the end zone for touchbacks.
Defense
Pick-six — Adrian Villalobos took an interception back 55 yards for a touchdown in Kelseyville’s 35-8 win over Ferndale in junior varsity action.
Even dozen — The number of tackles Alex Sanchez had for Upper Lake against Branson.
Three and counting — Middletown’s Ty Chorjel intercepted his third pass of the season in the Mustangs’ win over Lower Lake.
Four games, nine sacks — For Upper Lake’s Jason Kalawaia.
In control — Kelseyville’s first-unit defense limited South Fork to 23 yards of offense in the first half.
This and that
Double down — At 2-1 in North Central League I play, the Clear Lake Cardinals have twice as many league wins this season as in the last two years combined.
Ejected — Upper Lake’s Dre Santos was ejected early in the first quarter of the Cougars’ game with Branson for intentionally targeting a Branson receiver – the two made helmet-to-helmet contact as Santos was defending on a pass over the middle. Receivers are hereby warned to stop all forward momentum in mid-air and thereby avoid such further situations, the laws of physics be damned.
And speaking of helmet-to-helmt hits — An Upper Lake ballcarrier simply running through the hole and ducking to avoid having his head taken off was flagged 15 yards for helmet-to-helmet contact.
Helmet-to-helmet rule — Ruining the game one penalty at a time.
In just 43 seconds … — Upper Lake and Branson combined to score three touchdowns late in the second quarter.
1,107 — The combined number of yards of total offense generated by Upper Lake and Branson.
Zebra said it — “I thought this was supposed to be a day game,” said an official working the nearly 3 1/2-hour long Upper Lake-Branson contest.
The gauntlet — After easily beating Willits in its league opener, the Lower Lake Trojans are running the NCL I gauntlet with consecutive games against Fort Bragg (35-27 loss), Middletown (22-8 loss) and St. Helena (this Friday in Lower Lake). “I’m very proud of how my boys played,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said of the Middletown game. “This will show our character after two tough losses against back-to-back good teams.”
10-minute drive — Middletown marched nearly the length of the field before scoring midway through the fourth quarter to open up a 22-0 lead on Lower Lake. “We used up the last half of the third quarter and the first part of the fourth quarter,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. Added an impressed Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy, “The best defense they could do there was to keep our offense off the field. We needed to get the ball back and couldn’t.”
And the winner is … — Middletown lost to Salesian and Berean Christian of Walnut Creek in non-league action this season. Those two teams met in a league game on Saturday and it was Salesian prevailing 35-27. Berean Christian visits Clear Lake on Friday night in a non-league game.
Pretty impressive — Even minus starting running back John Kelley (hand injury), the Mustangs generated 238 rushing yards against Lower Lake.
Trump-Clinton debate winner? — After a weekend that took Jose Fernandez and Arnold Palmer from out midst, who the hell cares? Thank you Arnie for all the memories you gave us. In the case of Fernandez, we mourn the memories we’ll never have now.
Offering a viable third-party candidate — Kenny from South Park.
Just for the heck of it — Vin Scully, broadcasting legend.
