COVELO >> Sophomore Junior Fernandez is already an accomplished wrestler at Upper Lake High School and his first season of football hasn’t been bad either.
Fernandez rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns on Friday night as the junior varsity Cougars defeated Round Valley 42-14 in Covelo.
Fernandez scored on runs of 3 yards and 2 yards in the second quarter as Upper Lake (3-0 league, 3-1 overall) built a 28-6 halftime lead. He added a 3-yard scoring run in the third quarter to push the Cougars’ advantage to 34-6.
Quarterback Ray Moran figured in two other Upper Lake scores as he completed a 21-yard touchdown strike to Hank Nevarez for the first points of the game. Later in the first quarter he scored on a 19-yard run for a 14-0 Upper Lake lead.
Nevarez picked up his second TD of the game in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run.
J.J. Johnson ran in a pair of conversions for Upper Lake and Andrew Brackett caught a conversion pass on a tackle-eligible play.
Moran went 7-for-9 passing for 62 yards and he also rushed for 29 yards on four carries. He’ll make his first varsity start on Saturday afternoon, replacing Derek Pritchard, when the Cougars host Los Molinos in a non-league game at 1 p.m. Pritchard will miss that game for disciplinary reasons, according to Upper Lake varsity head coach Mike Smith.
Johnson had 28 rushing yards on nine carries.
Anchoring the Upper Lake defense against Round Valley were Nevarez with eight total tackles, including a sack, Brackett with a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, Armando Santos with six tackles, and Giovanni Martinez with one and a half sacks.
Upper Lake and Round Valley also played Sept. 24 in Upper Lake. In the first meeting, the Cougars prevailed 22-14.
It was the final game of the season for Upper Lake’s JV squad although the entire JV roster is eligible to participate not only in the Los Molinos varsity game on Saturday, but also in the Cougars’ league and season finale on Oct. 28 at Laytonville.
