UPPER LAKE >> Kahlil George and Jacob Kalawaia were opposite sides of the same coin for the Upper Lake Cougars during the 2016 football season.
George, Upper Lake’s best offensive lineman, was charged with the responsibility of keeping defensive linemen such as Kalawaia away from the quarterback while also creating holes for the Cougars’ running backs to go through. Kalawaia’s job was to plug those holes and to create havoc for offensive linemen such as George by sacking opposing quarterbacks.
Both juniors, George and Kalawaia did their job especially well, so well that they were recently named to the All-North Central League III team — George on offense and Kalawaia on defense — by a vote of the league’s coaches.
George and Kalawaia, who will return next season to the Upper Lake lineup, were the only two Upper Lake players to earn first-team honors on the All-NCL III squad. Undefeated league champion Rincon Valley Christian and runner-up Calistoga dominated the first-team selections, landing a total of seven and four players, respectively, on the offensive and defensive squads.
Co-most valuable players on offense were Rincon Valley Christian senior quarterback Paul Bartholow and Anderson Valley senior quarterback Tony Pardini. The MVP on defense was Rincon Valley Christian junior middle linebacker Willie Maples.
Upper Lake also had two players on the All-NCL III honorable mention list, senior quarterback Derek Pritchard and senior running back Dre Santos.
An eight-man football league, the NCL III is expanding into two divisions — North and South — next season when Branson School of Ross and Stuart Hall of San Francisco join the league.
