MIDDLETOWN >> The first day of practice for the 2017 high school football season isn’t until Aug. 7, but the unofficial start took place Monday at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown where week one of the summer passing league took place.
Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Lower Lake, Middletown and Upper Lake all sent junior varsity and varsity teams to the scrimmage that is all about passing offense, just as the name of the league implies. Never mind that many of the county’s teams won’t be throwing the ball nearly as much as they’ll be running it during the upcoming season, but it’s still a chance for quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends and running backs to demonstrate their ability to catch a football and more importantly the eye of their coach, which could translate into more playing time.
The county returns all of its varsity coaches this season, which is a change from the last few years, and leading the way is Middletown’s Bill Foltmer, who is returning for a 33rd season at the helm of the Mustangs (he took over the program in 1985). By comparison, the next most senior member of Lake County’s head coaching fraternity is Lower Lake’s Justin Gaddy, who is entering his fifth season.
As far as returning quarterbacks go, Lower Lake’s Hokulani Wickard and Clear Lake’s Alex Adams, both seniors, are back for a third season. Middletown’s Luke Holt, also a senior, returns for a second season. Kelseyville and Upper Lake will both break in new quarterbacks after losing starters Logan Barrick (Kelseyville) and Derek Pritchard (Upper Lake) to graduation.
While some players clearly were ahead of others during Monday’s passing league debut, not even the veterans were hitting on all cylinders, which is not surprising given the date on the calendar. Lake County’s teams won’t play their first games until the weekend of Aug. 25-26, and there’s a long way to go and a lot of work to be done between now and then.
Upper Lake coach Mike Smith, whose Cougars will play their home games under the lights in 2017 for the first time, gave his varsity team a C-minus for its overall play on Monday when the Cougars went up against only Kelseyville and Lower Lake.
Passing league action shifts to Clear Lake High School in Lakeport next Monday at 5:30 p.m. Week two was originally scheduled to take place at Lower Lake. Week three (on July 24) is scheduled for Kelseyville.
