LAKE COUNTY >> Three Friday night games in Lake County offer a key matchup, a bit of history, and a battle of teams streaking in opposite directions through the first three weeks of the 2017 high school football season.
While Kelseyville-Middletown is definitely the game of the week, history will be made in Upper Lake regardless of how the Upper Lake Cougars fare against Rincon Valley Christian in NCL III interlock action. It’s the first home night game in Upper Lake’s history. Another NCL I contest features the struggling Fort Bragg Timberwolves (0-3) against the unbeaten Lower Lake Trojans (3-0).
M’town at K’ville
These two teams met twice last year as Middletown dominated the league meeting while Kelseyville rallied to win in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.
“You have two evenly matched teams,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. “It all comes down to who makes the most mistakes, just like last year. We took advantage of their mistakes (in the first meeting) and they took advantage of ours in the playoffs game.”
“Our kids are excited to play Middletown,” Kelseyville coach Erick Larsen said. “It’s gonna come down to the trenches and defense. Can we stop their running game and can our defensive line play well enough to handle their very good offensive line?”
Middletown enters play 1-1 while Kelseyville is 2-0. The Knights beat St. Helena 28-14 a week ago in their league opener at St. Helena. Middletown shut out Berean Christian 13-0 in non-league action at Middletown.
Neither team needs to be reminded it’s a big game.
“It doesn’t take much as a coach to fire your kids up for a game like this,” Foltmer said. “There definitely has been a step up in preparation.”
Added Kelseyville’s Larsen, “The kids are working hard and putting in longer hours to get ready.”
Kelseyville will make a game-time decision on whether a key member of its defense, middle linebacker JD Prescott (bruised ribs), can play.
RVC at Upper Lake
Rincon Valley Christian is the defending NCL III champion and in the running for another league title although the newly formed NCL III South, of which the Eagles are a member, isn’t going to be a cakewalk with the likes of Calistoga and new NCL III teams Stuart Hall and Branson in the mix this year.
The interlock game between the Eagles (2-0) of the South and the Cougars (1-1) of the North doesn’t count as a league game, but it’s still an important one for head coach Mike Smith’s squad, which got roughed up in an interlock game a week ago against Stuart Hall, a 34-14 setback.
“They present different challenges than we’ve faced in our first two games,” Smith said. “One of those is Willie Maples. He’s as strong as they come when you’re talking about fullbacks and middle linebackers. He’s the spine of that team.”
Maples, a senior, has 213 yards rushing and three TDs through the Eagles’ first two games. He rushed for 846 yards and 11 TDs a year ago when the Eagles went 6-0 in league and 8-1 overall.
Upper Lake’s defense also will have to deal with the Eagles’ veteran quarterback, Cory Olson, who is primarily a pocket passer. He passed for 1,363 yards and 21 TDs a year ago and is off to another good start this season.
“Our defensive ends need to adjust,” Smith said. “It will be less about defending the edge this week as it will be filling the gaps.”
While the Cougars are definitely excited to be hosting their first night football game, the Eagles are right there with them, according to Smith.
“Rincon Valley is just as excited,” Smith said. “They play a lot of Saturday games and are looking forward to playing at night just like we are.”
Fort Bragg at Lower Lake
The Fort Bragg Timberwolves have scored a grand total of seven points in 12 quarters of regulation football plus one California tiebreaker this season. Lower Lake’s mission is to keep the Timberwolves bottled up for at least one more week.
“You don’t want to be the team that they break out against,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said.
A win by the Trojans would give them a 4-0 start, the best by any Lower Lake team since the 1995 squad opened with eight straight victories in former coach Gordon Sadler’s final season.
“They’re the three-time defending league champions, so you know their players and coaches know how to win. We have to focus on playing a championship game. Whether they come out in a spread or playing their power game, I expect them to play a great game.”
Lower Lake needs to tighten up its defense and play better on special teams against the Timberwolves, according to Gaddy.
“We need to get back to playing the type of defense we played against De Anza (a 19-14 win in week one),” Gaddy said. “We played great against De Anza.”
Clear Lake at St. Vincent
The St. Vincent Mustangs (1-2) play their second straight home league game against a Clear Lake squad coming off a 13-7 overtime victory over Fort Bragg. St. Vincent struggled mightily in its home and league debut a week ago, falling 35-0 to Cloverdale.
“They (Mustangs) were in that Cloverdale game for quite awhile,” Clear Lake coach Mark Cory said. “They did make some mistakes that left Cloverdale with a short field and it cost them. They have some good kids, some big kids.”
Cory said the Cardinals need to repeat the things that made them successful against Fort Bragg, such as not turning the ball over.
“And we could down the penalties,” he said. “We started a lot of drives first-and-15 and first-and-20 against Fort Bragg.”
Added Cory, “Our goal is to take another step toward the team we can be. We’re trying to build each week to get better and better.”
