LAKE COUNTY >> Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy calls it his team’s biggest test of the year on Friday night when the undefeated Trojans venture to Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown where the Middletown Mustangs await.
As far as early season games go, this is a biggie for both teams. Lower Lake (2-0 league, 4-0 overall) is off to its best start in 22 years. Middletown (1-0, 2-1) has won its last two after falling 13-7 to Hercules in its season opener. The winner will remain perfect in the NCL I standings where the only other undefeated team entering Week 5 is Clear Lake (2-0, 3-1).
“I have so much respect for coach Foltmer.” Gaddy said of his Middletown counterpart, Bill Foltmer. “The program he puts out every year whether he has 17 kids or 30 kids is amazing. You’re going to face hard-nose, tough kids who understand their job.”
“They’re 4-0,” Foltmer said of the Trojans, who haven’t won this many games in a row to open a season since the 1995 club won its first eight. “That tells me Lower Lake’s coaches are doing their job and they’re doing a good job.”
While Lower Lake at Middletown is the headliner for Week 5, there are certainly other games of interest, beginning with Clear Lake going for a fourth straight victory at home Friday night against homecoming opponent Willits (0-1, 0-3). On Saturday, Upper Lake (2-1) opens its North Central League III North schedule against Round Valley in Covelo at 1 p.m. On Saturday night, Kelseyville (2-1) will have its hands full against St. Patrick/St. Vincent (3-0) in a non-league game that kicks off at 7 p.m. in Vallejo (varsity only).
Lower Lake at M’town
“The kids have accepted the challenge,” Gaddy said when asked about the Trojans’ mood heading into Middletown. “They look forward to playing against the best.”
Gaddy said Lower Lake will not face a better offensive or defensive line in league play this season.
“Our offense needs to convert and Hoke needs to continue to do what he does,” Gaddy said of senior quarterback Hokulani Wickard, a running and passing threat for the Trojans. “Our wide receivers also need to help the running backs with their downfield blocking.”
“When you have a 200-pound quarterback who can run like him (Wickard), that’s a concern,” Foltmer said. “Their speed also concerns me. They have wide receivers and running backs with good speed.”
Trying to simulate Lower Lake’s offense in practice has been a problem because the Mustangs suit up only 19 players.
“It’s hard to run a scout squad,” Foltmer said. “We end up taking JV kids to fill the scout squad. We can simulate what they (Trojans) do but not at the speed they do it.”
Foltmer said the key for Middletown is eliminating the quick strike by the Lower Lake offense.
“If we don’t let them get any quick strikes we should be fine,” Foltmer said.
And the key for Lower Lake?
“We have to play smart football,” Gaddy said. “It’s important for our players to do their jobs and not do other people’s jobs.”
Willits at Clear Lake
Homecoming creates its fair share of distractions for coaches and players alike but Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said he’s not concerned.
“They don’t seem to be distracted,” he said. “Hopefully that won’t me much of an issue.”
The Wolverines, under the direction of first-year coach Chris Bickford, are the only distraction second-year coach Cory is worried about this week.
“I’m a year ahead of him,” Cory said. “He’s trying to get them on track like I was a year ago here.”
Bickford’s Wolverines are looking for their first win after consecutive losses to Ukiah, Ferndale and Lower Lake. They’ve improved each week.
“They’ve played three good teams and it hasn’t come out on their side,” Cory said. “They’re dangerous because they have people who can make plays.”
At the top of that list is No. 21, senior running back Triston Martin, according to Cory.
“If he gets away he can run,” Cory said. “Lower Lake found that out.”
Beginning with the Willits game, Cory said the Cardinals can’t afford the luxury of looking past any of their remaining opponents.
“From here on out, there are no easy ones left,” Cory said. “Some might be a step up from others but all of them are going to be tough. If we handle things on our end we’ll be fine.”
Upper Lake at Round Valley
Guarding against a letdown is foremost on the mind of Upper Lake co-head coach Vince Moran as the Cougars travel to Covelo to take on Round Valley.
“After having such a big game last week (48-40 win over Rincon Valley Christian), you don’t want to let down now,” Moran said.
Round Valley fielded only a JV team a year ago. The Warriors are 0-3 this year after consecutive losses to Calistoga, Trinity Christian and Tomales. While they were blown out in their first two games, they played much better a week ago in a 38-28 loss to Tomales.
“They run a toss offense much like Willits but they’ll also spread you out,” Moran said. “They have a quarterback who can run and we’ve seen a lot of that this year.”
Upper Lake has had a rough week in practice with several players out sick, including one of the stars from last week’s win, wide receiver Hank Nevarez. The Cougars also will be without Nathan Sneed and Kenny Hodges because of injuries, leaving them a bit short at wide receiver.
“Right now we just want to get healthy and get everybody focused,” Moran said.
K’ville at St. Pat/St. Vincent
The Knights are looking forward to getting back on the football field after falling 7-6 to Middletown a week ago.
“Most definitely,” Kelseyville coach Erick Larsen said. “A loss gives you the chance to reflect on what you’re doing wrong and right and the kids have been receptive to the changes we’ve made. We feel better about our offense going in.”
St. Patrick/St. Vincent is playing well, so the Knights are going to have their hands full against the Bruins.
“They have a solid running back who is back from last year and does a great job running the ball and catching it,” Larsen said. “And their quarterback is an excellent scrambler who can throw well out of the pocket.”
Kelseyville enters the game at full strength.
While the weekend of Sept. 22-23 was originally scheduled as a bye week for the Knights, that all changed when their game at Berean Christian on Sept. 1 was canceled because of excessive heat. St. Patrick/St. Vincent had an opening on its schedule this weekend and the two schools were able to work out the details.
“With the team we have, with a lot of green kids, we need the game,” Larsen said.
Following Saturday’s action, the Knights return home for back-to-back league games against Cloverdale (Sept. 29) and Clear Lake (Oct. 6).
