LAKE COUNTY >> Monday night football, the high school version, might be happening in Lake County this Monday but it looks like you’ll have to settle for one game instead of two.
Upper Lake High School is trying to reschedule its home game with South Fork while Lower Lake’s attempt to do the same with Kelseyville fell through late Friday afternoon. Those four teams were scheduled to play Friday night but both contests were canceled because of unhealthy air quality caused by wildfires burning throughout the North Coast and for other fire-related matters. Also canceled was a Friday night game at Middletown where the Mustangs were scheduled to host Clear Lake. Middletown remains under an advisory evacuation notice because of the Tubbs Fire, which is burning on Mount St. Helena in Napa County near the Highway 29 corridor that leads into Lake County.
The Upper Lake-South Fork game, which is a battle for sole possession of first place in the North Central League III North standings, is the county’s best shot for hosting its first Monday night game since Middletown defeated Upper Lake 28-8 on Sept. 10, 2012. That game five years ago was originally scheduled for a Saturday in Upper Lake but was moved to Middletown the following Monday because of unhealthy air in the Northshore area as a result of the Scotts Fire.
Contacted early Friday afternoon, Upper Lake athletic director and varsity football coach Mike Smith said he was waiting to hear from the Coastal Mountain Conference Officials Association to find out if it could supply officials for a Monday contest. Later Friday, Smith said there would be officials available to work the contest but the Cougars still needed to secure EMTs to staff the game, which is required. With most first-responders in Lake County working area fires, Smith said he wouldn’t know until early Monday if Northshore Fire could provide those EMTs.
“We have officials locked in,” Smith said. “We are a go pending no setbacks in the fires this weekend. Northshore Fire will confirm an EMT bus for Monday morning.”
If the Upper Lake-South Fork game is a go, it will kick off at 5 p.m.
Kelseyville athletic director Scott Conrad said an attempt was made to reschedule the Kelseyville-Lower Lake game for Saturday night but things fell through.
“We can’t do it,” Conrad said.
Lower Lake varsity football coach Justin Gaddy said he would have rather played Saturday because air quality in Lower Lake on Friday afternoon was the best it had been all week.
“This morning it wasn’t bad but right now it’s great,” Gaddy said.
“It’s a little better here today,” Conrad said on Friday of the air quality in the Kelseyville region, “but who knows what it’s going to be like tomorrow. Nobody knows.”
As for the Trojans hosting the Knights on Monday, Gaddy said several things needed to fall into place to bring that about, including Clear Lake moving its home game against Lower Lake on Friday, Oct. 20 to Saturday, Oct. 21.
“That’s not going to happen,” Gaddy said.
Conrad said he wasn’t optimistic a Monday game would take place, saying the chances were “50-50 at best.”
Later Friday, Gaddy told the Record-Bee the chances “were zero” of a Monday game being held. In fact, he posted on his team’s Facebook page that the game with Kelseyville won’t take place.
