LAKEPORT >> Playing their first football game in three weeks, the Lower Lake Trojans didn’t seem the least bit rusty while knocking off the Clear Lake Cardinals 27-22 in a North Central League I varsity football contest that went from easy win to nail-biter in the closing minutes on Friday night at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
While all of the county’s teams were off last week because of a series North Coast fires that impacted Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties, the Trojans (4-1 league, 6-1 overall) also had a bye week on Oct. 6, meaning the last time they stepped on a football field was Sept. 29 at St. Helena.
Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said the long break made the Trojans something of experts on practicing indoors, which was necessary last week and early this week because of unhealthy air quality. Unfortunately it didn’t make them experts on controlling their own emotions, which ran wild in the game’s latter stages and ultimately led to a Lower Lake player (Willie Mason) being ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Yellow flags rained all over the field in the closing minutes and nearly all of them were 15-yard infractions on the Trojans, penalties that allowed Clear Lake (3-2, 4-3) to score two touchdowns in less than five minutes and cut a 27-7 deficit with 7:46 remaining to 27-22 with 36.9 seconds to go.
“We won this game but I’m walking off this field and it’s feeling like a loss,” Gaddy said. “Our conduct and behavior was unacceptable. We were fine early in the game but not at the end. The only good thing is that the leaders on this team are talking to the other kids about it.”
Until the Trojans began to emotionally melt down, it appeared the game was over when Lower Lake quarterback Hokulani Wickard, who was nothing short of spectacular in the victory, completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Scott, Wickard’s third TD pass of the game.
But once the flags started flying, Clear Lake made the absolute most of the situation, scoring on a pair of runs by quarterback Alex Adams — 5 yards with 5:29 remaining and 1 yard with 36.9 seconds left — to cut Lower Lake’s once-safe lead to less than a touchdown at 27-22.
Clear Lake lined up for an onside kick and it was a beauty as it hopped over the head of a Lower Lake player and rolled free toward the Cardinals’ sideline. Clear Lake players were about to pounce on it when it rolled out of bounds, giving Lower Lake possession at its own 35.
One Lower Lake player on the kickoff coverage team returned to the sideline and said, “We were lucky on that one,” and he couldn’t have been more right.
The Trojans took a knee to run out the remaining seconds.
“It was definitely frustrating,” Clear Lake coach Mark Cory said of a mistake-filled night for his Cardinals, who turned the ball over three times and watched two of those turnovers become Lower Lake touchdowns.
Clear Lake’s passing game also misfired with several dropped passes, two on deep routes and one that would have probably been a touchdown had stickier fingers prevailed. Even when they finally hit a long pass, it didn’t do the Cardinals any good. Adams’ 40-yard connection with Nolan Williams late in the third quarter was fumbled away and Lower Lake’s Adam Deleon recovered at the Lower Lake 18.
“As much as we work on catching the ball in practice … we just didn’t execute,” Cory said. “When we do, we’re in games and when we don’t we’re not.”
Following the fumble recovery, the Trojans mounted a most impressive and time-consuming drive, marching 82 yards in 17 plays capped by Wickard’s touchdown pass to Scott that made it 27-7.
Lower Lake converted all five of its third downs on that long possession and Wickard completed all seven of his passes, part of a 9-for-9 second half and 17-for-20 night for the senior. He ended up with 279 yards passing and another 47 rushing.
“Our offensive line really played well and blocked well,” Gaddy said. “We made some adjustments with our passing game at halftime that helped. We got a lot of guys involved. We have good depth on this team.”
Good enough depth that Wickard completed passes to eight different teammates.
A solid rushing attack by the Trojans helped set up the passing game. Lower Lake finished with 162 yards on the ground, led by Charles Powell (14 carries for 60 yards) and Wickard.
“They caught us looking inside a couple of times and hurt us with the pass,” Cory said. “They did a really nice job of setting up their passes with the running game.”
Both teams scored in the opening quarter. Lower Lake went up 7-0 on a Ray Mayo 9-yard run midway through the period and Clear Lake countered with a Rodrigo Lupercio 49-yard run with 34.9 seconds left in the quarter.
Lower Lake went back in front four plays later as Wickard hit a wide open Izzac Carver for a 70-yard touchdown just 15 seconds into the second quarter. It remained a 13-7 game until the final minutes of the first half. Pinned deep in their own territory, the Cardinals had to punt and Lower Lake took over near midfield with 2:50 remaining. Four straight running plays and an 11-yard Wickard pass to Darian James moved the ball to the Clear Lake 25 where Wickard and Matthew Clasen hooked up on a 25-yard touchdown pass. Clasen had one Clear Lake defender to beat near the Lower Lake sideline and he caught the pass nearly on top of the goal-line pylon with 34.9 seconds left in the half. Wickard’s pass to Scott on the conversion made it 21-7.
The Trojans outgained the Cardinals 441 to 262.
