CLOVERDALE >> On the ground and through the air, the Clear Lake Cardinals came up with more than enough big plays to defeat the Cloverdale Eagles 34-13 in a North Central League I varsity football game on Friday night in Cloverdale.
“We needed it,” Clear Lake coach Mark Cory said of the win, the Cardinals’ first since a 48-8 home victory against Willits on Sept. 22. “It’s been a while since we’ve won a game.”
Clear Lake had a bye week on Sept. 29, lost to Kelseyville on Oct. 6, had its game with Middletown canceled on Oct.13 because of the North Bay fires, and lost to Lower Lake last week.
“It felt good to get back into the win column,” Cory added.
Of the Cardinals’ five touchdowns, three came on plays of 33 yards or longer. Rodrigo Lupercio opened the scoring for Clear Lake with a 33-yard run in the first quarter, and quarterback Alex Adams hooked up with wide receiver Austin Davis on a 58-yard strike in the second quarter to make it 14-0.
Erik Valadez, filling in at running back for the injured Isaac Lewis, scored on 3-yard runs in the third and fourth quarters as the Cardinals pushed their advantage to 27-6. After Cloverdale closed to 27-13 early in the final period, Chris White returned the ensuing kickoff 68 yards for a touchdown.
“We started off sloppy but competed real well tonight,” Cory said. “We played hard, kept battling. I feel like we came out and played every play. That’s what I like.”
Despite throwing three interceptions, Adams completed 10 of 14 passes for 216 yards and he ran for another 79 yards. Davis had six catches for 146 yards.
Clear Lake’s defense also pitched in, recovering a fumble, intercepting a pass and logging three sacks, two of them by Justin Cantrell.
The Cardinals return home next Friday to play St. Helena in the league and regular-season finale for both teams.
Clear Lake’s junior varsity squad also came out a winner on Friday, beating Cloverdale 26-21.
