LOWER LAKE >> Lower Lake piled up the points while also introducing the next wave of Trojan stars on Friday night with a 57-0 homecoming demolition of the St. Vincent Mustangs, who suffered another in a string of lopsided losses, this time at Gordon Sadler Field.
While St. Vincent (0-7 league, 1-8 overall) is leaving the North Central League I ranks in football after this season, Lower Lake (5-1 league, 7-1 overall) is enjoying one its best years in a long, long time. Not even its 2007 NCL I North champion team won as many games (it finished 6-4-1). The Trojans are home next week against Cloverdale in their league and regular-season finale before moving on to the North Coast Section playoffs. The last Lower Lake team to win as many games in a single season was the 1995 squad (9-2) coached by Gordon Sadler in his final year with the team.
“Our goal tonight was to have the senior players play well enough to get the backups into the game as soon as possible,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Lower Lake scored five times in the first quarter as quarterback Hokulani Wickard completed touchdown passes to four different receivers while Aries Brooke returned an interception 32 yards for another TD. Before the Trojans knew it, they were up 34-0 and the officials began running the clock.
“We were able to get a lot of players into the game,” Gaddy said. “It was a true sense of family and team to be able to involve so many people.”
Lower Lake went up 40-0 on a Charles Powell 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and the Trojan reserves pretty much took it from there. Cole Doud recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter, freshman kicker Lorenzo Vuniga booted a 30-yard field goal, the Trojans’ first field goal in two years, to make it 50-0 later in the third quarter, and lineman Michael Jamison recovered a fumble by a teammate and ran five yards for a score in the fourth quarter.
“We got a lot of JVs into the game, it was awesome,” Gaddy said. “It was a good opportunity for them to get in there and get a taste of what it’s like.”
With an eye toward the scoreboard, Gaddy said the Trojans did everything they could to keep the game from blowing up into a bigger rout.
“We’ve been that team and on the other end of that so many times in the past,” Gaddy said.
Wickard finished the night 13-for-14 for 252 yards and four TDs, one each to Ray Mayo, Carlos Berry, Matthew Clasen and Taylor Scott. In his last two games the senior Wickard is 30-for-34 for 531 yards and seven TDs.
Powell finished with 37 rushing yards on only six carries and he also caught three passes for 55 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, Mayo picked off a pass and recovered a fumble while Virgil Ellis sacked St. Vincent’s quarterback twice. The Trojans had five takeaways in all and three sacks.
If Lower Lake can win next week at home against Cloverdale, it can do no worse than a tie for second place in the final league standings.
“We’ve got a big game coming up next week and we’ve got to get ready for it,” Gaddy said.
