UPPER LAKE >> Absolutely nothing leading up to the 2018 season has been easy for the Upper Lake Cougars, the lone eight-man football team in Lake County.
Embarking on a 10-game regular season for the first time and with a genuine North Coast Section-approved playoff format in place, also for the first time in the section’s eight-man history, there is plenty to look forward to at the Northshore school, which has thrived under the eight-man format since the 2015 season.
If the Cougars can post a .500 or better record again this season, it will mark the fourth straight year they’ve accomplished that feat. Since dropping 11-man football after the 2014 campaign, the Cougars have gone 17-8 overall and 14-5 in league play with one co-championship. It’s a far cry from the 2013 and 2014 seasons when a dying Upper Lake football program didn’t win a single game (0-19) and, in fact, never came close to winning in any of those 19 games.
Upper Lake’s 2018 season officially opens Saturday when the Cougars hit the road and actually leave the state to take on Virginia City High School in Nevada. Coach Vince Moran is in charge of the football program until further notice, replacing coach Mike Smith as he attends to family business (Smith’s son Kellen, the projected backup quarterback on this year’s team, sustained a skull fracture in a vehicle accident last week and has a long road to recovery ahead of him).
The Cougars’ official practice season was supposed to open July 30 but the Mendocino Complex fires (Ranch and River) created so much smoke that the air quality made it impossible for the team to practice. When the Ranch Fire threatened the entire Northshore of Clear Lake and forced evacuations all the way from Blue Lakes in the west to Spring Valley in the east along the Highway 20 corridor, Upper Lake’s players and coaches were out of their homes for more than week. It wasn’t until Aug. 13 that the Cougars held their first practice even though it was the third week of the season.
“We’re not too far behind,” Moran said. “We did a lot during the summer that helped. It’s a little tougher for the first-year players, not so much for the kids who have been here and know what we do.”
Speaking of players who have been there, the Cougars took some pretty strong hits from graduation after posting a 4-1 league record and 6-2 overall mark a year ago, losing All-North Central League III most valuable player on defense Dante Bassignani as well as All-Leaguers Kahlil George (defensive tackle), Andrew Brackett (defensive end), Jacob Kalawaia (running back) and Eddie Crandell (wide receiver).
“Every lineman we had on the varsity is gone,” Moran said of last year’s starters and more experienced reserves.
The Cougars also lost a pair of returning seniors who have decided to concentrate on their primary sports – Junior Fernandez (wrestling) and Kenneth Hodges (basketball).
On a more positive note, the team returns some bonafide talent, including senior quarterback Ray Moran, an All-League honorable mention last season, as well as do-everything back/receiver Hank Nevarez, a junior, and wide receiver/defensive back Chris Fecht, whose family lost its house in the Ranch Fire, which has burned more acres than any other fire in California history.
“We’ve got a lot of skill players back,” Moran said. “We know the line is going to be the weak point. If a couple of these younger guys on the line step up, we’ll be alright.”
Ray Moran completed 66 of 128 passes a year ago for 855 yards with 15 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
“He’ll be looking to run the ball a little bit more this season,” Moran said of his son. “How much more will depend on how the line blocks up front for him.”
Nevarez (16 catches for 205 yards, 4 TDs) was among Moran’s favorite targets last season.
“One of our main wide receivers and we’ll be looking to get him more touches,” Moran said.
Upper Lake’s ground game lost its two primary running backs in Kalawaia and Bassignani although Fecht did get in his licks when the opportunity presented itself. He carried the ball 25 times for 158 yards with two TDs.
The offensive line is the one area most impacted by graduation. Gone are George, Brackett, Nick Warner, Jovany Martinez and tight end Colton Goetjen. The new line will features the likes of Mark Dutcher, a junior center, Lukas Kalawaia, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound sophomore, talented freshman Bradley Sneathen, and senior Jared Thornberry.
“He (Kalawaia) moves pretty good good. Going down the road I think he’s going to be a good one,” Moran said. “Dutcher is probably our most experienced guy back. He’s a smart, tough kid.”
Playing time is what the young group of linemen needs most.
“We’re going to figure it out, but we need some game experience,” Moran said. “If they come through this team could be pretty good.”
New threats on the outside are wide receivers Russell Gordon Jr., a sophomore, and 6-2 Desmond Mueller, a senior.
“He (Gordon) really stepped it up over the summer,” Morgan said.
Upper Lake’s Armando Santos, a senior, figures to see playing time at any number of positions, according to Moran, including quarterback.
On defense, now led by new defensive coordinator NickWilliamson, look for Mueller, Thornberry and Eain Kurtz to play up front, with Dutcher and Sneathen at linebacker and Nevarez, Santos and Cody Banks in the secondary.
First-year player Richard Guaydacan, a sophomore, also figures to see playing time on both offense (fullback) and defense (linebacker).
With a trend toward more teams passing the ball than in seasons past, Moran said the Cougars need to be able to defend against the pass.
“We’re trying to be better on the back end of our defense,” he said. “We’re looking good so far.”
Eight-man football teams are now divided into two leagues, North Central League II and NCL III, the latter of which includes the Cougars along with South Fork, Laytonville, Point Arena, Round Valley, Potter Valley and Anderson Valley. The Cougars also interlock with NCL II teams Stuart Hall and Rincon Valley Christian.
At the end of the regular season, each league’s designated champion and six at-large teams drawn from either of the two leagues will compete in an eight-team playoff.
Upper Lake’s goal is to be in that playoff, either as the NCL III champ or as one of the six at-large teams.
Moran said that’s definitely a possibility and would be a great reward for a team that has had to overcome so many obstacles in the early going.
“We’ve got some players and we can do some things,” Moran said.
