LAKE COUNTY — Lake County’s summer passing league for high school football teams begins an abbreviated three-week run next Monday at Gordon Sadler Field in Lower Lake. Action starts at 5:30 p.m.
The passing league also visits Kelseyville High School on July 15 and Clear Lake High School in Lakeport on July 22 with 5:30 p.m. starting times at both locations.
While past passing leagues have run for four weeks, this year’s schedule was sliced to three weeks because of the Aug. 5 first official day of practice for high school teams as they prepare for the upcoming 2019 season.
There certainly will be some new faces at the first passing league this year as all five county teams are auditioning new quarterbacks. While Clear Lake’s Darius Ford saw a limited amount of playing time a year ago and returns this season, other starters from the 2018 season – Clear Lake’s Chris White, Kelseyville’s Alex Adams, Lower Lake’s Elijah Hernandez, Middletown’s RH Hess and Upper Lake’s Ray Moran have all since graduated. Hernandez broke Lake County’s single-season passing record with 2,779 yards although the Trojans went winless in the North Central League I standings. Garcia was the league’s MVP on offense while guiding the Knights to an undefeated league title, and Hess led the Mustangs to a North Coast Section Division V championship.
Those are some pretty big names to replace and the process begins in earnest next Monday.
While the passing league offers a first look at the county’s junior varsity and varsity teams as they prepare for a new season, it’s a pretty good idea not to read too much into it, according to Middletown veteran coach Bill Foltmer, who is about to begin his 35th season with the Mustangs.
“Passing leagues favor passing teams, but that doesn’t mean you will be able to do everything you do in passing league during the season,” Foltmer said. “You can send out five guys out (in pass patterns) during passing league, but will you be able to do that during the season when someone is rushing your quarterback?”
Foltmer said his goals for passing league are pretty simple.
“For me, I want to get my (pass coverage) packages in and evaluate my talent, maybe see if that kid is capable of catching the ball. I’m not worried about other teams during passing league, I’m worried about my team and its progression.”
For a predominantly running team like Middletown, Foltmer said many of the Mustangs’ passes are set up by running plays, so passing league doesn’t necessarily reveal much about his offense at this early date.
Upper Lake, which graduated many of its top players, is unlikely to attend the first passing league because of reduced player numbers. The Cougars are Lake County’s lone eight-man club but haven’t been spared the nationwide decline in football participation.
Lake County also has a new varsity coach in its ranks this season as Jay Jakubowski takes over at Lower Lake for Justin Gaddy, who stepped down following the 2018 season.
