SAN FRANCISCO — Despite the best efforts of quarterback Cody Banks and wide receiver Benat Love, the Upper Lake Cougars couldn’t overcome a pair of costly turnovers to open the game and fell 48-34 to Stuart Hall in eight-man football action Saturday night at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
Upper Lake (1-2) lost fumbles on its first two possessions that resulted in Stuart Hall (2-1) touchdowns and a 16-0 Knights lead after one quarter.
“For whatever reason, we keep hurting ourselves to start games,” Upper Lake head coach Vince Moran said. “We wanted to run the ball against them and we did, but we beat ourselves with turnovers and penalties.”
Four lost fumbles and an interception took plenty of sting out of a Upper Lake offense that rolled up 421 yards — 259 of those on the ground on 64 attempts, both season highs. Banks led the team with 95 yards and three touchdowns, scoring runs of 38 yards in the third quarter and 10 and 39 yards in the fourth quarter. He also passed for 163 yards and a TD, with Love catching nine of Banks’ 10 completions for 158 yards, including a 62-yard scoring strike in the second quarter.
“Both of those guys played great,” Moran said.
Love turned in an all-around complete game, according to Moran, as he defended Stuart Hall’s primary receiving threat and helped slow him down. And as the team’s kicker, Love recovered his own onside kicks on back-to-back attempts in the fourth quarter, one of which led to a touchdown.
“Benat had a huge game all around,” Moran said. “He had quite a few tackles.”
Stuart Hall led 22-6 at halftime and 34-12 going to the third quarter, but the Cougars rallied down the stretch to keep the Knights within distance.
“They kept playing, fighting all the way through,” Moran said. “After spotting them a 16-0 lead, we settled down and ran the ball very well.”
Ryan Escue, a senior, rushed for a 2-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and also scored on a pair of conversion runs. He finished with 58 yards on the first 10 carries of his high school career, according to Moran.
Upper Lake’s defense did force a pair of turnovers, with Banks intercepting a pass and Rene Diaz recovering a fumble. Jeff Corbin had a sack.
Following the game the Stuart Hall team treated Upper Lake’s players to pizza.
“They were great hosts,” Moran said. “It was awesome playing there (Kezar, the former home of the 49ers). It was a beautiful stadium and a pretty neat experience.”
The Cougars have a bye this coming weekend and return to action Oct. 5 at home against South Fork in the annual homecoming game.
