FORT BRAGG — The Westshore Junior Cardinals improved to 8-0 in the North division varsity standings of the Mendo-Lake Empire Junior Football League with a 34-3 victory on Saturday at Fort Bragg.
Westshore led only 6-3 after one quarter but pulled away after that. It was 20-3 at halftime and 27-3 through three quarters. Jake Soderquist rushed for 131 yards, two touchdowns and an extra point while Hank Ollenberger added 76 yards, two touchdowns and three extra points. Quarterback Graden Greer passed for 47 yards and a touchdown, connecting with Wade Wittman for the score.
On defense, Cody Hayes recorded five tackles and forced a fumble. Hunter Melvin also had five tackles while Wittman picked off a pass.
“The first half was festive, it was like watching two raccoons fighting over table scraps at the county fair,” Westshore coach Derek Butcher said. “They gave us everything they had. We were able to maintain our composure and play a good, clean game.”
Westshore plays Middletown (6-2) on Saturday in Middletown.
In other youth action Saturday:
K’ville 22, Lower Lake 8 (varsity)
At Kelseyville, Kelseyville (7-1) maintained its one-game cushion over Middletown (6-2) in the South varsity standings by beating Lower Lake (3-5).
Scoring and statistics were not provided.
Kelseyville plays Saturday at Upper Lake (1-7). Lower Lake hosts Willits (5-3).
Lower Lake 20, K’ville 13 (JV)
At Kelseyville, Max Lee and Michael Dougherty each ran for a touchdown for Kelseyville in its loss to Lower Lake in junior varsity action.
Lower Lake improved to 4-3-1 while Kelseyville fell to 3-5.
Kelseyville tackle leaders were Dougherty and Bryce Keener.
K’ville 34, Lower Lake 0 (PeeWees)
At Kelseyville, Walker Ryan rushed for 180 yards, Case Pivniska scored twice and Deake Lyndall was in on 14 tackles as Kelseyville improved to 5-2-1 with a shutout of Lower Lake (2-6).
Hugh O’Boyle also figured prominently in the win with seven tackles, including four sacks.
M’town 30, St. Helena 0 (varsity)
M’town 38, St. Helena 6 (JV)
M’town 27, St. Helena 0 (PeeWees)
At Middletown, Middletown’s three teams made it a long Saturday afternoon for the St. Helena Carpy Gang, sweeping all three games.
While the varsity was improving to 6-2, the Middletown JVs (8-0) and PeeWees (7-0-1) remained undefeated.
Scoring and statistics were not provided.
All three Middletown teams are home Saturday to play Westshore.
Willits 67, Northshore 31 (varsity)
At Willits, the Northshore Junior Cougars’ varsity squad stayed within a touchdown of Willits for much of the first half but couldn’t keep up in the second half of this Northern division game.
“Eventually the small numbers on the roster took its toll and Willits started accumulating points,” Northshore coach Bill Van Der Weken said. “With five minutes to go in the fourth quarter Willits finally got out front by over 30 points.”
Highlights for the Cougars included a long touchdown pass from Jerod Rosales to Delaney Allison in the first quarter and a Vincent Stevenson touchdown run during which he broke three tackles. Ben Beecher scored three touchdowns in the second half.
Allison, Stevenson, James Uden, Cassidy Anderson, Dan Allen, Lalo Marquez-Perez all made good plays on defense, according to Van Der Weken.
Upper Lake, now 1-7 on the season, hosts Kelseyville on Saturday.
Willits 21, Northshore 13 (JV)
At Willits, in a game that went down to the wire, Willits held off Northshore in a North Division JV game.
Jamon Diggs scored twice for the Junior Cougars (4-4), once on a 55-yard run and again on a punt return.
Northshore’s defensive standouts included Dominic Jones and Aiden Dancer.
“This week’s game was more difficult to prepare for than others with the power being out and several players missing practice during the week,” Northshore coach Ernie Jones said. “Getting the team to gel during this week’s practice was a difficult task. There was not one day when all the starters on the team were present at the same time, and it showed during the game.”
