LOWER LAKE — The Lower Lake Trojans spotted St. Helena a 16-0 lead and could never recover as they fell 54-39 to the Saints in the North Central League I and regular-season finale for both of these varsity football teams Friday night at Gordon Sadler Field in Lower Lake.
Both squads have next weekend off before moving on to the North Coast Section playoffs Nov. 15-16 as at-large teams — Lower Lake (5-2 league, 7-3 overall) in Division 6 and St. Helena (5-2, 8-2) in Division 7. Who, when and where they play will be determined Nov. 10 at the at-large and seeding meeting.
“We came out slow and they went right down the field on us,” Lower Lake coach Jeremey Jakubowski said of the Saints, who moved out to an early 8-0 lead.
Lower Lake was driving on its first possession before the Saints ended the threat by picking off Trojans quarterback Vann Wilkins. St. Helena parlayed the turnover into another touchdown and a 16-0 lead.
Lower Lake scored on its next drive as Aries Brooke crashed into the end zone from a yard out, but the Saints’ running game came right back with another touchdown late in the first quarter to go up 24-7.
With sophomore running back Ivan Robledo leading the St. Helena charge with five touchdowns, the Saints moved out to a 40-21 halftime lead, and they held a 54-33 advantage through three quarters.
“He’s hard to tackle and he runs with some force,” Jakubowski said of Robeldo, who broke a number of long runs. “We gave up too many big plays.”
After losing two of their starting offensive linemen in a win over Clear Lake the previous week, the Trojans had to plug the holes with sophomores and the Saints took full advantage by applying heavy pressure all night long.
“They were blitzing a lot and they sacked him (Wilkins) five or six times,” Jakubowski said.
Wilkins held up pretty well despite the pressure and was able to complete 14 of 32 passes for 267 yards, including a pair of scoring strikes to wide receiver Semaj Clark (five catches for 135 yards), one of them an 80-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Lower Lake had a chance to make it a one-score game late in the fourth quarter but a long drive stalled on downs deep inside St. Helena territory.
“Our kids never quit and kept a positive attitude,” Jakubowski said. “We played hard all night.”
Lower Lake had won five straight entering play and the loss leaves the Trojans tied with St. Helena and Willits (5-2, 7-3) in the league standings. Middletown (5-0), which has one game remaining, that next Friday in Cloverdale, clinched the outright league title with Lower Lake’s loss.
The Trojans honored their seniors before their final home game of the regular season and several turned in solid performances, with Clark and linebacker Cole Doud at the top of that list, according to Jakubowski. Doud led the defense with 12 tackles.
Wilkins, only a junior, also rushed for 49 yards and two touchdowns while Brooke finished with 40 yards and two scores.
St. Helena won the junior varsity game 52-0.
