LAKE COUNTY — Football on a Friday afternoon? Yep, the Clear Lake Cardinals and Fort Bragg Timberwolves, dodging the threat of a possible PG&E safety blackout, went with a 1 p.m. kickoff to make sure they had plenty of light to play their North Central League I varsity football game held nearly a year ago today at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
Until the COVID-19-delayed 2020-21 sports season starts in December, the Lake County Record-Bee will take a look back at the local sports happenings of a year ago and the teams and athletes who were making the headlines.
Football
With the possibility of another PG&E power blackout looming, Clear Lake High School officials considered several options before deciding that an early start for its Friday game with the Timberwolves was the best way to go. The Cardinals entered play riding a five-game losing streak and were 0-3 in league action, but they turned in one of their best efforts of the season and rolled to a 36-14 victory, their first home win in four tries during the 2019 campaign.
Clear Lake had both its running and passing games going. Quarterback Darius Ford completed 10 of 17 passes for 153 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions, wide receiver Travis Howe caught two touchdown passes and running back Treppa Marcks (26 carries for 146 yards) rushed for three scores as Clear Lake scored its most points since a 60-44 playoff loss to St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo in the 2017 sectional playoffs.
Clear Lake’s 380 yards of total offense and the 14 points allowed by its defense were both season bests to that point.
In addition to his three catches as a wide receiver, Howe also picked off two passes on defense.
The victory touched off a strong finish to the 2019 season as the Cardinals won three of their final four games, including a 37-30 home victory over Kelseyville in the annual Bass Bowl game to end the year.
