LAKEPORT — The big play came back in a big way for the Clear Lake Cardinals during a 40-0 rout of Hoopa Valley in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 7 football playoffs Friday night at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
“We played well and got back to getting some big plays, playing our kind of football,” Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said as the Cardinals (7-3) snapped a two-game losing streak that ended their regular season. “It was an ugly win, but we took care of what we needed to do.”
Clear Lake will find out Saturday who and where it’s playing in next weekend’s sectional semifinals. No. 1 seed St. Vincent (8-1) of Petaluma hosts No. 8 seed St. Patrick-St. Vincent of Valley today at 1 p.m. in Petaluma. If the top-seeded Mustangs prevail, Clear Lake will travel to Petaluma on Nov. 20.
“You have to be willing to play the best in the playoffs,” Cory said. “St. Vincent is a step up in competition.”
Hoopa Valley (4-5) was a step sideways, at best. The Warriors simply didn’t have the personnel on defense to match Clear Lake’s big-play capability, and that was never more evident than the matchup between Cardinals wide receiver Zane Robinson and Hoopa cornerback Lane Campbell, who is also the Warriors’ quarterback.
Robinson towered over the much smaller Campbell and easily jumped over him to pull in a 60-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jack Daskam late in the first quarter to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead.
On Clear Lake’s only possession of the second quarter, Robinson abused Campbell again, racing 74 yards for a score that gave Clear Lake a 28-0 halftime lead.
Robinson not only took advantage of Campbell as a wide receiver, but also as a defensive back, picking him off three times and returning the second of those interceptions 101 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter just when it appeared as though the Warriors might actually get on the scoreboard.
Instead of cutting into Clear Lake’s 34-0 lead, Hoopa suddenly found itself down 40-0 as its fan base expressed its displeasure with the situation loudly and repeatedly, dropping more f-bombs than actor Joe Pesci in the movie Goodfellas. While most of the coarse language was directed at game officials because of the high number of penalties accumulated by the Warriors, there was plenty to spare for Clear Lake’s players.
“They did a good job keeping their composure in an ugly situation,” Cory said of the Cardinals.
Robinson finished with three catches (on offense) for 132 yards and two touchdowns. He had even more return yards on his three interceptions.
“He had a night,” Cory said of the senior.
And so did Daskam, who went 10-for-14 for 270 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a 69-yard pick-six early in the second quarter to put the Cardinals up 21-0.
Wideout Tyler Haskell also had a multiple-touchdown night, scoring Clear Lake’s first points of the game on a 61-yard reception with 7:49 left in the first quarter and adding a 6-yard run early in the third quarter for a 34-0 lead. Like teammates Robinson and Daskam, he also picked off a pass.
In chronological order, Clear Lake’s touchdowns came on plays of 61, 60, 69, 74, 6 and 101 yards.
“We had the opportunity to make some of those plays the last couple of weeks and didn’t do it,” Cory said of league losses to St. Helena and Cloverdale, two other North Central League I teams that won their Division 7 playoffs openers on Friday night — St. Helena mauled McKinleyville 48-6 and Cloverdale beat Berean Christian of Walnut Creek 28-26. With Cloverdale playing at St. Helena next Friday in the other Division 7 semifinal, the NCL I is guaranteed to have at least one team playing for a championship the weekend of Nov. 26-27.
Friday’s game was halted for 20 minutes early in the fourth quarter when Clear Lake reserve Isaiah Reed sustained a knee injury and had to be transported to the hospital via ambulance.
The fourth quarter was mercifully played with a running clock.
Clear Lake’s quick scores on offense and defense created a huge imbalance in time of possession. The Warriors ran 57 plays over the final three quarters to the Cardinals’ 13.
