UPPER LAKE — The Upper Lake Cougars made their North Coast Section eight-man playoff debut in new uniforms Friday night while rolling past the Cornerstone Christian Cougars 48-6 in a first-round game at Upper Lake High School.
Upper Lake (7-2) won its fifth straight and just missed its fourth shutout in a row while punching its ticket for the semifinals next Friday night against No. 2 seed Stuart Hall at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. Kickoff is 6 p.m. The winner of that game meets the winner of the other semifinal between top-seeded Branson and No. 4 Calistoga in the eight-man finals the weekend of Nov. 26-27.
“The first half we played great, the second half got a little sloppy,” Upper Lake head coach Vince Moran said of the Cougars’ lopsided postseason victory. “We played real well, especially in the first half. I’m happy with the performance.”
The third-seeded Cougars led 18-0 after one quarter and 40-0 by halftime. It was 48-0 going to the final period when a running clock went into effect.
Cornerstone Christian’s lone score came late in the fourth quarter on a fourth-down pass that was nearly picked off by Upper Lake.
Four Upper Lake players scored touchdowns and one of them, senior fullback/linebacker Bradley Sneathen, reached the end zone three different times and in three different ways — on a 19-yard run and a 10-yard reception in the second quarter, and on a 45-yard punt return in the third quarter. Sneathen also added conversion runs following Upper Lake’s first three touchdowns.
The first score of the game was a safety as Cornerstone Christian’s punter ran out of the end zone following a bad snap. Cody Banks scored on an 18-yard run not long after that and Kyle Grandi’s 3-yard touchdown run had Upper Lake comfortably in front by the end of the first quarter.
Upper Lake put the game out of reach in the second quarter, beginning with a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jerod Rosales to wide receiving Elijah Alvarez. Sneathen’s first two touchdowns followed for a 40-0 halftime lead.
Upper Lake was sending in reserves in the second half, which accounted for some of the Cougars’ sloppiness over the final two quarters when the game took on a bit of a “chippy” tone, according to Moran.
Continuing strong play by the Upper Lake defense – three fumble recoveries and five more sacks – made the offense’s job that much easier. One week after recording seven sacks against South Fork, Upper Lake defensive end Joey Franklin had three more against Cornerstone Christian, two of which caused fumbles recovered by Upper Lake.
Will Henry recovered two fumbles and also had a sack. Nick Foster had the other fumble recovery and also had a sack.
“The whole defense played well,” Moran said.
Including Sneathen, who led the team with 14 tackles.
“He probably averages that many a game,” Moran said.
Bank led the Cougars with 54 yards rushing and Sneathen finished with 48. Rosales went 4-for-10 for 50 yards, two TDs and no interceptions.
Upper Lake did not commit a turnover.
