UPPER LAKE — Will Henry scored three touchdowns while Delaney Allison and Benjamin Beecher each found the end zone twice Friday night as the Upper Lake Cougars overcame a bit of a slow start to soundly beat the Roseland University Prep Knights of Santa Rosa 52-18 in eight-man non-league football action at Upper Lake.
Upper Lake (2-0) took control of the game with a 22-0 second quarter that pushed its halftime lead to 36-8. The game went to a running clock midway through the third quarter following a Beecher 21-yard touchdown run and a successful conversion pass from quarterback Jerod Rosales to tight end Luke Summerfield, which increased the Cougars’ lead to 52-16.
While it wasn’t a flawless effort by an Upper Lake squad that fumbled away its first possession of the game, head coach Vince Moran said it was a satisfying win against an opponent that made some noise along the way, something that didn’t happen a week ago when the Cougars routed Laytonville 74-0 in their season opener.
“I remember them being big when we played them in the scrimmage (last month),” Moran said of the Knights, “but they were much more physical than I expected.”
RUP also had a couple of outstanding athletes in senior quarterback Isaiah Velazquez and defensive end Edgar Sorias, the likes of which the Cougars didn’t face against Laytonville.
“That defensive end was tough and he caused us some problems,” Moran said. “The quarterback hurt us a lot. He’s a good runner. He would spread us out and find an open lane to run in.”
Velazquez carried the ball 29 times for 151 yards and one touchdown. He also went 11-for-29 passing for 99 yards and the Knights’ other TD against Upper Lake. Put another way, Velazquez pretty much is the RUP offense as he had all but two of the team’s rushing yards.
Upper Lake’s offense is far more diversified and even the loss of fullback Joey Franklin to a shin bruise during the game didn’t slow down the Cougars down one bit.
“We feel real comfortable with the guys we have,” Moran said of an offensive backfield that features Franklin, Henry, Beecher, Allison and even Rosales when it comes to running the football. “All of those guys compliment each other real well. There’s a good mix of speed and power.”
Upper Lake gained 199 yards on the ground and 92 through the air. The Cougars had so much success running the ball they didn’t need to throw it much, but when they did Rosales delivered the goods, going 5-for-8 for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns — a 22-yard strike to Allison early in the second quarter and a 37-yard hookup with Henry on Upper Lake’s first play from scrimmage in the third quarter.
“Jerod probably could have passed for 200 yards and four touchdowns if that’s what we needed, but we didn’t tonight,” Moran said.
Beecher carried the ball nine times for 97 yards to anchor Upper Lake’s ground game. Franklin rolled up 42 yards on only three carries before he was injured.
While there were plenty of kudos to go around on the offensive side of the ball for the Cougars, Upper Lake’s defense also did a good job despite Velazquez being a constant source of irritation. The Cougars gave up some yards to be sure, but they did a better job of containing RUP’s quarterback as the game went along. They also sacked him four times — Nick Foster had two of those — and they picked him off early in the second quarter, Allison deflecting the ball into Beecher’s hands. That turnover, the only one committed by the Knights, led to an Upper Lake touchdown three plays later when Beecher spun loose on a run up the middle and broke it back to the outside where he raced down the Upper Lake sideline for a 40-yard score. Beecher then added the conversion run for a 30-8 Upper Lake lead.
The Cougars went up 14-0 in the first quarter on a Henry 1-yard run and an Allison 46-yard punt return, Franklin adding the conversion run.
RUP then mounted its most impressive drive of the game, moving 65 yards in 12 plays before Velazquez found a receiver wide open in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown. The Knights also added the conversion run to close to 14-8, but they wouldn’t get any closer.
Upper Lake scored on each of its first three possessions of the second quarter and it would have been a perfect 4-for-4 had the Cougars not lost a fumble in the final seconds of the half on a second-and-goal play from the half-yard line. With Upper Lake out of timeouts and rushing to get a play off with the clock winding down, Rosales’ handoff to Henry squirted out of the running back’s hands and into the end zone where it was recovered by the Knights for a touchback.
Upper Lake’s first three drives of the quarter ended with scores each time — Rosales’ 22-yard pass to Allison, Beecher’s 40-yard run, and Henry’s 21-yard run.
After Velazquez scored on a 7-yard run to cap RUP’s first possession of the second half and cut Upper Lake’s lead to 36-16, the Cougars needed only three plays to score two more times – a 37-yard pass from Rosales to Henry, and Beecher’s 21-yard run that capped a two-play drive. The Cougars added the two-point conversion after both scores.
The final two points of the game were the result of a safety early in the fourth quarter when Upper Lake lined up for a punt and snapped the ball into the end zone where the Cougars recovered it.
Upper Lake remains home next Friday to play Tomales (0-1). Tomales hosts Calistoga (1-0) on Saturday.
