LAKE COUNTY — The weather cooled off but not the Clear Lake Cardinals and Upper Lake Cougars this weekend as both were solid winners during Week 3 of high school football action involving Lake County teams.
Upper Lake took care of its business on Friday night with a 52-18 home win over a Roseland University Prep squad that had some game, just not enough of it. Clear Lake made the long haul north to play an improved Ferndale Wildcats club that featured a solid ground attack, but the Cardinals combined a balance attack on offense — even if it wasn’t by design — with another strong effort on defense to turn back the Wildcats 33-18 in a game that wasn’t nearly that close.
Both Clear Lake and Upper Lake improved to 2-0 on the season.
In other Week 3 games, Kelseyville (0-2) fell 34-18 at home to Fortuna on Friday night while Lower Lake (0-2) scored its first two touchdowns of the season in a 46-12 road loss Saturday to Berean Christian at Walnut Creek.
Statistics
Rushing — Benjamin Beecher rolled up 97 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns in Upper Lake’s win over RUP, and Clear Lake’s Hank Ollenberger finished with 74 yards – 72 of those in the second half – to give the Cardinals a big second-half lift against Ferndale. Freshman Jesse Hayes of the Cardinals added 49 yards on eight carries, including a TD, all in the second half, against Ferndale. Upper Lake’s Joey Franklin was off to a nice start against RUP (three carries for 42 yards) before an injury ended his night.
Passing — Clear Lake’s Jake Soderquist played the first half and only one play in the second half because of a calf injury against Ferndale. He made his six passes county, completing four of them for 94 yards and two touchdowns. His backup, Graden Greer, proved more than adequate, going 5-for-8 for 50 yards and a touchdown. Upper Lake’s Jerod Rosales went 5-for-8 for 92 yards and two touchdowns against RUP.
Receiving — Clear Lake’s Cody Hayes caught five passes for 58 yards and a TD.
Special teams
Instant points — Ferndale scored on a long drive to cut Clear Lake’s lead to 13-6 in the second quarter, but before that touchdown celebration even got going, the Cardinals’ Hank Ollenberger returned the ensuing kickoff 77 yards for a score as Clear Lake went up 20-6.
Instant points II — Upper Lake’s Delaney Allison returned a punt 46 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter against RUP.
Defense
Pass rush — Upper Lake sacked RUP’s quarterback five times.
Strip sack — Clear Lake’s Wade Wittman sacked Ferndale’s quarterback late in the fourth quarter, producing a fumble that teammate Hank Ollenberger recovered.
Pinball — Upper Lake defensive back Delaney Allison tipped a RUP pass that teammate Benjamin Beecher pulled out of the air for an interception.
10 tackles — Lower Lake junior varsity outside linebacker Zack Jones rang up 10 solo stops in the Trojans’ 36-7 win over Berean Christian (and he also rushed for 135 yards and two TDs on offense).
Miscellaneous
Well-rounded effort — Clear Lake’s Hank Ollenberger rushed for 74 yards, caught two passes for 41 yards and a touchdown, and returned a kickoff for another score against Ferndale. He also recovered a fumble on defense.
Doing its job — Clear Lake’s offensive line hasn’t allowed a sack in its first two games.
Banged up — Lower Lake lost starting quarterback Michael Russell to a shoulder injury against Berean Christian. Four other Trojans also left the game with injuries. One week after losing one of its best players (Steven Frace) to injury, Kelseyville lost Kyle Watkins to an injury in the third quarter.
Something’s gotta give — Lower Lake (0-2) travels to Healdsburg (0-3) on Friday night. The host Greyhounds have been outscored 126-7 in their first three games, including a 40-7 road loss to Cloverdale last weekend. Healdsburg also lost to Fort Bragg 37-0 in its season opener.
The Hayes report — Clear Lake junior Cody Hayes had five catches for 58 yards and a touchdown while younger brother Jesse, a freshman, rushed for 49 yards and a TD and kicked three extra points.
Sorry, no stats — Kelseyville and Lower Lake did not have any individual stats to report from their games. Don’t shoot the messenger.
Wowza — Meanwhile in the Mendo-Lake Empire Junior Football League, the Kelseyville varsity team came away with a big 22-16 home win over defending league champion Middletown to improve to a league-best 3-0. Westshore’s`pee wee team also improved to 3-0.
Football farewell tour 2022 — Nothing like a three-hour road trip to Ferndale for some high school football complete with a short jaunt through a tsunami evacuation zone to reach the playing field. Ferndale is a beautiful community by the way.
Can’t escape the stink — The San Francisco 49ers’ effort against Chicago.
He can do it all — RUP quarterback Isaiah Velazquez carried the ball 29 times for 151 yards and a TD and passed for 99 yards and a TD against Upper Lake.
Gamer — Clear Lake senior setter Sierra Bruch was already playing on one bad ankle entering the Arcata Tournament on Saturday. Along the way, she hurt the other ankle, but refused to be replaced on the floor and helped the Cardinals win all six of their matches as they captured the tournament championship. Clear Lake came from behind in the third and deciding set of all three of its playoff matches, including the championship against Yreka, to win that title.
Week 4 matchups (all on Friday night) — Clear Lake (2-0) at Rio Vista (2-2), Middletown (0-2) at St. Patrick-St. Vincent (3-0), Kelseyville (0-2) at Sonoma Valley (2-1), Tomales (0-2) at Upper Lake (2-0), and Lower Lake (0-2) at Healdsburg (0-3).
I survived … — The great Ferndale heat wave. Local residents were complaining about the heat Saturday as their Wildcats hosted Clear Lake. It was 78 degrees at game time and might have felt a few degrees warmer if you were standing in the sun. There also was a bit of a cool breeze blowing throughout the game. Lake County fans in attendance had another name for that blistering Humboldt County weather after living through last week’s triple-digit tour through hell in the Redwood Empire. Heaven is one word that readily comes to mind.
Still undefeated one month into the season — Upper Lake girls soccer.
