LAKEPORT — He was just one part of the Clear Lake High School offense in 2022, but no one did more to help the Cardinals reach the state football playoffs, the first time that’s happened in Lake County history.
That person is quarterback Jake Soderquist, who rewrote the county’s postseason passing records as the Cardinals posted the best record in school history at 12-2.
Soderquist, just a junior, is the Lake County Record-Bee’s Athlete of the Year for the 2022-23 high school sports season, a standout both on the gridiron and basketball floor for the Cardinals.
In his first full season as a starting quarterback Soderquist completed 71 of 108 passes for 891 yards and 10 touchdowns in Clear Lake’s four playoff games. In a most memorable 56-55 shoot-out victory over St. Vincent of Petaluma in the North Coast Section Division 7 finals in late November at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, Soderquist went 25-for-36 for 296 yards and four touchdowns.
Named All-League, All-Empire and All-State, Soderquist said his success was only possible because of his teammates, including an offensive line that kept him upright nearly the entire year.
“I don’t think I was sacked until the fifth week of the season,” Soderquist said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without them (teammates, including those on the offensive line).”
In addition to his line, most of which graduated last month, Soderquist was blessed with a handful of ultra-talented skill position players, all of them returning in 2023 with the exception of wide receiver Ayden Williamson, who caught the game-winning two-point conversion pass with 17 seconds left against St. Vincent. That game-winning catch followed a magnificent 72-yard touchdown drive that used up almost all of the 7:31 remaining on the clock when the Cardinals took over on downs at their own 28-yard line midway through the fourth quarter trailing 55-48.
Soderquist went 5-for-6 for 39 yards on the game-winning march to the end zone, including a pair of drive-sustaining fourth-down completions to tight end Cody Hayes. Soderquist also ran for a first down on the same drive, gaining four yards on fourth-and-two run just two plays before running back Hank Ollenberger ran around the right side untouched into the end zone to cut St. Vincent’s lead to 55-54.
“Cody on that drive did a lot and Hank went the extra mile all game, getting extra yards on all of his runs,” Soderquist said.
The conversion pass that won the game, a slant from Soderquist to Williamson, was somewhat of an improvised play.
“We had never run it before,” Soderquist said. “Cody ran a wheel route to the right to draw coverage his way and Ayden ran a slant route to the left.”
Soderquist said the Cardinals were going to attempt a run-pass option play on the conversion but changed their minds after St. Vincent called a timeout.
“We changed the play,” Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. “What a lot of people don’t remember on that play is that he (Soderquist) got blasted by two St. Vincent players.”
Soderquist said he swallowed hard after dropping back and firing the ball in Williamson’s direction.
“When it came out of my hand I thought I had thrown it behind him,” Soderquist said. “But he caught it and I was pretty happy about that.”
So was Cory, who expected nothing less than a successful conversion.
“He just made play after play for us (last season),” Cory said of Soderquist. “One thing you have to remember is that he hadn’t played quarterback much for us until last year. He played a little his sophomore year but he got hurt. For a guy who had not played or practiced much at that position, he was really amazing. That’s a hard position to learn.”
.The Cardinals returned to action the following weekend against Orland in the opening round of the state playoffs and dropped a 42-21 decision that only got away from them in the final minutes of the game – it was 21-14 Orland going to the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t carry over the same effort we had against St. Vincent,” Soderquist said. “We didn’t run our offense as well.”
Rain earlier in the week left the field wet, always a concern for a passing quarterback.
“The ball was a little slippery that night,” Soderquist said. “Mostly they (Trojans) were just a good team.”
Orland beat Shafter the following week 20-7 to win the 5-A state title.
Getting so close to a state championship and not winning it was a bit frustrating, according to Soderquist, but the Cardinals certainly kept their perspective following the season-ending loss.
“Of course we were sad, but at the same time we couldn’t be disappointed in what we had accomplished … no team from the county has done this,” Soderquist said of reaching the state playoffs.
If anything, the Orland loss will be a motivating factor for him and other returning players in 2023. They want to get back to the state playoffs and win it all.
“It’s literally what you dream about as a kid,” Soderquist said of the thought of bringing home a state title.
“He’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached,” Cory said. “He is what makes us go.”
The son of Jason and Kristen Soderquist of Lakeport, Jake, 17, has an older brother Joey, 19, a 2022 Clear Lake graduate. Jake’s grandfather, Jim Foley, is a former varsity football and baseball coach at Clear Lake.
Back in his younger football days, Soderquist said he never expected to play quarterback.
“I was horrible, I had never thrown the ball before,” Soderquist said. “My dad talked to Cory about playing quarterback. My freshman year (2020) there was nothing because of COVID. I played behind Jack (Daskam) and Maddox (Albaum) my sophomore year (2021). They both helped me out, I learned a lot from them, and I was getting better.”
Though he played in a handful of games his sophomore year Soderquist said he never felt comfortable behind center, a situation that began to change last summer before the start of his junior year.
“Going to those two camps (Sutter and McKinleyville) really helped,” Soderquist said of preseason camps regularly attended by the Cardinals, who were at the McKinleyville camp this past weekend.
When the 2022 season opened, Clear Lake won all three of its preseason games and its first five league games before losing to Willits in overtime at Willits. Needing a victory in the final week of the regular season at Cloverdale to clinch the undisputed league title, the Cardinals regained their championship form with a thrilling 22-21 win. The following week they played the Eagles again in the first round of the sectional playoffs at Lakeport where Cloverdale jumped out to a 13-0 lead before Clear Lake answered with 47 unanswered points in a 47-13 rout.
Clear Lake came from behind to win all three of its sectional playoffs games — against Cloverdale, Kelseyville and St. Vincent.
“Our mentality is we never give up,” Soderquist said. “He (Cory) encouraged us the whole way. When we fell behind Cloverdale in the playoffs, he told us to keep playing our game and things would turn around. He never panicked and we never panicked.”
Looking back on the loss to Willits, Soderquist said it ended up being a positive for the Cardinals, who found themselves with their backs to the wall the following week at Cloverdale, a situation they didn’t mind being in.
“The loss helped us, brought us closer as a team,” Soderquist said. “It allowed us to re-focus a little bit.”
Clear Lake’s depth was tested at quarterback several times during the 2022 season as Soderquist missed two full games and parts of two others with injuries — a calf strain sustained during a preseason win at Ferndale and a concussion suffered in a league game at Lower Lake. He missed a non-league 33-0 win over Rio Vista recovering from the calf strain, and a 13-7 league victory over St. Helena because of the concussion, the result of a late hit against Lower Lake, a game the Cardinals won 45-0.
Missing the St. Helena game was a particularly tough one for Soderquist to watch from the sidelines since the Cardinals were playing the defending league champions. Backup Graden Greer replaced Soderquist behind center and got to the job done with a big assist from the Clear Lake defense.
While Soderquist is quick to share any and all of his personal achievements with his teammates, he also praised his coach for “keeping the team level” through the highs and lows every season brings.
“I like Cory,” said Soderquist, who quickly added, “When he’s yelling at you is not the time to worry. I get scared when he’s quiet.”
As much as football ability aided the Cardinals during a historic season, so did team bonding.
“We’re a close team,” he said. “We got together for team dinners every Thursday during the season. Our trips to camps (Sutter and McKinleyville) are as much about team building as they are about getting ready for the next season.”
Basketball
While Soderquist is a relative newcomer to the position of quarterback, the All-League first-team guard for the Cardinals’ 17-11 varsity basketball squad in 2022-23 has been playing that sport since he could pick up a ball.
“Since the second or third grade,” Soderquist said.
While the Cardinals under head coach Mike Damiata had several pieces to build around this past season, they just didn’t have quite enough pieces to make a run at the league title although they held their own, going 11-5 and placing fourth in the final NCL I standings.
Two of Clear Lake’s best pieces were Soderquist and his football teammate Hayes, also a junior.
“We weren’t as strong as we needed to be, but Cody helped us out a lot,” Soderquist said.
Though he fancies himself more of a ballhandler and ball distributor than a shooting guard, the Cardinals needed offense from Soderquist this past season and they got it as he led the team with a 16.2 points-per-game average followed by Hayes at 13.1.
“A quiet leader, he leads by example on both ends of the floor,” said Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata. “He has a great temperament for an athlete, never too high and never too low. He’s cool and calm under pressure and his teammates follow him without question.”
Damiata had to wait an extra couple of weeks for the likes of Sodequist and Hayes to take the floor because of their participation on the school’s football team and its deep playoff run, which extended into the start of the basketball team’s season schedule.
“We were rusty when we first got out there, but I think he (Damiata) was pretty happy to see us,” Soderquist said.
Minus his still-playing-football starters, Damiata watched the Cardinals drop their first two games of the season. When Soderquist, Hayes and company rejoined the team in early December, the Cardinals won five of their first six and were on their way.
“I love basketball,” said Soderquist, who as a sophomore played with brother Joey (the team’s leading scorer in the 2021-22 season).
Rather than play a spring sport his first three years in high school, Soderquist has spent that time playing AAU basketball. He said he may try a third sport his senior year, perhaps track as a sprinter or even baseball.
“I haven’t played baseball since the sixth grade,” he said.
Good friends
Whatever free time Soderquist has is usually spent playing sports or hanging out with good friends Hayes, Ollenberger and Saul Reyes, all of whom have been playing varsity football together since their sophomore year.
Solid on the football field and basketball court, Soderquist is no slouch in the classroom either with a GPA between 3.7-3.8. He said he wants to keep playing in college once he graduates from Clear Lake. His choice would be a college located near the bench in Central or Southern California.
“He’s just an exceptional young man and teammate. He actually reminds me a little bit of Travis Howe in a lot of ways,” Damiata said of the 2020 Clear Lake High graduate and the Record-Bee’s 2019-20 Athlete of the Year. “Also he’s extremely confident, but you wouldn’t know it unless you really paid attention. He’s very, very competitive and doesn’t back down.”
Just ask the St. Vincent Mustangs.
