Cardinals, Mustangs travel to Mendocino County in NCL I action
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LAKE COUNTY >> The Upper Lake Cougars celebrate homecoming Friday night against the Cloverdale Eagles and find themselves in a good position to stay on the heels of North Central League I leaders Kelseyville and Willits as the league race enters the month of October.
Upper Lake (2-1 league, 3-2 overall) still has games remaining against both league leaders – Kelseyville (3-0, 4-1) at home Oct. 11 and Willits (3-0, 4-1) on the road Nov. 1 – so the last thing the Cougars can afford now is to stumble against a Cloverdale team (0-3, 1-4) that is struggling just to keep it together in terms of enough healthy players. Cloverdale fell 20-8 to Lower Lake in its league opener, forfeiting the game late in the third quarter after losing several players to injury, then forfeited its game the following week at Fort Bragg because it didn’t have enough players. At home a week ago, the Eagles fell 41-8 to Kelseyville, a game the Knights controlled from the outset.
The Cougars haven’t made a serious run for a NCL I championship since 2004, but a win against Cloverdale would certainly keep them in the conversation in 2024.
In other Week 6 games involving Lake County teams Friday night, Middletown (1-1, 2-2), now minus two top players, heads to Willits to take on the Wolverines, who are coming off a tough 29-20 win over archrival Fort Bragg (1-2, 2-3); Lower Lake (1-2, 3-2) hosts St. Helena (1-1, 1-3); and Clear Lake (0-2, 0-4) tries again for its first win of the season at Fort Bragg. Kelseyville has a bye this weekend before returning to action Oct. 11 at Upper Lake.
Middletown at Willits
Middletown has been hit by the injury bug in the worst way this season, but the Mustangs still possess a dangerous offense featuring the likes of speedy running backs Trenton Griffith, a junior, and Tyler Galamay, a freshman.
The Mustangs lost starting quarterback Blake Costlow, a junior, to a broken foot in Week 2. If that wasn’t bad enough, backup quarterback/wide receiver Jon Hawkins, a junior, sustained a serious wrist injury a week ago in a 34-28 road win against Clear Lake.
Injuries aside, life goes on for the Mustangs and head coach Bill Foltmer, who certainly isn’t about to wave a white flag in his 40th and final season at the school. Middletown bolted out to a 20-0 lead a week ago in Lakeport against the Cardinals, but Hawkins’ injury late in the second quarter figuratively knocked the wind out of the Mustangs, who held off the Cardinals down the stretch.
Playing in Willits is never easy, regardless of the sport, and Lake County teams shouldn’t expect many calls to go their way, a fact most coaches simply accept. As a NCL II team for many years, Middletown didn’t have to worry about playing there, but it’s now an every-other-year occurrence for the Mustangs.
Because of league realignment before the start of the 2023 season (when Upper Lake rejoined the NCL I), Middletown has played each of its last two games against Willits at home, winning 14-0 last season and 15-14 in 2022. The last meeting in Willits was a 24-14 Middletown victory, and the prior meeting at Willits, in 2019, saw the Mustangs emerge with a 21-15 win (there was no game in 2020 because of COVID).
Overall, the Mustangs have won 11 straight against Willits, though as the last few seasons have demonstrated, they have been highly competitive games. The Wolverines last beat the Mustangs in 2011, winning 12-7 at Willits. Since rejoining the NCL I in 2005, Middletown is 17-1 against the Wolverines.
That record of dominance will certainly be put to the test Friday night given the Mustangs’ injury situation and the Wolverines’ solid play in recent years. Willits reached the North Coast Section Division 7 finals a year ago, losing to Ferndale, but still finished the year with a 9-4 record, that after posting an 8-3 mark in 2022.
Lower Lake at St. Helena
Coming off a bye week, the St. Helena Saints hit the road to face the Trojans, losers of their last two after starting the season 3-0. St. Helena lost its first three games, including close ones to Justn-Siena and Willits, before beating Upper Lake 32-28 two weeks ago in Upper Lake.
Lower Lake is coming off a double-overtime homecoming defeat to Upper Lake, which prevailed 20-12 a week ago. It was a game the Trojans had all kinds of chances to win but couldn’t come through in the end.
Last year’s meeting went to the Saints, 35-24, in St. Helena during head coach Erick Larsen’s first season with the team. The former Kelseyville High School coach knows the Trojans well.
Middletown High transfer Troy Taber is playing quarterback for the Saints this season. The senior is leading the team with five rushing touchdowns and has thrown two more.
St. Helena has won each of the last five meetings between the two teams. Lower Lake’s last victory was a 33-14 decision in 2017 at Lower Lake.
After facing the Saints, the Trojans hit the road on Oct. 11 to play Clear Lake, then return home for back-to-back games against Kelseyville (Oct. 25) and Middletown (Nov. 1).
Clear Lake at Fort Bragg
The Cardinals showed signs of life last week against Middletown, their 28-point output exceeding the 26 points they had scored in their first three games combined. If the trend continues, head coach Mark Cory’s squad could enter the win column for the first time since a 39-0 league home win against Cloverdale to close out the 2023 regular season.
Clear Lake junior quarterback AJ Bruch let it fly against Middletown a week ago, completing 18 of 41 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He also ran for 69 yards and two scores.
Fort Bragg is a team the Cardinals have dominated in recent seasons. They won 66-6 a year ago in Lakeport, 39-7 in 2022, also in Lakeport, 47-0 in 2021 at Fort Bragg, and 36-14 in 2019 at Lakeport. Fort Bragg won the 2018 meeting, 21-6 at Fort Bragg.
After the Fort Bragg game, the Cardinals play three of their next four at home – Oct. 11 against Lower Lake, Oct. 25 against Willits and Nov. 1 against Kelseyville (Bass Bowl XIV).
