Looking back at the week in high school football
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LAKE COUNTY >> It’s not often you make history, but the Lower Lake Trojans did exactly that Friday night even though they lost a wild 43-37 overtime decision to the St. Helena Saints at Gordon Sadler Field.
Lower Lake (1-3 league, 3-3 overall) is the first Lake County team to play overtime games in consecutive weeks, and the Trojans just missed becoming the first county team to rally from a 34-point deficit as they trailed 34-0 late in the first half and 37-8 at halftime. That’s some pretty amazing stuff. While we’re still digging through the record books to find the biggest lead overcome by a county team, we haven’t found anything yet approaching 34 points. While the Trojans didn’t win the game, wiping out such a huge deficit is certainly deserving of recognition.
St. Helena (2-1, 2-3) probably couldn’t wait to get out of Lower Lake with its skin-of-the-teeth victory.
Something to consider is that had the Trojans not scored late in the first half to make it 34-8 – St. Helena added a field goal in the final seconds of the second quarter to go up 37-8 – the third quarter would have opened with a running clock.
That’s one reason why you never give up. Teams that do never pull off the incredible comeback, which while rare do occur every now and then.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights from Week 6 of the 2024 high school football season:
Statistics
Rushing – Middletown’s Trenton Griffith and Tyler Galamay both finished with 81 yards against a hard-hitting Willits defense in a 14-7 loss at Willits. Griffith had the Mustangs’ lone touchdown as Middletown grabbed an early 7-0 lead. Jonathan Barnes and Delaney Allison of Upper Lake also had a productive Friday night in the Cougars’ 24-0 homecoming win over Cloverdale. Barnes finished with 78 yards on 14 carries while Allison had 71 yards on 15 carries, including all three Upper Lake TDs. Lower Lake’s Zakai Vilmenay had 66 yards on 13 carries against St. Helena.
Passing – Clear Lake’s AJ Bruch completed 16 of 34 passes for 259 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in a 41-13 loss at Fort Bragg. Lower Lake’s Ashton Hartmann went 9-for-20 for 232 yards, three touchdowns and one interception while fueling the Trojans’ comeback against St. Helena. He also rushed for a TD as well as a two-point conversion that knotted the score at 37-37 with 9:24 left in the game. Upper Lake’s Jerod Rosales went 9-15 for 134 yards with one interception.
Receiving – Clear Lake’s Adrian Truby had 133 yards on four catches with one TD. He had another touchdown wiped out on a holding penalty. Lower Lake’s Christian Rodriguez finished with 105 yards on three receptions, including an 85-yard bomb that narrowed St. Helena’s lead to 37-35 early in the fourth quarter. Teammate Luke Campbell caught four passes for 76 yards and two TDs. Upper Lake’s Delaney Allison had three catches for 60 yards and teammate Gabe Faalelea caught for passes for 49 yards. Lower Lake’s Jordan Rohrbacker had two catches for 49 yards.
Special teams
Every point counts – Especially when you’re rallying from a 34-0 deficit like Lower Lake did against St. Helena. Jimmy Shankles booted an extra point during a 21-point Lower Lake third quarter to make it 37-29.
Taking the week off – Kelseyville extra-point machine Jose Juarez as the Knights had a bye.
Defense
Making it happen – Brody Shields’ huge strip and fumble recovery in the third quarter led to a Lower Lake touchdown. Lower Lake coaches said it was it was the key play during the team’s rally against St. Helena.
Five-sack attack – Upper Lake sacked Cloverdale’s quarterback time after time Friday night in Upper Lake. Nathan Boomer had two of them, Jack DeMunch two others, and Kai Duncan the other sack. The Cougars also picked off two passes, one each by Mikel Compton and Landon Robinson.
Plenty of tackles – Middletown’s Ryan Henning had three unassisted tackles and five assists against Willits. Teammates Kelby Shook and Xavier Hayden both had three solo stops and three assists. Xavier also recovered a fumble. Nathan Boomer’s five tackles led Upper Lake while teammate Kai Duncan had four.
Miscellaneous
Streaks – Kelseyville, which had a bye this past weekend, has won three straight, and Upper Lake has won its last two. Lower Lake has dropped three in row and Clear Lake six straight.
Week 7 Game of the Week – Kelseyville (3-0, 4-1) at Upper Lake (3-1, 4-2). Another all-county matchup in Week 7 has Lower Lake at Clear Lake (0-3, 0-5). Middletown (1-2, 2-3) celebrates its homecoming against St. Helena. In other NCL I action, Cloverdale (0-4, 1-5) hosts Willits (4-0, 5-1).
JV news – Middletown football is 3-0 in league play and 5-0 overall.
It’s not pleasant, but it’s happening – If there were a county record for most fumbled kickoff returns in a single season, Clear Lake is on a pace to set it.
Big volleyball match – Middletown (5-3) hosts Kelseyville (6-2) in a North Central League I varsity match Tuesday night. Five teams are tightly packed atop the league standings going down the stretch – Cloverdale (7-2), St. Helena (6-2) and defending champion Fort Bragg (5-3) are the others – so it will be interesting to see how things shake out. Middletown has one distinct advantage in that it plays its final six matches at home, including matches against Kelseyville (Tuesday), Fort Bragg and St. Helena. Middletown’s JV squad (6-2) also faces a big match tonight against undefeated Kelseyville (8-0).
It’s never too late – Middletown girls soccer reported its first game of the season last week, so thank you Lee Hoage. Thomas Santana of Upper Lake varsity boys soccer has been reporting all season. After that, it’s been no-show city by the county’s coaches (Kelseyville excluded, since they play soccer in the winter and always report).
Wiped out – Triple-digit heat wiped out the high school cross country schedule last week as North Central League I teams were scheduled to run at Willits. The NCL I teams will try again Wednesday in St. Helena. Not being allowed to run in the heat is a new and interesting concept given that cross country athletes have been doing that for years. When your schedule begins in the summer and continue through October, and your league meets take place in the late afternoon, what do you expect?
Kudos – To a couple of former Lake County cross country greats, Grace Southern (Middletown) and Hannah Garrity (Clear Lake), for some recent outstanding performances at the collegiate level.
Speaking of college – Former Clear Lake High School football great Cody Hayes had a 16-yard kickoff return in College of the Redwoods’ 54-35 home win over Chabot on Saturday. Redwood, which features a handful of former Clear Lake players, is off to a 4-1 start this season.
Much appreciated – The photos you see most of the time on Lake County Sports are not mine. They belong to the likes of Trett Bishop, Bob Minenna, Mallory Young, Geri Costlow, Coral Pratt and Lindsey Hamner, with others contributing as well such as Michael Lucid and more recently Ed Oswalt. These people are doing it for free, and we really appreciate it. Thanks also to S O U T H C O U N T Y S P O R T S for its video contributions. The point is to get our local athletes some recognition and we’re doing it the best we can.
Down the road – We will be putting together All-County volleyball and football teams again this season, so stay tuned. There is no shortage of candidates to fill both teams this year. We’ll be looking for sponsors for both teams in the next few weeks.
Bye weeks – Clear Lake, Middletown and Kelseyville have already had their bye weeks. Lower Lake’s bye is Oct. 18 and Upper Lake’s Oct. 25.
Companion page – briansumptersports.com is the companion page to Lake County Sports and will soon be adding a new page to its directory, “Legends,” that will feature, at least at the start, county coaching greats who are no longer with us. A couple come to mind right away. I tried to get Lake County Sports as my internet page as well, but it’s taken. Several stats have their own Lake County. My second, third and fourth choices were also taken, so briansumptersports.com was the name finally selected.
Bill Foltmer commemorative pins – Re-ordered and still have a whole bunch left. If you’re interested, drop me a note at briansumptermail@gmail.com and I’ll get right back to you.
