By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKE COUNTY >> It’s the day before Labor Day, but the labor is well under way for the area’s five high school football teams, four of which were in action this past weekend as the 2025 season set sail for destinations unknown.
The final tally for week one was 1-3 in terms of wins and losses. Lower Lake beat Esparto 22-7 at home, Upper Lake lost 40-0 to Los Molinos in what was technically a home game at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport, Middletown dropped a hard-fought, sweat-loaded 22-14 decision to Berean Christian in Walnut Creek, and Clear Lake ended up on the wrong end of a 30-6 decision against St. Bernard in Eureka despite forcing six turnovers.
There were some really weird twists in week one. The Middletown-Berean Christian game was stopped twice because of the heat index on a red-hot day in Walnut Creek, factoring in the artificial turf the two teams were playing on. The Lower Lake-Esparto game ended with 4:53 left in the first half because Esparto didn’t have enough healthy players left after suffering a string of injuries. The really weird thing is that each of Lower Lake’s last two wins have come that way – against Esparto on Friday night and against Cloverdale during week three of the 2024 season, a league opener played at Cloverdale that the Eagles forfeited after falling behind and sustaining too many injuries.
Continuing on the weird theme, Los Molinos didn’t seem to enjoy its time in Lake County, with several on the Bulldogs’ sideline saying the team wouldn’t play Upper Lake again even though the ‘Dogs had no trouble taming the Cougars.
Injuries and missing players are already playing a factor. Clear Lake is starting the season without quarterback AJ Bruch, who missed the St. Bernard’s game and is unlikely to play Friday against Pierce in Arbuckle. Several other players were showing animals at the Lake County Fair and couldn’t play in week one, including Middletown’s Jon Hawkins, while still others were absent in week one for a variety of reasons not football related, most of them linemen.
Here’s a look back at week one:
Statistics (of the four teams that played, only two reported numbers)
Rushing – Middletown’s Trenton Griffith gained 174 yards on 10 carries, including runs of 50, 46 and 32 yards, against Berean Christian.
Passing – Ashton Hartmann threw two touchdowns passes in Lower Lake’s win. Clear Lake’s Zane McAuley, filling in for the injured Bruch, took a pounding but still threw for 236 yards and one TD. Middletown’s Blake Costlow went 5-for-12 for 39 yards and a TD against Berean Christian. Billy Stillman Jr. of Upper Lake was 3-for-12 for 31 yards in his varsity debut.
Receiving – After missing nearly two full seasons while recovering from a knee injury, Clear Lake running back Jesse Hayes caught a touchdown pass, his first score since his memorable freshman season of 2022 when he helped lead Clear Lake to league and section championships. Upper Lake’s Antario Wyman caught three passes for 31 yards against Los Molinos. Trenton Griffith also was Middletown’s leading receiver with two catches for 22 yards.
Special teams – Mikel Compton had a 44-yard kickoff return for Upper Lake late in the game against Los Molinos, one of the few times the Cougars had the ball in Bulldogs territory during the night.
Defense
Welcome back – Jesse Hayes was in on 12 tackles to lead the Clear Lake defense against St. Bernard. He also had one of the team’s four interceptions. Also for the Cardinals, David Frederick had seven tackles and a fumble recovery.
A day’s work – Middletown’s Ryan Henning was in on 16 tackles against Berean Christian while teammate Jasiah Pike was in on 15. Two other Mustangs – Hayden Xavier and Tyler Galamay – were in on 10 apiece. Xavier also intercepted a pass.
Stingy Bulldogs – Los Molinos limited Upper Lake to seven rushing yards, 31 passing yards, sacked the quarterback twice, and intercepted a pass that led to a touchdown. The Cougars never reached the red zone.
Sack attack – St. Bernard dropped Clear Lake quarterback Zane McAuley eight times.
Miscellaneous
New coach debut – All three of Lake County’s new varsity head coaches – Kurtis Woodard (Middletown), Augie Perez (Clear Lake) and Derek Milhaupt (Upper Lake) – took losses this past weekend.
Scheduling note – Lower Lake’s junior varsity team is home Thursday night against Maxwell at 5 p.m. Lower Lake’s varsity plays Friday in Healdsburg at 7 p.m.
Visiting player of the week – That’s easy. Los Molinos running back Wyatt Gillett rushed 30 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns against Upper Lake. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
503 yards of offense – St. Bernard rushed for 386 yards and passed for another 117 against Clear Lake.
JV winners – Upper Lake beat Los Molinos 34-6 and Lower Lake defeated Esparto 34-0.
Looking ahead – Week two games feature Kelseyville’s season opener at home against Orland (1-0) on Friday night. Other Friday games are Clear Lake (0-1) at Pierce (1-0), Lower Lake (1-0) at Healdsburg (0-1), Piedmont (0-1) at Middletown (0-1), and Upper Lake (0-1) at Stuart Hall (1-0). The Upper Lake-Stuart Hall game is varsity only and kicks off at 6 p.m. in San Francisco.
Streaks – Upper Lake has dropped three straight dating back to last season, all shutouts. Lower Lake’s win against Esparto snapped the seven-game losing streak the Trojans ended last season with.
League openers – With North Central League I teams playing eight games, that leaves only two weeks for preseason tuneups. The NCL I race begins Sept. 12 with Fort Bragg at Clear Lake, St. Helena at Lower Lake, Middletown at Cloverdale, and Upper Lake at Willits. Kelseyville has the league bye.
For what it’s worth – Coaches in all fall sports, JV and varsity, are welcome to report results to Lake County Sports. It’s up to them. If they report, great. If they don’t, please explain to your players and their parents why you don’t. You’re all welcome here at Lake County Sports.
