Lower Lake hosts Middletown, Upper Lake visits Kelseyville in other Friday night games
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKE COUNTY >> The North Central League I football race could really be tied up in knots Friday night if the Clear Lake Cardinals find a way to upset the St. Helena Saints at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
St. Helena (5-0 league, 7-0 overall), coming off a league bye, needs a win over Clear Lake (4-1, 4-3) to maintain its lead in the league standings over its closest pursuers –Middletown (5-1, 6-2), Willits (4-1, 6-1) and Clear Lake. A Saints win over the Cardinals would all but mathematically eliminate Clear Lake from the league since there are only two more weeks left in the regular season following Friday’s round of games.
Besides St. Helena at Clear Lake on Friday, Middletown visits Lower Lake (1-4, 3-4), Upper Lake (0-6, 0-8) calls on Kelseyville (1-4, 1-5), and Cloverdale (1-4, 2-5) visits Willits. Fort Bragg (3-3, 3-5) has the league bye.
St. Helena at Clear Lake
The Saints have spent the last two weeks preparing for Clear Lake and a win over the Cardinals would match the 2015 team’s 8-0 start. St. Helena has been able to wear down opponents in the second halves of their games this season, including 53-23 and 41-34 wins over Kelseyville and Middletown.
St. Helena is averaging nearly 265 yards a game running the football, a tribute to both their running backs and the guys blocking up front for them. Julian Earls leads the team with 741 yards and Eric Torres has 641. While those two have combined for 11 touchdowns, quarterback Jhony Covarrubias leads the team with eight TDs on the ground, so the Saints have a multi-prong attack and can hurt you in a lot of ways.
Their passing game can get the job done, too, as Covarrubias has 707 yards and four touchdowns.
“We need to stop their running game, it’s very good,” Clear Lake head coach Augie Perez said. “Their quick dives and options, that’s what we need to look out for. Our defense has to come through.”
Calling it a must-win for his team’s title chances this season, Perez said the Cardinals have their work cut out against a deeper Saints squad.
“How do you compete with a team of 30 with like 22 seniors?” Perez said. “It’s quite the challenge. A lot of their guys go both ways like our guys; it comes down to who wants it more.”
On the injury front, the Cardinals expect to have senior wide receiver Zane McAuley back either next week at Middletown or the following week (Nov. 7) at home against Kelseyville.
“That’s good news,” Perez said.
St. Helena won last year’s meeting between the two teams 42-21.
Middletown at Lower Lake
The Lower Lake Trojans are coming off their first league win of the season, a 46-8 victory last week at Upper Lake, while the Mustangs have won two straight lopsided games since losing 41-34 to St. Helena back on Oct. 3 in St. Helena.
Middletown, playing its second-to-last game of the regular season (the Mustangs have a bye Nov. 7), is simply trying to win out and hope that someone can beat St. Helena in the final weeks of the season.
“We’ve had a good week in practice,” Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard said. “We had two guys miss Wednesday’s practice, more as a precautionary thing. We’ve had a touch of the flu bug down here.”
Otherwise, the Mustangs continue their season-long run of good health and exceptional attendance at practices (nearly 100 percent).
“I feel like we have a well-rounded football team that’s all in,” Woodard said of the Mustangs’ dedication to competing at a high level.
Well-rounded indeed. Middletown has run and passed the ball with great success, something not lost on Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski.
“They have guys who can kill you in space,” Jakubowski said of running backs Tyler Galamay and Trenton Griffith. “It makes their play-action passes more effective.”
Stuffing the box with defenders isn’t necessarily the answer, according to Jakubowski.
“You gear up for the run and they go to No. 3 (wide receiver) Jon Hawkins,” Jakubowski said. “(Blake) Costlow does a good job of getting rid of the ball early and reading the defense.”
Hawkins, Hayden Xavier and John Finney have all done well in the receiver role this season for Middletown.
Trying to make the Mustangs more of a one-dimensional team is easier said than done, according to Jakubowksi. “We’ll try to be physical up front with them. If we can hold the line of scrimmage, maybe we can make them throw the ball more.”
Added Jakubowski, “They have a ton of guys who are super athletic, so it’s going to be tough.”
While Woodard has enjoyed nearly perfect attendance at his practices this season, that’s not the case on the Southshore.
“We lost a couple of guys (this week),” Jakubowski said. “I wouldn’t call them critical losses since they’re not with us anymore.”
Limiting penalties and turnovers is the best thing the Trojans can do against the Mustangs, who posted solid rushing and passing numbers a week ago against a winless Upper Lake team.
“We need to eliminate mistakes,” he said.
Middletown’s junior varsity team (6-0, 8-0) needs a win to secure the undisputed league title.
Upper Lake at Kelseyville
Since Upper Lake hosts league-leading St. Helena in its season finale Nov. 7 (the Cougars have a bye on Oct. 31), the Cougars’ game on Friday at Kelseyville is their last realistic chance of a win this season and avoiding an 0-10 campaign (which hasn’t happened on the Northshore since 2014).
“We need to contain their running game with (Michael) DeJohn, a really good back,” Upper Lake head coach Derek Milhaupt said. “He seems to be getting better every week.”
Upper Lake defenders need to stay home against Kelseyville’s misdirection plays, according to Milhaupt.
“Assignment football,” Milhaupt said.
Upper Lake will suit up in the neighborhood of 15 players.
“We’ve got some kids that are banged up,” Milhaupt said.
Kelseyville hung tough with Willits a week ago, opening up a 28-21 lead in the second half before falling 42-28. DeJohn did everything he could to get the Knights a win with 243 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
The Knights have shown glimpses of being a competitive team but have been far too inconsistent between those flashes of solid play. Part of the reason is their inexperience after graduating so many veteran players from last year’s league-championship squad.
This is the first of three straight games against county opponents. After Upper Lake, the Knights close out their season on the road against Lower Lake (Oct. 31) and Clear Lake (Nov. 7). If they win all three, they’ll finish league play with a respectable .500 record, which isn’t bad for a transition year.
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