St. Helena improves to 6-0 in league play, 8-0 on the season
By Mike Hansen & Brian Sumpter
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LAKEPORT >> When the numbers aren’t there, they’re just not.
Clear Lake High School’s defense did everything it could to keep the game close Friday night against undefeated St. Helena, but the Cardinals couldn’t move the ball on the ground and eventually wore down against the Saints, who simply have too many quality players, and, face it, too many players overall for a Clear Lake team that finished the night with just 12 healthy souls.
The end result was a 36-7 St. Helena win, a victory that move the Saints to 6-0 in the league standings and 8-0 overall. They return home next Friday to play Willits (5-1, 7-1), a game that will have all eyes fixed on the Napa Valley, especially if you play for the Middletown Mustangs (6-1, 7-2).
Though Clear Lake (4-2, 4-4) isn’t mathematically eliminated from the race, the Cardinals might as well be. Their chances of grabbing a share of the league title following the loss to the Saints is about the same as drawing a royal flush in poker.
“It was rough, they’re a good team,” Clear Lake head coach Augie Perez said of the Saints, now in their third season with former Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen at the helm. “They were dominant up front. They have the best defensive end in league. No. 66 (Ben Brakesman) is a big kid with good fundamentals.”
Brakesman, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound specimen, was an obstacle Clear Lake couldn’t overcome no matter what it did.
The Cardinals did threaten on their first possession after receiving the opening kickoff, moving the ball to the St. Helena 20-yard line with the help of a pair of completions from quarterback AJ Bruch to Kingston Hoaglen and Jesse Hayes, but the drive stalled on downs a short time later.
St. Helena took over at its own 19 and marched to the end zone, quarterback Jhony Covarrubias scoring on a 10-yard run as the Saints went up 7-0 with 5:17 left in the first quarter.
After three straight punts, two by the Cardinals and the other by the Saints, St. Helena was on the move early in the second quarter before Clear Lake recovered a fumble at its own 4-yardline. Again the Cardinals went three-and-out, and were forced to punt.
Taking over at its own 48-yard line, St. Helena converted a fourth-and-two to keep its possession alive and took several minutes off the clock by running the ball before scoring on Julian Earls’ 9-yard carry with 5:56 left in the half. The conversion kick failed, leaving the Saints up 13-0.
Clear Lake crossed into St. Helena’s side of the field before a holding penalty put the team in a third-and-20 situation, and the Cardinals again found themselves punting the ball.
The Cardinals sacked Covarrubias on St. Helena’s next possession as they were again approaching the end zone, forcing the Saints to attempt a 37-yard field goal that was wide left.
The loss of starting tackle Colton Mendonca to a concussion in the first half left an already short-handed Clear Lake team in dire straits up front.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Perez said another lineman was a late scratch for the game.
“Their defense definitely exploited that,” Perez said of the Cardinals’ missing personnel up front. “St. Helena did a great job shutting down our run and pass. Our defense kept us in the game for three quarters, but they just got tired.”
St. Helena began to gain some separation in the third quarter after taking the second-half kickoff. Despite a holding penalty temporarily set them back, a long pass from Covarrubias to Juan Alcantar moved the ball to the Clear Lake 25 and set up a 17-yard touchdown run by Earls moments later, making it 20-0 with 9:30 left in the quarter.
A deep kickoff and a penalty on Clear Lake left the Cardinals at their 3-yard line, and Bruch was sacked in the end zone for a safety at the 9:14 mark, making it 22-0. The Saints returned the free kick to the Clear Lake 39 although a penalty backed them up to midfield.
Covarrubias and Earls connected on a pass to the Clear Lake 16 before Covarrubias scrambled to the 7-yard line. After a five-yard penalty backed the Saints up, Covarrubias scored for a 29-0 lead.
Clear Lake had a 40-yard touchdown pass from Bruch to Hayes nullified by a holding penalty and eventually had to punt before the third quarter ended.
The Cardinals recovered a fumble a short time later but a sack brought up a third-and-27 and led to another punt. St. Helena scored again on a short run with 2:28 left in the game to go up 36-0.
Clear Lake avoided the shutout with 1:25 remaining when Kaden Graham caught a short Bruch pass and turned it into a 65-yard touchdown.
The Cardinals had their worst rushing game of the season, finishing with negative yardage. They did better through the air where Bruch went 12-for-24 for 179 yards with a touchdown. Graham had three catches for 80 yards and Hayes three receptions for 37 yards. Hoaglen caught two passes for 32 yards.
Clear Lake’s defense had fumble recoveries by Hayes, who led the team with five tackles, and Aiden Moreno. David Frederick, Micah Meo and Landon Williams all had sacks. Meo played with painful shin splits but refused to leave the game, according to Perez.
Clear Lake’s life doesn’t get any easier next Friday as the Cardinals head to Bill Foltmer Field to play Middletown. After that, Clear Lake returns home to take on Kelseyville in the annual Bass Bowl game.
St. Helena won the junior varsity game 14-12.