Westshore defeats Lower Lake 27-24 in back-and-forth pee wee playoff game
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LAKEPORT >> Westshore’s LJ Hopkins scored all 27 of his team’s points as the Cardinals turned back a strong challenge from Lower Lake to beat the Trojans 27-24 in the semifinal round of the Mendo-Lake Empire Junior Football League junior varsity playoffs Saturday in Lakeport.
Westshore (10-1) will play Middletown (11-0) for the JV championship Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Cloverdale High School. Middletown defeated Westshore 25-0 in their regular-season meeting in early October.
“Went from a defensive battle to both teams throwing haymakers back and forth,” Westshore head coach Jeremy Hopkins said. “It was wild. The crowds from both sides were loud and excited. It was awesome. We made some good adjustments at half, and our guys stepped up and played huge.”
No one had a bigger game than Hopkins, who rushed for 311 yards with four touchdowns. He also made a conversion kick and had a conversion run.
After a scoreless first quarter, Lower Lake jumped out to an early 6-0 lead. Hopkins’ 64-yard touchdown run, made possible by a big block from teammate Caleb Campbell, tied the score. The Trojans regained the lead a few minutes later on a 40-yard touchdown pass, going up 12-6.
Westshore answered on its very next play from scrimmage, Hopkins taking a pitch and using a Layton Butcher block to reverse field and break free on a 52-yard touchdown, tying the game at 12-12.
Lower Lake scored on a 50-yard touchdown run to move back in front 18-12. That lead held up until Hopkins broke free on another long run from the Westshore 20-yard line. Reaching midfield, Hopkins broke two tackles and then cut back inside and down the Lower Lake sideline for the touchdown, an 80-yard play. He added the conversion run to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 19-18.
“Super impressive run by LJ,” Hopkins said. “He is fast, but his work after practice every day to break more tackles and extend good runs into great runs has made him a much better runner.”
Lower Lake regained the lead with 7:52 left in the game when a Trojans receiver hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass with one hand, making it 24-19.
Westshore turned the ball over on downs but a Brady Liske interception at the Cardinals’ 25-yard line gave Westshore another shot at winning the game. With 4:02 remaining, Hopkins used a block from Anthonee Lopez to break through the line and race 75 yards for a touchdown. His conversion kick moved the Cardinals out in front 27-24.
Lower Lake’s last-gasp possession with time running out was stopped cold by the Westshore defense, including a huge Butcher sack and passes broken up by Julian Rascon and Odin Walker.
Westshore took a knee on three straight plays to run out the clock.
“A huge win,” Hopkins said. “My guys didn’t want to be watching Telletubbies this coming week and they made it happen. We get to play another week.”
Colby Goltz led the Westshore defense with 10 tackles, two of them resulting in losses. Adrian Wright added 10 tackles, two ending in losses, while Butcher had eight tackles and a key sack. Hopkins finished with six tackles and Liske had four tackles, plus the interception that set up Westshore’s winning touchdown.
Lower Lake finishes the season 7-4.
