Lower Lake holds off Cloverdale for 22-20 road victory in final game of season
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CLOVERDALE >> Lower Lake batted down a potential game-tying two-point conversion pass late in the fourth quarter to fend off the Cloverdale Eagles 22-20 in the North Central League I and season finale for both of these varsity football teams Friday night in Cloverdale.
“A great way to end a rocky season,” Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said.
Cloverdale’s Van Randolph caught a 55-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left in the game to cut Lower Lake’s lead to 22-20, but the conversion pass was unsuccessful.
Lower Lake (2-6 league, 4-6 overall) recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.
The Trojans snapped a 14-all tie on an Anthony Russell 3-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, the go-ahead score set up by the second of Jony Ventura’s interceptions on the night. Quarterback Ashton Hartmann passed to Raijhier McKneely on the conversion to make it 22-14.
“Jony Ventura had two interceptions on critical downs,” Jakubowski said.
Freshman running back Roy Percoats had a key 22-yard run on Lower Lake’s drive to take the lead.
Lower Lake led 8-0 after one quarter, the Trojans moving in front when Hartmann and McKneely hooked up on a 25-yard touchdown as well as the ensuing conversion pass.
Cloverdale closed the gap to 8-6 by halftime.
Both teams scored once in the third quarter, but the Eagle also added the two-point conversion to pull into a 14-14 tie by quarter’s end. Lower Lake’s touchdown came on a 5-yard pass from Hartmann to Ventura.
Lower Lake had an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown negated by a penalty, a continuation of mistakes that haunted the Trojans throughout the season. Five of their eight league games were decided by nine points or less, and they won only one of those – against Cloverdale.
“Lots of missed opportunities like that one,” Jakubowski said of the Lopez punt return. “We didn’t underachieve; we didn’t meet our expectations. We had a lot of unfortunate situations that kept us from coming together.”
The Trojans were at least able to enjoy the way the Cloverdale game ended, according to Jakubowski.
“Our defensive line pressured the Cloverdale quarterback on almost all of his passes,” Jakubowski said.
Lower Lake’s coach singled out the all-around play of fullback/middle linebacker Jason Gandeza, a senior appearing in his final high school game.
“He did a great job as a lead blocker (for Russell) and at linebacker,” Jakubowski said.
Cloverdale beat Lower Lake 49-0 in junior varsity action.
