Cougars stay close to Eagles in first half before dropping 35-0 road decision
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CLOVERDALE >> The Upper Lake Cougars hung tough for a half but were ultimately the victims of their own turnovers in a 35-0 loss to the Cloverdale Eagles during North Central League I interlock varsity football action Friday night in Cloverdale.
“It was a rough game tonight to punctuate a challenging week,” Upper Lake head coach John Toohey said after losing two days of practice, one to the Labor Day holiday and another, on Thursday, because of the Lucas Fire, which ultimately canceled all classes on Friday.
“It definitely showed up in the details today,” Toohey said of the lost practice time.
Upper Lake (1-1) fell behind 15-0 in the first half despite moving the ball deep into Cloverdale territory twice.
“We had the ball at their 1 twice and didn’t score,” Toohey said of costly turnovers that plagued the Cougars all night.
“Our offense had real trouble sustaining drives,” Toohey said. “Cloverdale’s defensive ends gave us trouble all night and beat us to the punch. They did a really good job defensively. They were too fast off the ball.”
Added Toohey, “When we did have some offensive momentum early, we put the ball on the ground.”
Upper Lake rushed for 117 yards.
Wes Wyman led the defense with two interceptions and a total of 77 return yards on those two picks. He also had five tackles.
“He is a special athlete,” Toohey said.
Brody Blancas led the team with seven solo tackles, two assists and two passes defended. Gage Faalalea had five tackles and a pass defended.
“Our defense settled in during the first half and was able to keep the game within reach, but the offense continued to struggle and we couldn’t answer.”
Cloverdale (2-1) was the better prepared team in the end, according to Toohey.
“My hat’s off to them,” Toohey said of the Eagles.
Upper Lake hosts Stuart Hall (San Francisco) next Friday.