Middletown entertains Upper Lake, Lower Lake celebrates homecoming against Willits
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKE COUNTY >> If your offense is struggling, probably the last place you want to visit is Bill Foltmer Field to play the Middletown Mustangs.
That’s the task facing the Upper Lake Cougars (1-2) on Friday night as they head south to take on a Middletown squad coming off a big 41-13 victory against the Kelseyville Knights.
In other Week 4 games involving Lake County teams Friday night, Lower Lake (1-1) celebrates its homecoming against the Willits Wolverines (1-3) while Kelseyville (1-2) hits the road to play St. Helena (1-2).
Upper Lake at Middletown
The Cougars are coming off back-to-back North Central League I interlock shutout losses to Stuart Hall and Cloverdale, and things won’t get any easier against a Middletown team with a defense as stingy as ever – just 23 points allowed through its first three games with one shutout to its credit.
In the NFL, this week’s matchup might be called a trap game because of the tendency for some teams to let down following a big game the prior week. Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard said he doesn’t think it will be a problem.
“We need to make sure we stay focused on the little stuff,” Woodard said. “We need everybody to go out and just do their job. If they do that, we’ll be fine.”
Middletown certainly got what it needed in the Kelseyville win. Playing on the road, the Mustangs fell behind 13-0 early, collected themselves and played mistake-free football most of the final three quarters, reeling off 41 unanswered points along the way.
“It was one of those games that was a good test for us,” Woodard said. “We faced adversity early, and it propelled us.”
While the Mustangs were taking care of their own business on the road against the Knights, the Cougars were at home facing a buzz saw in the form of Stuart Hall’s high-powered passing attack. Stuart Hall was 17-for-17 passing for 351 yards and four touchdowns. Upper Lake’s offense had trouble just getting the ball across midfield and never reached it’s opponent’s red zone.
Woodard and Upper Lake head coach John Toohey are hardly strangers. They were teammates at Mendocino College – Toohey played on the offensive line and Woodard in the Eagles’ defensive backfield – and both went on to play several years for the North Bay Rattlers semi-pro football team based out of Santa Rosa.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for him,” Woodard said. “He played with a lot of intensity. He’s got an outgoing personality. He’s a prankster.”
“That went both ways,” Toohey said of the pranks. “Don’t let him put that all on me.”
Added Toohey, “We’ve known each other for a long time. I hadn’t talked to him in years when we ran into each other at the Lake County Scrimmage last year. He was surprised to see me wearing the red and white (of Upper Lake). We did play on some good teams with the Rattlers. We were both guys the other team had circled. He was an excellent safety, a real competitor.”
While Upper Lake is a long shot to upset Middletown, Toohey said the important thing for the Cougars is to “continue to improve.”
Said Toohey, “We’ve had a good trajectory in practice this week. You could see the light bulb come on as they (players) connected the details and specifics to what we are doing in practice. The map of our very struggles in the first half (last week), you could see us working those out in practice. It’s starting to click in terms of us figuring out how to be competitive. I still think we can be competitive, the kids just have to keep working hard and believing in themselves.”
While the Cougars have struggled to get things going in recent weeks, that doesn’t mean they don’t have the personnel to give teams some problems, according to Woodard.
“Their No. 33 (Brody Blancas) does a good job at running back and linebacker, No. 2 (Antario Wyman) looks like a strong running back and wide receiver, and No. 57 (Cameron Milhaupt) on the defensive line can play,” Woodard said.
Said Toohey, “We’re excited and we’re still playing football.”
Upper Lake will have its hands full against a Middletown offense led by running backs Tyler Galamay and John Finney, both juniors, and with a mobile quarterback in senior Jamisen Jackson, one who can run and throw. The Mustangs also have the North Coast Section’s leader in total tackles, senior Ryan Halverson, playing linebacker.
“We’ve got to be sound,” Toohey said. “We want them to beat us on their own merits, not because of our mistakes.”
Kelseyville at St. Helena
Both Kelseyville and St. Helena are coming off tough losses. Kelseyville fell a week ago at home to Middletown despite dominating the game in the first quarter while St. Helena lost 41-35 in overtime at Willits.
The Saints, defending NCL I champions, went 8-0 in league and 11-1 overall last season, but they graduated most of their top players. One player who does return is senior running back Julian Earls, who is off to another solid start this season with 266 rushing yards through the Saints’ first three games. He’s just behind another senior, George Filippini, who leads the team with 274 yards.
St. Helena quarterback Daniel Gonzalez throws enough to keep opposing defenses honest. He’s completed 18 of 26 passes for 271 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions so far this season.
“Julian Earls was one of the best running backs in the league a year ago,” Kelseyville head coach Logan Barrick said. “Any time you leave the county it’s tough.”
Coming off a game against Middletown during which the Knights were often their own worst enemy in terms of the mistakes they made and the penalties they committed, Barrick said his players are looking forward to a chance to redeem themselves against the Saints.
“Offensively we’ve got to stay true to ourselves, stay focused,” Barrick said. “St. Helena is still a good team; they just lack experience.”
Led by former Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen, the Saints are 2-1 against the Knights under Larsen’s direction. St. Helena won last year’s meeting 53-23 while Kelseyville dominated the 2024 contest 48-27.
“They’ll be coming downhill at us running the veer, so it will be a good test for our defense up front,” Barrick said. “We’ve got to hold our ground.”
Willits at Lower Lake
It’s homecoming week, otherwise known as distraction week if you coach football.
“Homecoming is a nightmare everywhere,” Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said as the Trojans prepare to take on the Wolverines.
Both Lower Lake and Willits are coming off wins – the Trojans punched the Fort Bragg Timberwolves square in the nose a week ago, winning 46-14 at Fort Bragg while the Wolverines beat St. Helena in overtime.
“It was good to have that success against Fort Bragg,” Jakubowski said of his team’s all-around solid effort, a game in which the Trojans had success running and passing the ball as well as on defense. “We’re still working on areas where we need to clean some stuff up.”
Willits uses a lot of misdirection on its running plays, something the Trojans need to be prepared for, according to Jakubowski.
“We need to stay focused on defense and not give up the big play,” he said. “Willits hurt St. Helena with some big plays last week.”
Most of all, Lower Lake needs to continue to run the ball effectively. Against Fort Bragg, Roy Percoats rushed for 191 yards and three touchdowns.
“He’s electric,” Jakubowski said of the sophomore. “He has top-end speed and he’s not a small kid (170-180 pounds). He has elite acceleration. Once he figures it all out, the sky is the limit.”
Quarterback Brody Shields also had a big game against the Timberwolves, throwing for 245 yards, three TDs and no interceptions, providing Jakubowski with the kind of run-pass balance he’s looking for from the Trojans this season.
“We wanted to keep him below 20 attempts and he had 18,” Jakubowski said. “Brody made some quality decisions, and we did a good job on the back end. Our wide receivers found the space they needed to get open, and our line did a good job finding the time for him to throw the ball.”
Whether Willits gives Shields as much time remains to be seen, so Jakubowski said the Trojans may need to be a little more creative in the passing department this week.
Lower Lake has a few players nursing minor injuries but nothing serious, according to Jakubowski.
“We’re pretty healthy,” he said.
The Trojans couldn’t have started last week’s contest against Fort Bragg much better, according to Jakubowski. Percoats scored on the game’s first play, a 48-yard run, and he added a 61-yard touchdown on his fourth carry of the night. Likewise, the Trojans also scored early on a 76-yard pass from Shields to Raijhier McKneely.
Willits had its fair share of big plays a week ago at home against St. Helena, according to Jakubowski.
“Both teams were playing hard,” Jakubowski said. “St. Helena shot themselves in the foot a couple of times with mistakes.”
Other games
In other NCL I interlock action this weekend, Fort Bragg (1-3) travels to Cloverdale (2-1) on Friday night while a modified version of the Stuart Hall (2-1) varsity – the San Francisco team doesn’t field a junior varsity squad – plays the Clear Lake JVs (3-0-1) Saturday evening at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
Looking ahead
Looking ahead to Week 5 games on Oct. 2, Middletown’s varsity (no JVs) travels to Vallejo to play St. Patrick-St. Vincent, Upper Lake hosts St. Helena, Lower Lake heads to Kelseyville, Willits hosts Cloverdale, and Stuart Hall visits Fort Bragg.
