Upper Lake briefly holds lead in season opener
SAN RAFAEL >> It wasn’t the 40-18 drubbing they experienced at the hands of the Terra Linda Trojans a year ago in their season opener, but it also wasn’t quite the improvement the Upper Lake Cougars were looking for on Saturday night at San Rafael High School.
Meeting Terra Linda once again in this year’s season opener, the Cougars briefly held an 8-7 lead before falling 28-8 to the Trojans in the 2024 debut for both of these varsity football teams.
Upper Lake head coach Stan Weiper did credit his squad with taking some needed steps toward being more competitive in his second season as the Cougars’ head coach, but said he expected a little bit more Saturday night.
“The kids played tough, were competitive and took some steps,” Weiper said following the game. “The ingredients are there, we just need to keep working hard, but I would have liked to have scored more points.”
After Terra Linda (1-0) jumped out to a 7-0 lead, Upper Lake (0-1) answered with its lone score of the night, that coming on a 25-yard pass from senior quarterback Jerod Rosales to sophomore tight end Billy Stillman. Delaney Allison’s two-point conversion run put the Cougars up by a point.
Upper Lake never really threatened again, according to Weiper.
“We had some guys wide open and just missed them,” Weiper said of what he expects to be an improved Upper Lake passing game this season.
Terra Linda scored again later in the quarter to push ahead to stay at 14-8. The Trojans took a 21-8 lead into halftime before picking up an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Upper Lake struggled on special teams, allowing several significant returns by the Trojans that led to scores.
“We had a tough night,” Weiper said. “We made some mistakes that cost us.”
There were some bright spots to be sure. Upper Lake’s defense was able to neutralize Terra Linda’s run game and put pressure on the Trojans’ quarterback.
“We shut their run down pretty good,” Weiper said.
Stillman, who starts at defensive end, led the team with eight tackles, including two sacks. Inside linebacker Dylan Aragon added five tackles and two more sacks. Upper Lake also stopped a handful of Terra Linda drives deep in Cougars territory, according to Weiper.
“We were just a step away from making some other big plays,” Weiper added.
Upper Lake fullback Jonathan Barnes led the team in rushing with 60 yards on five carries while Rosales finished 3-for-10 for 42 yards, no interceptions and the one touchdown.
“Hopefully we’ll keep improving, but I’m hoping to do a little better on scoring,” Weiper said with an eye toward the Cougars’ next game Friday night in Los Molinos (1-0).m Upper Lake’s home opener and North Central League I opener is Friday, Sept. 13 against Clear Lake.
Upper Lake did win the junior varsity game 48-12.
