Week 4 of high school season produces a few surprises for county teams
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKE COUNTY >> After spotting Kelseyville a 13-0 lead a week earlier, the Middletown Mustangs wanted to get off to a better start Friday night at home against the Upper Lake Cougars. It took only 15 seconds.
Upper Lake kicked off to Middletown and the Mustangs started at their own 39-yard-line. On first down, Tyler Galamay angled his way toward the Upper Lake sideline and scored on a 61-yard run, 11:45 remaining in the first quarter.
Galamay went on to score three more touchdowns – on runs of 38, 10 and 10 yards – and finished with 150 yards in Middletown’s 48-6 win, the Mustangs’ third straight win and the third straight week they’ve score 40-plus points. It’s also worth nothing that Galamay, a junior, didn’t carry the ball in the second half as Middletown took a 42-0 lead into halftime.
Other Week 4 finals had St. Helena rallying from 24-13 down to beat Kelseyville 27-24, and Willits knocking off Lower Lake 44-14.
Looking ahead to Week 5 games this weekend, Upper Lake (1-3) celebrates its homecoming against St. Helena (2-2), Kelseyville (1-3) entertains Lower Lake (1-2) in another homecoming game, and Middletown (3-1) hits the road to play St. Patrick/St. Vincent (1-4) in non-league action at Vallejo, a varsity-only game that kicks off at 7 p.m. St. Patrick-St. Vincent replaces the hole Clear Lake left in Middletown’s schedule.
Following is a look back at the highlights and lowlights from Week 4 action:
Statistics
Rushing – The aforementioned Tyler Galamay had 10 carries for 150 yards and four touchdowns against Upper Lake. Case Pivniska of Kelseyville finished with 107 yards on 10 carries and two TDs while backfield mate Bryce Keener carried the ball 14 times for 95 yards and a TD against St. Helena. Middletown’s John Finney collected 94 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns.
Passing – Lower Lake’s Brody Shield completed nine of 26 passes for 157 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions against Willits. Kelseyville’s Kimo Brown went 5-for-10 for 116 yards, one touchdown and one interception against St. Helena. Middletown’s Jamisen Jackson went 4-for-8 for 92 yards, and Upper Lake’s Corbyn Woolley was 5-for-13 for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Receiving – Kelseyville’s JD Smart caught a 66-yard touchdown pass against St. Helena. Upper Lake’s Jordan Reyes took a 65-yard screen pass into the end zone for a score against Middletown. Middletown’s Colton Karp had two receptions for 58 yards. Lower Lake receiving statistics were not reported.
Special teams
Mix and match – Middletown placekicker Jamisen Jackson went 4-for-6 on his extra-point tries. He also passed for a two-point conversion after the Mustangs lined up for a kick following their first touchdown against Upper Lake. He took a direct snap from center, a designed play.
0-for-4 – Kelseyville came away empty on its four conversions – either kicks or two-point tries – against St. Helena, which figured prominently in a three-point loss at St. Helena.
Defense
Shut down – Middletown’s defense held Upper Lake without a first down in the first half. The Cougars punted five times and turned the ball over on downs during their six first-half possessions.
Quick six – Lower Lake’s Brody Shields returned a fumble 38 yards for a touchdown against Willits.
Miscellaneous
Ate their Wheaties – After scoring a total of 12 points in their first three games, all losses, the Willits Wolverines have scored 85 in their last two games, both wins.
Streaks – Middletown has won three in a row, Upper Lake has lost three in a row. Middletown’s JVs haven’t lost a game since the 2023 season.
Undefeated – Clear Lake’s JV improved to 4-0-1 with an 18-14 win over a modified Stuart Hall varsity team. Clear Lake isn’t fielding a varsity squad this season and Stuart Hall, the newest member of the North Central League I, doesn’t have a JV club this year, so the Knights accommodated the Cardinals by putting together a team for the Clear Lake JVs to play. Stuart Hall claimed a 2-0 forfeit win over Clear Lake as far as varsity results go. Middletown’s JVs are now 4-0 after beating a previously undefeated Upper Lake (2-1-1) squad.
Homecoming – Lower Lake went through the ordeal last week. This week it’s Kelseyville’s and Upper Lake’s turn. Football coaches by and large aren’t huge fans of homecoming week because of its many distractions.
League play – NCL I North (Kelseyville, Clear Lake, Fort Bragg, Upper Lake and Willits) and NCL I South (Middletown, Lower Lake, St. Helena, Stuart Hall, Cloverdale) play opens for some teams the weekend of Oct. 9-10. In the North, Willits hosts Upper Lake. In the South, Middletown hosts St. Helena while Lower Lake visits Stuart Hall on Oct. 10.
Props to Kelseyville and Middletown – All of their fall varsity sports coaches report results.
NFL officiating – When your team gets robbed by the officials, it’s topic No. 1. When it happens to another team, the other guy is just crying. So don’t take Rams fans too seriously this week.
Big Tuesday – Middletown (2-0) and Cloverdale (2-0) collide in an NCL I South varsity volleyball battle Tuesday at Cloverdale. Lower Lake (5-0) hosts Clear Lake (3-2) in NCL I girls soccer action, a game the Cardinals need to stay in the league race since both Lower Lake and Kelseyville are off to 5-0 starts. Kelseyville hosts Lower Lake on Thursday to close out the first half of league play.
You’ll be missed – Going to miss Mike Krukow on San Francisco Giants broadcasts. Thanks for all the great memories.
As always – Thanks to all those submitting photos and videos to Lake County Sports. The athletes love that stuff.
