Football week in review

County varsity teams go 3-1 in opening weekend
By Brian Sumpter
Football week in review
Week 1
Friday’s games
Kelseyville 50, McKinleyville 18
Middletown 33, Piner 14
Lower Lake 30, Esparto 22
Saturday’s games
Terra Linda 28, Upper Lake 8
Bye week — Clear Lake
Statistics
Rushing – Kelseyville’s Kyle Watkins had 23 carries for 179 yards, 5 TDs; Middletown’s running back tandem of Tyler Galamay and Trenton Griffith both topped 100 yards – Galamay 135 yards on 12 carries and a TD, Griffith 113 yards on 15 carries and two TDs. Other leaders were Kelseyville’s Michael DeJohn with 65 yards on six carries, Upper Lake’s Jonathan Barnes with 60 yards on five carries, Lower Lake’s Zakai Vilmenay with 57 yards, and Middletown’s Jon Hawkins with 56 yards on four carries.

Passing – Lower Lake’s Ashton Hartmann passed for 194 yards and a touchdown while Kelseyville’s Brock Barrick went 10-for-15 for 135 yards and a TD. Middletown’s Blake Costlow was 3-for-7 for 63 yards and a TD, and Upper Lake’s Jerod Rosales was 3-for-10 for 43 yards and a TD.

Receiving – Upper Lake’s Billy Stillman, Middletown’s Jon Hawkins, Kelseyville’s Michael Dougherty and Lower Lake’s Zakai Vilmenay all caught touchdown passes. Luke Campbell and Jimmy Shankles each had 66 receiving yards for Lower Lake.

Special teams – Middletown went just 1-for-3 on extra-point kicks but did fake an extra-point kick and score on a conversion pass against Piner to open up a 21-0 lead in the second quarter.

Defense – Lower Lake’s Jason Gandeza had 12 tackles, most of those resulting in losses, and also forced a fumble. Kelseyville’s Logan Boyles intercepted a pair of McKinleyville passes. One set up a touchdown for the Knights and the other was a pick-six from 75 yards out. Kelseyville’s defense also scored a safety.

Taking advantage – Jon Hawkins’ 45-yard interception return for a touchdown gave Middletown its first six points against Piner. The Prospectors were driving for a touchdown minutes later when a lost fumble led to another Middletown score, this on a lightning-quick, four-play, 80-yard drive that began with runs of 38 (Jon Hawkins), 13 (Trenton Griffith) and 26 yards (Tyler Galamay).

Welcome to high school – Middletown freshman Tyler Galamay not only topped 100 yards rushing in his high school and varsity debut. His first carry went for 26 yards and the second for a 3-yard touchdown.

Bad luck – Just as week one of the high school season cost Clear Lake a key starter in 2023 (running back Jesse Hayes went down with a season-ending knee injury that still has him sidelined), week one of the 2024 season brought more bad luck as Kelseyville senior running back Max Hommer sustained a broken collarbone against McKinleyville and is not expected to return this year.

Deuces are wild – Lower Lake quarterback Ashton Hartmann ran for one score and passed for another. Lower Lake running back Jason Gandeza rushed for two touchdowns against Esparto, including the game winner with 4:19 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Trojans snapped a 22-all tie. Middletown’s Jon Hawkins had his own two-touchdown game. Besides his 45-yard interception return in the first quarter, he caught a 28-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Back at you – Piner quarterback Soso Prak caught his own pass, which was deflected back into hands, during Friday night’s action in Middletown. The play resulted in a 5-yard loss. It got even worse for Prak on the next play when his pass was intercepted by Jon Hawkins and returned 45 yards for a touchdown.

Seriously, how many cramps can you get? – The Piner Prospectors were cramping on seemingly every play against Middletown, especially in the first three quarters, and Middletown’s coaches complained to the officials after experiencing the same thing in last year’s season opener against Piner, a 15-14 loss. The constant delays were a bit over the top.

Almost three – Middletown’s Trenton Griffith rushed for touchdowns of 5 yards (second quarter) and 3 yards (third quarter) against Piner. He had a 21-yard TD run wiped out by a penalty in the fourth quarter. The 5-yard run in the second quarter was particularly impressive as the junior carried a Piner defender along with him the final four yards.

Kudos – To Kelseyville for getting us statistics on both the junior varsity and varsity games Friday night in McKinleyville. It’s appreciated.

Speaking of JVs – Kelseyville’s Brayton Thomas rushed for 69 yards, including a touchdown, had a 28-yard TD reception and returned a kickoff 35 yards in a 20-12 win over McKinleyville. Hugh O’Boyle also intercepted a pass.

Week two – Kelseyville (1-0) visits Orland (1-0), Middletown (1-0) travels to Piedmont (0-1), Clear Lake (0-0) plays Pierce (1-0) in Arbuckle (season opener for the Cardinals), Upper Lake (0-1) travels to Los Molinos (1-0), and Lower Lake (1-0) hosts Kennedy (0-1).

If you haven’t heard – Lake County Sports on Facebook has a new companion website. Visit briansumptersports.com to check it out. Be sure to glance at the directory of pages available. We’ll be adding to it and updating others in the near future.

Add one more – To the Bill Foltmer win-o-meter. Middletown High School’s 40-year coaching veteran now has 291 victories for the Mustangs and 310 overall. Stay tuned.

College happenings – Lake County Sports and briansumptersports.com welcomes any information and photos you have of former county athletes playing at the college level. Email briansumptermail@gmail.com if you would like to participate.

Volleyball kudos – The Middletown High School varsity squad is off to an 8-2 start under new head coach Norberto Quiroz.

Took the weekend off – Lake County’s youth football teams took the Labor Day weekend off but resume play Saturday. Lower Lake hosts Northshore, Middletown entertains Sonoma, Kelseyville travels to Cloverdale while Westshore has a bye.

One last try – All high school coaches in all sports are welcome to report their results. If you’re not seeing your favorite team’s results on Lake County Sports at Facebook or on briansumptersports.com the reason is because no one is reporting them. We’ve got the time to take them, now they need to make the time to report them. Your serve.

Photo: Middletown freshman running back Tyler Galamay (23) opened his high school and varsity football career by rushing for 135 yards and a touchdown in a season-opening 33-14 win over the Piner Prospectors on Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown. (Photo courtesy of Geri Costlow)