It’s the most points for Upper Lake in an 11-man game since 2012 season
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
UPPER LAKE >> John Toohey has been waiting for all the pieces that make up his Upper Lake Cougars to come together.
It happened on Friday night.
In game that featured a pair of long pick-six interception returns and 48 unanswered points by the Cougars after Fort Bragg grabbed an early 8-0 lead, Upper Lake rolled past the Timberwolves 56-16 in a North Central League I North varsity football game in Upper Lake, one that ended with a running clock.
Upper Lake (1-2 North, 2-6 overall) scored three more points Friday than it had scored in its first seven games combined. It is the most points scored by the Cougars in an 11-man football game since 2012 (the school played eight-man football from 2015-2022).
“It just really clicked tonight,” said Toohey, Upper Lake’s first-year coach. “All parts of our game together. We put it all together. I knew it would happen at some point, and tonight it did.”
Added Toohey, “Now we’ve got to learn how to win in a classy way.”
Toohey was referring to the game’s final touchdown. Upper Lake was leading 48-16 and just trying to run out the clock when reserve running back Jordan Reyes broke loose for a 48-yard touchdown run.
“I didn’t want us to score that last touchdown, I just wanted to run out the clock,” Toohey said. “I didn’t want that to happen.”
There wasn’t much Reyes could do but score after breaking into the open with a clear path to the end zone.
“You can’t tell a kid to not score in that situation,” Toohey said.
Trailing 8-6 after one quarter, the Cougars scored 30 points during a wild second quarter to break things wide open. Gage Faalelea’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Antario Wyman put the Cougars in front to stay. Fort Bragg fumbled its next play from scrimmage and Upper Lake recovered at the Timberwolf 10-yard-line. On the very next play, Jacob Weldon scored on a 10-yard run, his second touchdown of the game.
Weldon’s first score came on Upper Lake’s first play from scrimmage, a 54-yard run with 5:27 left in the first quarter, just six seconds after Fort Bragg had gone in front 8-0 on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Chris Hernandez to Valen Ivankay and a Hernandez conversion run.
After Weldon’s 10 run in the second quarter gave Upper Lake a 20-8 advantage, Brody Blancas intercepted a Hernandez pass and rumbled 71 yards for the touchdown. Quarterback Gage Faalelea added the conversion run to make it 28-8, but the Cougars weren’t done yet. With just under a minute to play in the first half and Fort Bragg driving, Kaiden Sneed intercepted a pass at the Upper Lake 3 and weaved his way down the Fort Bragg sideline for a 97-yard touchdown return. Wyman’s conversion run made it 36-8.
Upper Lake’s wild point spree continued into the third quarter. Corbyn Woolley connected with Blancas on a 21-yard touchdown pass, and a 23-yard run by Wyman pushed the Cougars’ lead to 48-8 while bringing a running clock into play.
Fort Bragg picked up its final score on a Julian Ramirez 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. Reyes scored a few minutes later for Upper Lake’s final points.
Faalelea started in place of Woolley, who is still nursing an ankle injury, and played exceptionally well, according to Toohey.
“He’s a leader, and he gave us a spark,” Toohey said.
Faalelea ran the ball six time for 95 yards and passed for 41 yards.
Weldon finished with 78 rushing yards on only seven carries, and Wyman had 41 yards receiving and two rushing conversions.
After allowing Fort Bragg to score on its opening drive, which covered 55 yards, Upper Lake’s defense clamped down hard on the Timberwolves, picking off three passes and recovering a fumble. Three of those turnovers led to immediate points.
While there was no shortage of standout performances by the Cougars, Toohey said the play of Wyman, Sneed and two-way starting lineman Cameron Milhaupt clearly stood out.
“The arc of our season is going in the right direction,” Toohey said. “We’re eager to end our season strong.”
Upper Lake hosts Lower Lake (1-6) in NCL I interlock action next Friday. The Cougars finish up on the road the following week with a non-league game at Colusa (3-5).
GAME NOTES: Kaiden Sneed kicked an extra point after Upper Lake’s final touchdown. Three earlier PAT tries missed, two finishing wide of the mark and another blocked … Blancas anchored the defense with eight solo tackles and two assists. Faalelea and Travis McCutcheon each had five solo tackles. Gaige Hulbert added three solo tackles … The Cougars did commit a couple of penalties that might have cost them in a closer game, including one for roughing the passer on a fourth-down incompletion in the second quarter … The Cougars finish their North schedule at 1-2. There would have been a fourth North game had not Clear Lake canceled its season … Upper Lake scored 60 or more points four times as an eight-man football team.
