Pair of NCL I South games in spotlight as 2026 season enters homestretch
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKE COUNTY >> Week 8 is in the books for Lake County’s high school football teams, setting the stage for a huge Week 9 in the North Central League I South race.
Stuart Hall (2-0 South, 7-1) hits the road to play St. Helena (0-2, 4-4) on Friday while Middletown (2-1, 6-2) calls on Cloverdale (2-0, 7-1). While the Saints are still looking for their first league, it hasn’t been for lack of effort. The Erick Larsen-coached Saints lost 22-21 at Middletown two weeks ago, and they lost a back-and-forth 35-32 decision at Cloverdale this past Friday, a game where the lead changed hands several times in the fourth quarter.
If St. Helena knocks off Stuart Hall and Middletown cools off a red-hot Cloverdale team, a winner of seven straight, Middletown clinches a share of the South championship since its South schedule will be complete (the Mustangs finish up Nov. 6 with an interlock game in Fort Bragg). The Mustangs would end up tying the winner of the Cloverdale at Stuart Hall game on Nov. 7 in San Francisco.
Looking back to Week 8, the operative number was five. That’s how many touchdowns Middletown junior running back Tyler Galamay scored in a 47-8 win over Lower Lake, tying a school record, and it was a double-nickel week for the Upper Lake Cougars, who beat Fort Bragg 55-16 in NCL I North action.
Kelseyville also picked up momentum with a 27-20 non-league win over Dougherty Valley of San Ramon. The Knights can clinch the outright NCL I North title with wins in their final two games against Fort Bragg (Friday at Kelseyville) and Willits (Nov. 6 in Willits).
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights from Week 8:
Statistics
Rushing – Kelseyville’s Case Pivniska and Jayden Fabisch did a number on the Dougherty Valley defense, Pivniska with 165 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown, and Fabisch with 136 yards on 18 carries and two TDs. Middletown’s Tyler Galamay finished with 129 yards on 16 carries and five TDs against Lower Lake while teammate Johnny Finney added 94 yards and a touchdown. Upper Lake’s Gage Faalelea racked up 95 yards while teammate Jacob Weldon had 79 yards and two TDs in the win over Fort Bragg. Kelseyville’s Brayton Thomas finished with 73 yards and a TD. Lower Lake’s Anthony Russell had 61 yards and a touchdown against Middletown.
Passing – Middletown’s Jamisen Jackson went 4-for-5 for 95 yards. Lower Lake’s Brody Shield completed 10 of 21 passes for 62 yards. Upper Lake’s Corbyn Woolley and Gage Faalelea each had touchdown passes against Fort Bragg.
Receiving – Upper Lake’s Wes Wyman and Brody Blancas caught touchdown passes for the Cougars. Middletown’s Johnny Finney had two catches for 49 yards.
Special teams
PATs – Middletown’s Jamisen Jackson went 3-for-5 on extra-point kicks and Kelseyville’s Jorge Gonzalez went 3-for-4 (his only miss was blocked).
Fake punt – Lower Lake converted a fourth-and-forever against Middletown, Roy Percoats taking a fake punt 41 yards.
To the house – Tanner Jordan of the Middletown JVs returned a punt 70 yards or a touchdown.
Defense
Pick-six (x2) – Kaiden Sneed returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown to cap a 30-point Upper Lake second quarter against Fort Bragg. Earlier in the same quarter, Brody Blancas returned an interception 71 yards for a score.
Interception machine – Clear Lake’s Nathan Heath intercepted four passes, returning one 80 yards for a touchdown, in a 42-6 win over Willits in JV action.
Dre strikes again – What would be a Middletown JV win without a Dre Goins interception? He got another one in a 50-0 win over Lower Lake.
Earned his paycheck – Kelseyville defensive end Gordon Astrup did his part for the Knights against Dougherty Valley with three tackles for loss and a sack. Carson Stone also helped limit Dougherty Valley’s passing attack with an interception and a handful of passes defended.
Nice tackle totals – Middletown’s Johnny Finney had five solo tackles and six assists while teammate Ryan Halverson had nine total tackles. Upper Lake’s Brody Blancas led the Cougars with eight solo stops and two assists. In JV action, Clear Lake’s Paxton Villanueva had 11 tackles against Willits.
Miscellaneous
Streaks – Middletown’s JVs have won 30 in a row dating back to 2023. Cloverdale’s varsity has seven straight wins and is 4-0 at home this season.
Streaks II – Lower Lake volleyball, varsity and junior varsity, went an entire season without reporting even one match score. Hell of a record, one that can only be tied in the future.
The last time – Upper Lake scored 48 unanswered points after Fort Bragg grabbed an early 8-0 lead Friday night in Upper Lake. The last time Upper Lake so thoroughly dominated an opponent in 11-man football game was 2012 when the Cougars beat St. Elizabeth 66-8. Two weeks before that Upper Lake mauled Stellar Prep 72-24. The Cougars switched to eight-man football in 2015 and didn’t come back to the 11-man game until 2023.
Doubling that point total – Upper Lake scored a combined 52 points in its first seven games, three fewer than it scored Friday night against Fort Bragg.
With friends like that – Kelseyville volleyball was rewarded for going undefeated in the North Central League I North this season by being moved up two divisions to the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs and being seeded 10th in the 16-team field. It’s all part of the “competitive equity” system currently being used. Upper Lake tied for second in the North and is the No. 3 seed in Division 4. The Cougars were moved up one division from Division 5.
Speaking of volleyball – Congrats to playoff teams Kelseyville, Middletown and Upper Lake.
Perfect again? – Kelseyville girls soccer is one game and one win away from going undefeated in the North Central League I for a second year in a row. Lower Lake hosts Kelseyville on Tuesday.
Week 9 football games – Fort Bragg (1-7) at Kelseyville (4-4) in the NCL I North, Lower Lake (1-6) at Upper Lake (2-6) in NCL I interlock action, and Middletown (6-2) at Cloverdale (7-1) in the NCL I South.
Pennant in the making – Middletown’s boys cross country team is talented and deep this season. The Mustangs certainly are the odds-on favorite to bring home a North Central League I championship, which is good news for their head coach Taylor Tiraterra, a long-suffering New York Jets fan.
Mirror reflection – Kelseyville’s varsity and JV volleyball teams both went 10-0 in league play this season. The varsity won its third straight league title, the JVs their fourth.
Records in reach – Middletown junior running back Tyler Galamay, in his third season at the varsity level, is on pace to break both the school career rushing record and the Lake County career rushing record. And he still has senior season to go. Since Lake County Sports began keeping county records (through the 1984 season) no running back has played four full years at the varsity level.
Student rooting sections – If you’re complaining about them now, you missed out on some real “spirited” ones back in 2021-23 when the Kelseyville and Clear Lake football players showed up to support their volleyball teams. And you probably never visited Cloverdale for a volleyball match/basketball game. Epic. Distracting the other team is just part of their purpose. It’s sometimes entirely positive, like the time Clear Lake’s football players showed up to support cross country runner Hannah Garrity during a mee at Highland Springs Reservoir. Now that was worth its weight in gold.
Speaking of Hannah Garrity – The Clear Lake cross country alum is healthy this season and has made the Fresno State travel team, which is a big deal. As a former cross country parent of a collegiate runner, it’s a great thing to see.
Tied a record – Tyler Galamay’s five touchdowns against Lower Lake tied the school record for most TDs in a single game. Drake Harbison did it in 2018 against Cloverdale and Ryan Schmitz did it in 1997 against Berean Christian. Middletown won section championships both years.
Like old times – Willits High School cross country coach Kenny Smith, an accomplished runner during his racing days in high school and college, graduated the same year (2008) as my daughter Sarah, who was doing her cross country thing for Healdsburg High School at the same time. Both advanced to the CIF State Championships in Fresno in 2007. Both ran in Division 4 and Sarah won the girls race that year. Good times.
Your cash is not good here – At Upper Lake home football games, you pay with a card. No cash accepted.
