Northshore squad closes season schedule with 26-0 home win over Kelseyville Chiefs
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UPPER LAKE >> Charlie Jones rushed for 89 yards on only three carries with two touchdowns Saturday as the pee wee Northshore Cougars finished their season with a 26-0 win over the Kelseyville Chiefs at Upper Lake High School.
The Cougars (2-6) ran the ball 22 times for 196 yards.
“Going into this game, I really thought it was going to be a low-scoring, defensive battle,” Northshore head coach Ernie Jones said. “I didn’t expect a whole lot of offense from either team. This is what we experienced all season, but something happened in practice this week. It was like everything finally clicked for our offense. The difference was the players’ growing understanding of their assignments and the importance of blocking.”
Added Jones, “The kids started understanding not just who they were supposed to block, but where they needed to be and how to get there. They were firing off the ball, getting to their assignments and opening up the holes that needed to be there. And you could see the difference on the field.”
Aiden Steyer joined teammate Jones with two touchdowns of his own, one on a four-yard run and another on a 63-yard interception return.
Andres Flores Smith finished with 37 rushing yards, and Oliver Elgethun added another 24 yards, including a pair of conversion runs.
While the offense had one of its most productive outings of the season, the Northshore defense picked off three Kelseyville passes and recovered a pair of Knights fumbles.
Dominic Hollander led the team with six tackles and two fumble recoveries while Steyer had five tackles. Aurora Pimentel added five tackles and an interception, Andres Flores Smith had two tackles and a 15-yard interception return, and Charlie Jones finished with two solo tackles, two assisted tackles, and a forced fumble. Ryker Pena, Wesley Schramm and Antonio Calabero had two tackles apiece.
“The Cougars’ ability to create turnovers and prevent Kelseyville from scoring demonstrated the team’s defensive growth and commitment to playing together,” Jones said.
“Perhaps the most meaningful part of the victory was not the final score, but what it represented for the junior Cougars program,” Jones said. “Just one season earlier the team had finishing without a single victory and had managed to score only once during the entire season.”
