Looking back at Week 3 games, the highs and lows
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKE COUNTY >> That’s three weeks in the books for Lake County’s high school football teams and things are definitely looking up for the Lower Lake Trojans (3-0), Upper Lake Cougars (2-1) and Kelseyville Knights (2-1) based on the early returns.
Lower Lake is off to its best start since going 4-0 to open the 2017 season, Upper Lake already has twice as many wins as last season and a two-game winning streak in progress, and the Kelseyville Knights are certainly living up to their preseason billing as North Central League I favorites in 2024.
On the flip side, the Clear Lake Cardinals, virtually untouchable for the last three seasons, are still trying to figure things out after opening the season with 51-7 (Pierce) and 32-6 (Upper Lake) losses. Their job gets no easier this coming Friday when they host the St. Bernard’s Crusaders (3-0) of Eureka.
Middletown (1-1), coming off a bye week, returns to the field Friday night at home for its league opener against the Kelseyville Knights. It will be the first game for the Mustangs since losing quarterback Blake Costlow to a broken foot following the team’s 42-21 loss to Piedmont on Sept. 6.
Besides St. Bernard’s at Clear Lake and Kelseyville at Middletown in Week 4, other games involving Lake County teams have St. Helena (0-3) at Upper Lake and Lower Lake at Willits (2-1).
Here’s a look back at what went on in Week 3:
Statistics
Rushing – Upper Lake’s Jonathon Barnes had 177 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown in the team’s league-opening win over Clear Lake. Kelseyville’s touchdown machine, Kyle Watkins, gained 131 yards on 18 carries with four TDs. Junior varsity call-up Brody Blancas finished with 70 yards on seven carries for Upper Lake while teammates Wes Wyman and Dylan Aragon added 65 and 53 yards, respectively. Lower Lake’s Zakai Vilmenay had 54 yards on nine carries with a touchdown against Cloverdale, a game that was called late in the third quarter when the Eagles ran out of enough healthy players. Zane McAuley had 45 yards on five carries for Clear Lake.
Passing – Clear Lake’s AJ Bruch was 14-for-35 for 178 yards and a touchdown. Kelseyville’s Brock Barrick went 8-for-11 for 163 yards with a touchdown. Upper Lake’s Jerod Rosales went 6-for-13 for 129 yards and three TDs. Lower Lake’s Ashton Hartmann was a near-perfect 9-for-10 for 128 yards and a TD and he also ran for a score.
Receiving – Kelseyville’s Reme Strong had five catches 139 yards and a touchdown. Upper Lake’s Gage Faalelea, a junior varsity call-up, caught three passes for 101 yards, including touchdowns of 30 and 46 yards. Clear Lake’s Kaden Graham had three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Lower Lake’s Christian Rodriguez caught two passes for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Special teams
5-for-6 will do – Kelseyville’s placekicker Jose Juarez went 5-for-6 on his extra-point attempts against Fort Bragg.
Not even close – Cloverdale lined up for a 21-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds of the first half against Lower Lake trying to snap an 8-all tie. The low kick was easily blocked.
Defense
One of each, please – Upper Lake’s Dylan Aragon recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass against Clear Lake. He also had four tackles.
Tackle leaders – Upper Lake’s Billy Stillman was in on 11 tackles and Jonathon Barnes eight for Upper Lake. Michael DeJohn and Daniel Anderson of Kelseyville were in on seven tackles apiece while River Calhoun of the Knights dropped Fort Bragg running backs for losses twice. Ty Bingham had an interception for Clear Lake.
Miscellaneous
Momentum buster – Not long after Clear Lake had scored on a pass from AJ Bruch to Kaden Graham late in the second half to cut Upper Lake’s lead to 12-6, the Cougars intercepted a pass near midfield with 38 seconds left and scored on a long pass 15 seconds later to go up 20-6.
Blessing in disguise – Upper Lake didn’t have the services of running back Delaney Allison against Clear Lake – he was serving a one-game suspension — so Upper Lake head coach Stan Weiper elevated Gage Faalelea and Brody Blancas to the varsity for Friday’s game. Faalelea caught two touchdown passes and Blancas rushed for 70 yards.
Game ended early – Lower Lake was leading 20-8 against Cloverdale with 1:24 left in the third quarter when the Eagles officially forfeited because they were down to 11 players, having already lost four to injury.
Down to the wire – Willits held off St. Helena 20-14 in the league opener for both teams. The Saints were at the Willits 4-yard line when the game ended.
Drought ends – Until Friday night, Upper Lake hadn’t beaten Clear Lake since the 2000 season – long before any of the current Cougars were born.
T-minus 10 and counting – Kelseyville’s Kyle Watkins has 10 rushing touchdowns through his first three games … and he didn’t even play a full game against Orland because of neck pain.
Finally got to play – Lower Lake’s junior varsity team lost 21-8 to Cloverdale, its league opener and first game of the season after non-league opponents Esparto and Kennedy couldn’t field JV teams in weeks one and two.
3-0 start – Lower Lake’s varsity Trojans aren’t the only team off to a great start this season. The Upper Lake JVs are also 3-0. The JV Cougars beat Clear Lake 6-0 on Friday in their league opener and have outscored their first three opponents 76-20.
Kudos to … — Athlete of the Week recipients Nyejzniya Krohn of Kelseyville and Jonathon Barnes of Upper Lake (see briansumptersports.com for more details). If your coach is reporting game stats, you’ve got a shot at ita. If not, well …
Just what we need, another fire — One of the light standards at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport caught fire following Kelseyville’s 41-14 win over Fort Bragg on Friday night, which made for a spectacular scene as it rained sparks to the ground.
Man, that hurt – Longtime Kelseyville High School golf coach John Berry left this world on Sept. 9 and there’s simply no replacing that guy. I worked with John on several fronts as he penned a column for the Record-Bee nearly the entire 40 years I worked there as sports editor, and Berry was the face of Kelseyville and Lake County golf that entire time as well. To his wife Julie, daughters Emily and Liz, and son Nick, my deepest condolences.
