{"id":4346,"date":"2025-10-17T01:16:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T01:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=4346"},"modified":"2025-10-17T01:16:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T01:16:28","slug":"stangs-knights-cougars-host-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=4346","title":{"rendered":"‘Stangs, Knights, Cougars host games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lower Lake visits Upper Lake, Clear Lake heads to Cloverdale<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brian Sumpter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake County Sports on Facebook<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LAKE COUNTY >> Even when you score 52 points in a game, there\u2019s room for improvement, and the Middletown Mustangs, 52-6 winners at home last week against Kelseyville, are looking to polish elements of their offense Friday night when they visit Fort Bragg to play the Timberwolves in North Central League I varsity football action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown (4-1 league, 5-2 overall) couldn\u2019t have been much more efficient a week ago against Kelseyville, scoring on its first seven possessions, but there are still some things the Mustangs can do better, according to head coach Kurtis Woodard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a pretty big film session Sunday and there are some mistakes, more mental than physical, we noticed,\u201d Woodard said. \u201cWe got away with them, but they are things that you can\u2019t get away with when you play teams like St. Helena.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Helena (5-0, 7-0) has the league bye this week, so the Mustangs are looking to stay hot on the Saints\u2019 heels a the NCL I race prepares to enter the homestretch. A loss to the Timberwolves (3-2, 3-4) would pretty much dash Middletown\u2019s title chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Involving other players to a greater degree in the offense is one of Middletown\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would love to get the ball more to (John) Finney and (Hayden) Xavier,\u201d Woodard said. \u201cThey\u2019ve worked hard and they\u2019ve earned it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown certainly earned its practice stripes Monday as Woodard put the Mustangs through their paces in preparation for Fort Bragg and the remainder of their league schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t very popular,\u201d Woodard said. \u201cI had them run 35 200-yard dashes. We\u2019re not taking anyone lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the extra bit of conditioning will help shore up a Middletown defense that has been susceptible to the run this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is to get more three-and-outs and get the ball back into the hands of our offense as much as we can,\u201d Woodard said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown remains in solid shape on the injury front heading into Fort Bragg, a team the Mustangs dropped a 37-26 decision to a year ago in Fort Bragg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Timberwolves had a three-game league winning streak snapped a week ago in St. Helena with a 41-7 loss to the league-leading Saints. While scoring points hasn\u2019t come easy for Fort Bragg so far this season, the Timberwolf defense has played well at home in league play, a combined 14 points in wins over Kelseyville and Lower Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got some good players,\u201d Woodard said of Fort Bragg senior quarterback Dane Salo, senior running back Beau Hebden, and senior wide receiver Ross Knapp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other NCL I action Friday, Clear Lake (3-1, 3-3) calls on Cloverdale (1-3, 2-4), Lower Lake (0-4, 2-4) visits Upper Lake (0-5, 0-7), and Kelseyville (1-3, 1-4) hosts Willits (3-1, 5-1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake at Cloverdale<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cardinals will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak after back-to-back road losses to Mt. Shasta (non-league) and Willits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little went right for the Cardinals last week against Willits, according to head coach Augie Perez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t do the right things offensively or defensively,\u201d Perez said. \u201cAnd a lot of stuff happened between us and the refs, but at the end of the day that didn\u2019t matter. We didn\u2019t do what we needed to do to beat a team like Willits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perez said he didn\u2019t realize just how badly the Cardinals fared against the Wolverines until reviewing the game film with his players. And it was an eye-opening film session, according to Perez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe film never lies,\u201d Perez said. \u201cWe\u2019re not completing our assignments. I think it was a good session for the kids to see what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against a Cloverdale team coming off its first league win, a 9-6 home victory a week ago against Upper Lake, Perez said the Cardinals simply need to get back to playing the kind of mistake-free football that carried them to three straight league wins before the two-game losing streak set in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to do what we\u2019re capable of doing, that\u2019s all,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake emerged from the Willits game without any new injuries and is expected to suit up approximately 16 for Cloverdale. There will be a junior varsity game this week after the Cardinals forfeited last week\u2019s JV game to Willits because they didn\u2019t have enough players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have 12 players this week,\u201d Perez said of the JV squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower Lake at Upper Lake<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower Lake is coming off a bye week well rested and looking forward to nailing down its first league win against an Upper Lake team also looking for its first win, league or otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though a 21-14 loss to Willits two weeks ago in Lower Lake cost the Trojans dearly as they lost Brody Shields (collar bone) and Jordan Rohrbacker (concussion) to season-ending injuries, the team is in otherwise good shape entering Friday\u2019s action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe get our quarterback back this week,\u201d Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said of senior Ashton Hartmann, who missed the Willits game while serving a one-game suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was good to get the kids some conditioning this past (bye) week,\u201d Jakubowski said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t do a lot of live hitting. We needed to get people healthy and ready to go, heal those bumps and bruises.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it will be tough finishing out the season with Shields and Rohrbacker, two of Hartmann\u2019s top targets, the Trojans have managed to be competitive in all of their league games this season despite battling the injury\/suspension bug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played teams tough and just haven\u2019t been able to get over the hump,\u201d Jakubowski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower Lake\u2019s defense has played well all season. With Hartmann back behind center, Jakubowski said he likes his team\u2019s chances of finally getting that elusive first league win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake head coach Derek Milhaupt said he has concentrated a lot of effort into getting an offensive line starting three sophomores up to speed as fast as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust getting them to understand the flow of the game takes time,\u201d Milhaupt said. \u201cWe need to do a better job getting off the ball. We weren\u2019t firing off the ball against Cloverdale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milhaupt has been juggling his offensive line for a variety of reasons since early September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to gel when you do that,\u201d Milhaupt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars have managed to put points on the board the last three weeks \u2013 exactly six in each of those games \u2013 after being shut out in their first four games this year. They\u2019ll probably need a few more against Lower Lake, especially with its starting quarterback returning to the lineup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good Lower Lake team,\u201d Milhaupt said. \u201cThey hung in there with Willits. They do a little of everything \u2026 they like to spread you out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Milhaupt of facing the Trojans, \u201cIt\u2019s a matter of us getting in the right spots and making them make plays \u2026 not giving up any big plays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the start of the varsity game Upper Lake will introduce the first inductee into its new Hall of Fame, longtime football and girls basketball coach Craig Kinser, a veteran of many Upper Lake-Lower Lake battles in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. A more formal induction ceremony takes place Saturday night at a special function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willits at Kelseyville<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Knights won\u2019t be repeating as league champions this season, but head coach Leo Flores and his Kelseyville players have the opportunity to play the spoiler\u2019s role the rest of the way, beginning Friday night against Willits. A second league loss would almost certainly knock the Wolverines out of title contention. With a win, Willits would remain one game behind league leader St. Helena, and the Wolverines still have to face the Saints<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville did its best to play keep away from Middletown\u2019s offense a week ago by controlling the ball with its running game on a pair of time-consuming marches, one of which produced its only points against the Mustangs, but the Knights simply made too many mistakes to stay close to Middletown, including two interceptions, a lost fumble and a high punt snap, which combined led to three quick Mustangs touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville\u2019s defense also couldn\u2019t get the Middletown offense off the field and will have to do a much better job against the Wolverines, who have plenty of weapons themselves. A year ago this game determined the NCL I championship as Kelseyville held off Willits for a 20-17 victory at Kelseyville. The Knights have the opportunity to end the Wolverines\u2019 title hopes for a second straight season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lower Lake visits Upper Lake, Clear Lake heads to Cloverdale By Brian Sumpter Lake County Sports on Facebook LAKE COUNTY >> Even when you score 52 points in a game, there\u2019s room for improvement, and the Middletown Mustangs, 52-6 winners at home last week against Kelseyville, are looking to polish elements of their offense Friday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,20,110,58,26,17,18,19,59,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4346"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4348,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346\/revisions\/4348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}