{"id":4411,"date":"2025-10-20T19:29:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T19:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=4411"},"modified":"2025-10-20T20:34:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T20:34:59","slug":"plenty-of-field-on-off-field-in-week-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=4411","title":{"rendered":"Plenty of field on, off field in Week 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

County quarterbacks have big Friday night under the lights<\/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 >> It was a big weekend on and off the football field for Lake County\u2019s high school teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The off-the-field part is easy to explain as Upper Lake High School inducted the first person into its new Hall of Fame, longtime football and girls basketball coach Craig Kinser, who directed the Cougars to more than 150 wins from 1974-2000, and one additional season in 2006. He won a bunch of league titles in the North Central League I and II, section titles in 1980, 1987 and 1992, but most importantly took a program that was awful in the mid-1970s and turned it into a consistent winner, no small thing during a time when other coaching legends were also enjoying success, including Gordon Sadler at Lower Lake, Stan Weiper at Kelseyville, Bill Foltmer at Middletown and Jack Moyer at Fort Bragg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinser could have been inducted into the Hall of Fame for his football accomplishments alone, but he also could have made it just as a basketball coach. While he coached the Cougars to 176 wins over a 10-season stretch, his 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 and 1993-94 teams won 25, 25, 27 and 29 games, respectively. They were NCL I champions the latter three seasons, going 12-0 each time, and they appeared in four straight section championship games, winning three times. They went 5-4 during four straight trips to the NorCal playoffs, reaching the NorCal championship game twice (in 1991 and 1993).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No county team before or since has had that kind of sustained success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinser was introduced between games Friday night as Upper Lake hosted Lower Lake. The formal induction ceremony took place Saturday night during a special function attended by a large crowd at Twin Fir Ranch in Upper Lake. The event also raised thousands of dollars for the non-profit Hall of Fame organization, which is good news for the Upper Lake community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be interesting to see who the Hall of Fame committee chooses as its first athlete(s) as there are many worthy Cougars. You must be 15 years removed from graduation to be eligible. Three names pop into my head right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for what happened on the field during Week 8, here\u2019s a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statistics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rushing \u2013<\/strong> Kelseyville\u2019s Michael DeJohn rushed for 243 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-28 loss to Willits, a game during which the Knights held a 28-21 lead as late as the third quarter. Lower Lake\u2019s Anthony Russell gained 149 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns in a 46-8 win over Upper Lake. Kelseyville\u2019s Max Lee had 92 yards against Willits. Middletown\u2019s Tyler Galamay finished with 81 yards and a touchdown in a 38-8 victory at Fort Bragg. Quarterbacks Ashton Hartmann of Lower Lake and AJ Bruch of Clear Lake rand for 52 yards apiece, and Bruch also ran for a score in a 34-13 victory at Cloverdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passing \u2013<\/strong> Big passing games were the order of the day in Week 8. Clear Lake\u2019s AJ Bruch went 15-for-28 for 278 yards and two TDs against Cloverdale, Upper Lake\u2019s Billy Stillman Jr. went 13-for-21 or 213 yards and a TD against Lower Lake, Lower Lake\u2019s Ashton Hartmann went 10-for-18 for 202 yards and four TDs against Upper Lake, and Middletown\u2019s Blake Costlow tied a Middletown record for most TDs in a single game with four against Fort Bragg. Costlow went 8-for-11 for 208 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Receiving \u2013<\/strong> Upper Lake\u2019s Antario Wyman had 10 receptions for 188 yards and a TD, the biggest game by a Cougars receiver in quite some time. Lower Lake\u2019s Jeremiah Lopez had four catches for 91 yards and a touchdown while teammate Jony Ventura caught two passes (both touchdowns) for 64 yards. Middletown\u2019s Jon Hawkins pulled in five passes for 111 yards and a TD while teammate Hayden Xavier had two catches (both touchdowns) for 75 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special teams<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PATs \u2013<\/strong> Copper Garrity went 4-for-5 for Clear Lake and Jose Juarez 2-for-3 for Kelseyville on extra-point attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onside kick success \u2013<\/strong> Kelseyville and Willits each recovered an onside kick during Friday\u2019s action in Kelseyville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tackles galore \u2013<\/strong> One week after registering 21 tackles in a league win over Kelseyville, Middletown\u2019s Ryan Halverson had 24 tackles against Fort Bragg. Teammate Hayden Xavier added 10 tackles and an interception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solid effort \u2013<\/strong> Kelseyville\u2019s Brayton Thomas intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble and had four tackles against Willits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JV pick-six \u2013<\/strong> Upper Lake\u2019s Christopher Beecher returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown in a 52-28 win over Lower Lake during junior varsity action. Beecher also rushed for 240 yards and two TDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miscellaneous<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dust ups \u2013<\/strong> The Fort Bragg sideline wasn\u2019t thrilled when Middletown, leading 30-8 with four minutes left to play, threw the ball for a touchdown on Friday night at Timberwolf Stadium. And the Upper Lake sideline was just as upset when Lower Lake, leading 46-8 with a running clock in the fourth quarter, threw two deep passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firsts \u2013<\/strong> Lower Lake secured its first league win after four straight competitive losses in NCL I play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the verge \u2013<\/strong> Middletown\u2019s JV team wiped out Fort Bragg 36-0 in a battle of undefeated league leaders. The Mustangs need to win one of their two remaining games to clinch the outright league championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good race \u2013<\/strong> The race for the varsity championship couldn\u2019t be much tighter. St. Helena is 5-0, Middletown 5-1 and both Clear Lake and Willits 4-1. St. Helena plays at Clear Lake on Friday and then returns home to take on Willits on Halloween. Middletown hosts Clear Lake on Halloween. Fort Bragg (3-3) also hosts Willits on Nov. 7, and that\u2019s always a lively matchup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volleyball showdown \u2013<\/strong> Kelseyville (12-0) travels to Cloverdale (11-1) on Tuesday, the league championship hanging in the balance. If the Knights win, they are the undisputed NCL I champions. If they lose, both teams will be tied for first place with one league match remaining. On Thursday, Kelseyville travels to Fort Bragg (8-4) while Cloverdale visits Lower Lake (0-12) to conclude the league schedule. Kelseyville rallied to beat Cloverdale in five sets Sept. 25 in Kelseyville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other league titles \u2013<\/strong> Kelseyville girls soccer needs one more win or one more Middletown loss to clinch the undisputed league championship. The Lady Knights are guaranteed at least a piece of the title. They are home Thursday against Middletown and home Oct. 28 against Lower Lake. Kelseyville\u2019s boys soccer team can claim a league championship of its own by winning its final two league games against Middletown (Oct. 23) and Lower Lake (Oct. 28).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 9 football games \u2013<\/strong> Upper Lake visits Kelseyville, Clear Lake hosts St. Helena, Middletown travels to Lower Lake, and Cloverdale plays at Willits. Fort Bragg has the league bye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbelievable \u2013<\/strong> Ferndale\u2019s football team is 7-0 on the season and has yet to allow a point. The Wildcats have outscored the opposition 450-0. They\u2019ve blown out Eureka, Arcata and Fortuna, all Humboldt-Del Norte Big 4 schools. They beat Arcata 72-0 on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard night \u2013<\/strong> Upper Lake turned the ball over five times against Lower Lake and also had trouble snapping the ball out of the shotgun as a half-dozen snaps were launched well over the head of quarterback Billy Stillman Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streaks \u2013<\/strong> Middletown has won two in a row. Upper Lake has dropped 12 straight dating back to last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back-to-back-to-back —<\/strong> Upper Lake and Lower Lake lost fumbles on back-to-back-to-back plays in the second quarter Friday night, a game during which the first half lasted forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basketball season \u2013<\/strong> First practices take place in 14 days. A trio of Lake County players are within range of 1,000 career points this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth football \u2013<\/strong> Westshore\u2019s varsity and Middletown\u2019s JVs are 9-0 going into the final week of Mendo-Lake Empire Junior Football League regular-season play. Speaking of youth football, LJ Hopkins, quarterback of the Westshore junior varsity team, rushed for 334 yards and three touchdowns in a 25-24 win over Sonoma on Saturday, a game that seesawed back and forth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

County quarterbacks have big Friday night under the lights By Brian Sumpter Lake County Sports on Facebook LAKE COUNTY >> It was a big weekend on and off the football field for Lake County\u2019s high school teams. The off-the-field part is easy to explain as Upper Lake High School inducted the first person into its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,20,110,58,26,17,18,19,59,15,57],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4411"}],"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=4411"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4416,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4411\/revisions\/4416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}