{"id":694,"date":"2024-08-29T19:16:57","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T19:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=694"},"modified":"2024-08-29T19:16:57","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T19:16:57","slug":"ready-to-turn-the-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=694","title":{"rendered":"Ready to turn the corner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Upper Lake Cougars looking for better things in 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

UPPER LAKE >> Now that most of the housecleaning chores are taken care of the Upper Lake Cougars are hoping to do some real business in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transitioning from eight-man football, something the Cougars played from 2015-22, back to the 11-man game last season wasn\u2019t easy although the school let a veteran coach, Stan Weiper, oversee the necessary reconstruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It proved every bit the difficult task, according to Weiper, who said the competitive \u201cculture\u201d simply didn\u2019t exist at last year\u2019s varsity level, especially among the seniors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust getting kids to buy in to what we were doing wasn\u2019t easy,\u201d Weiper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little things, like attending practice every day instead of every other day, were among the disciplines several players struggled with, and it was a frustrating situation, according to Weiper, who has been coaching football in the county since the 1970s, including stints as head coach at Kelseyville and Lower Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Player numbers were down and the school\u2019s feeder system, though improving with the advent of the Northshore youth program, wasn\u2019t fully up to speed. The team\u2019s dedication to an offseason weight program also was lacking. Now that Upper Lake has opened a state-of-the-art weight\/exercise room and has someone to lead it in assistant coach Derek Milhaupt, that situation has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there is still plenty of work to do as Weiper enters year two as Upper Lake\u2019s varsity head coach, things are looking decidedly up, according to the veteran coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have better numbers this year (around two dozen) and that was a problem last year,\u201d Weiper said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have the numbers to practice effectively. Some of the varsity kids weren\u2019t committed to what we were doing. The JV kids were committed, and I spent a lot of time (last year) working with them. I told them \u2018You are the foundation for future success.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the JV Cougars responded, winning a North Central League I title and losing only one game all season. The varsity showed moments of being competitive, just not enough of them. Upper Lake went 1-7 in league and 1-8 overall. The Cougars beat Lower Lake 30-20 at home for their only win, improving to 1-3 at the time, but fell apart on the road the following week in a 43-12 loss at Cloverdale, a team they would ultimately tie for last place in the league. The Cougars dropped their final five games overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe lost six players (to injuries and grades) right after beating Lower Lake,\u201d Weiper said. \u201cWe dropped off the face of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving forward into 2024, Weiper believes the Cougars are in a much better position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For starters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n