{"id":7237,"date":"2026-09-24T21:51:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T21:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=7237"},"modified":"2026-09-24T21:51:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T21:51:58","slug":"football-friday-preview-week-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=7237","title":{"rendered":"Football Friday preview — Week 4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Middletown entertains Upper Lake, Lower Lake celebrates homecoming against Willits<\/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 >> If your offense is struggling, probably the last place you want to visit is Bill Foltmer Field to play the Middletown Mustangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the task facing the Upper Lake Cougars (1-2) on Friday night as they head south to take on a Middletown squad coming off a big 41-13 victory against the Kelseyville Knights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other Week 4 games involving Lake County teams Friday night, Lower Lake (1-1) celebrates its homecoming against the Willits Wolverines (1-3) while Kelseyville (1-2) hits the road to play St. Helena (1-2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The Cougars are coming off back-to-back North Central League I interlock shutout losses to Stuart Hall and Cloverdale, and things won\u2019t get any easier against a Middletown team with a defense as stingy as ever \u2013 just 23 points allowed through its first three games with one shutout to its credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the NFL, this week\u2019s matchup might be called a trap game because of the tendency for some teams to let down following a big game the prior week. Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard said he doesn\u2019t think it will be a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to make sure we stay focused on the little stuff,\u201d Woodard said. \u201cWe need everybody to go out and just do their job. If they do that, we\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown certainly got what it needed in the Kelseyville win. Playing on the road, the Mustangs fell behind 13-0 early, collected themselves and played mistake-free football most of the final three quarters, reeling off 41 unanswered points along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was one of those games that was a good test for us,\u201d Woodard said. \u201cWe faced adversity early, and it propelled us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Mustangs were taking care of their own business on the road against the Knights, the Cougars were at home facing a buzz saw in the form of Stuart Hall\u2019s high-powered passing attack. Stuart Hall was 17-for-17 passing for 351 yards and four touchdowns. Upper Lake\u2019s offense had trouble just getting the ball across midfield and never reached it\u2019s opponent\u2019s red zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woodard and Upper Lake head coach John Toohey are hardly strangers. They were teammates at Mendocino College \u2013 Toohey played on the offensive line and Woodard in the Eagles\u2019 defensive backfield \u2013 and both went on to play several years for the North Bay Rattlers semi-pro football team based out of Santa Rosa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of respect for him,\u201d Woodard said. \u201cHe played with a lot of intensity. He\u2019s got an outgoing personality. He\u2019s a prankster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat went both ways,\u201d Toohey said of the pranks. \u201cDon\u2019t let him put that all on me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Toohey, \u201cWe\u2019ve known each other for a long time. I hadn\u2019t talked to him in years when we ran into each other at the Lake County Scrimmage last year. He was surprised to see me wearing the red and white (of Upper Lake). We did play on some good teams with the Rattlers. We were both guys the other team had circled. He was an excellent safety, a real competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Upper Lake is a long shot to upset Middletown, Toohey said the important thing for the Cougars is to \u201ccontinue to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Said Toohey, \u201cWe\u2019ve had a good trajectory in practice this week. You could see the light bulb come on as they (players) connected the details and specifics to what we are doing in practice. The map of our very struggles in the first half (last week), you could see us working those out in practice. It\u2019s starting to click in terms of us figuring out how to be competitive. I still think we can be competitive, the kids just have to keep working hard and believing in themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Cougars have struggled to get things going in recent weeks, that doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t have the personnel to give teams some problems, according to Woodard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir No. 33 (Brody Blancas) does a good job at running back and linebacker, No. 2 (Antario Wyman) looks like a strong running back and wide receiver, and No. 57 (Cameron Milhaupt) on the defensive line can play,\u201d Woodard said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Said Toohey, \u201cWe\u2019re excited and we\u2019re still playing football.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake will have its hands full against a Middletown offense led by running backs Tyler Galamay and John Finney, both juniors, and with a mobile quarterback in senior Jamisen Jackson, one who can run and throw. The Mustangs also have the North Coast Section\u2019s leader in total tackles, senior Ryan Halverson, playing linebacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be sound,\u201d Toohey said. \u201cWe want them to beat us on their own merits, not because of our mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville at St. Helena<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Kelseyville and St. Helena are coming off tough losses. Kelseyville fell a week ago at home to Middletown despite dominating the game in the first quarter while St. Helena lost 41-35 in overtime at Willits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Saints, defending NCL I champions, went 8-0 in league and 11-1 overall last season, but they graduated most of their top players. One player who does return is senior running back Julian Earls, who is off to another solid start this season with 266 rushing yards through the Saints\u2019 first three games. He\u2019s just behind another senior, George Filippini, who leads the team with 274 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Helena quarterback Daniel Gonzalez throws enough to keep opposing defenses honest. He\u2019s completed 18 of 26 passes for 271 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions so far this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJulian Earls was one of the best running backs in the league a year ago,\u201d Kelseyville head coach Logan Barrick said. \u201cAny time you leave the county it\u2019s tough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming off a game against Middletown during which the Knights were often their own worst enemy in terms of the mistakes they made and the penalties they committed, Barrick said his players are looking forward to a chance to redeem themselves against the Saints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOffensively we\u2019ve got to stay true to ourselves, stay focused,\u201d Barrick said. \u201cSt. Helena is still a good team; they just lack experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Led by former Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen, the Saints are 2-1 against the Knights under Larsen\u2019s direction. St. Helena won last year\u2019s meeting 53-23 while Kelseyville dominated the 2024 contest 48-27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll be coming downhill at us running the veer, so it will be a good test for our defense up front,\u201d Barrick said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to hold our ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

It\u2019s homecoming week, otherwise known as distraction week if you coach football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHomecoming is a nightmare everywhere,\u201d Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said as the Trojans prepare to take on the Wolverines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Lower Lake and Willits are coming off wins \u2013 the Trojans punched the Fort Bragg Timberwolves square in the nose a week ago, winning 46-14 at Fort Bragg while the Wolverines beat St. Helena in overtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was good to have that success against Fort Bragg,\u201d Jakubowski said of his team\u2019s all-around solid effort, a game in which the Trojans had success running and passing the ball as well as on defense. \u201cWe\u2019re still working on areas where we need to clean some stuff up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willits uses a lot of misdirection on its running plays, something the Trojans need to be prepared for, according to Jakubowski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to stay focused on defense and not give up the big play,\u201d he said. \u201cWillits hurt St. Helena with some big plays last week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of all, Lower Lake needs to continue to run the ball effectively. Against Fort Bragg, Roy Percoats rushed for 191 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s electric,\u201d Jakubowski said of the sophomore. \u201cHe has top-end speed and he\u2019s not a small kid (170-180 pounds). He has elite acceleration. Once he figures it all out, the sky is the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quarterback Brody Shields also had a big game against the Timberwolves, throwing for 245 yards, three TDs and no interceptions, providing Jakubowski with the kind of run-pass balance he\u2019s looking for from the Trojans this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to keep him below 20 attempts and he had 18,\u201d Jakubowski said. \u201cBrody made some quality decisions, and we did a good job on the back end. Our wide receivers found the space they needed to get open, and our line did a good job finding the time for him to throw the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether Willits gives Shields as much time remains to be seen, so Jakubowski said the Trojans may need to be a little more creative in the passing department this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower Lake has a few players nursing minor injuries but nothing serious, according to Jakubowski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty healthy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trojans couldn\u2019t have started last week\u2019s contest against Fort Bragg much better, according to Jakubowski. Percoats scored on the game\u2019s first play, a 48-yard run, and he added a 61-yard touchdown on his fourth carry of the night. Likewise, the Trojans also scored early on a 76-yard pass from Shields to Raijhier McKneely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willits had its fair share of big plays a week ago at home against St. Helena, according to Jakubowski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth teams were playing hard,\u201d Jakubowski said. \u201cSt. Helena shot themselves in the foot a couple of times with mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other games<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other NCL I interlock action this weekend, Fort Bragg (1-3) travels to Cloverdale (2-1) on Friday night while a modified version of the Stuart Hall (2-1) varsity \u2013 the San Francisco team doesn\u2019t field a junior varsity squad \u2013 plays the Clear Lake JVs (3-0-1) Saturday evening at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead to Week 5 games on Oct. 2, Middletown\u2019s varsity (no JVs) travels to Vallejo to play St. Patrick-St. Vincent, Upper Lake hosts St. Helena, Lower Lake heads to Kelseyville, Willits hosts Cloverdale, and Stuart Hall visits Fort Bragg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Middletown entertains Upper Lake, Lower Lake celebrates homecoming against Willits By Brian Sumpter Lake County Sports on Facebook LAKE COUNTY >> If your offense is struggling, probably the last place you want to visit is Bill Foltmer Field to play the Middletown Mustangs. That\u2019s the task facing the Upper Lake Cougars (1-2) on Friday night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,20,110,58,26,17,18,19,59,144,15,57],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7237"}],"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=7237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7239,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7237\/revisions\/7239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}