How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
- Details
- Written by: Rich Mellott
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Here are the previews and predictions for this weekend’s prep football games involving Lake County teams and their league rivals.
Friday’s games
Upper Lake (1-1) at Portola (2-0), 5/7 p.m. The Cougars rushed for 535 yards in last year’s 47-14 win over the Tigers at Upper Lake, with running backs Bradley Brackett (14x186), Joe Valdez (8x174, 2 TDs) and Ward Beecher (18x121, 4 TDs) producing tremendous numbers. Both teams have most of their starters back for tonight’s rematch at Portola, which should be a much closer game for a few different reasons.
The Tigers, much like Upper Lake, love to run the ball, which usually means handing it to Zach Martinez, who no doubt remembers last year’s second game, when the Cougars stuffed him for a season-low 19 yards as his team fell to 0-2.
But Martinez and the Tigers bounced back from that ugly loss, winning five of their six remaining contests, with their workhorse runner averaging 155 yards a game to finish with 1,025 (a 6.5-yard per carry average) and 16 touchdowns.
Martinez is back on track this season and so are the Tigers, who’ve made it seven out of eight since last year’s trip to Upper Lake with victories over Burney (36-13) and Pershing County, Nev. (21-14), during which the 5-foot-9, 160-pound senior gained 245 yards in 44 carries. The two wins lifted Portola to the top of the Northern Section’s Div. IV ratings.
Strange as it sounds, when Martinez doesn’t get the handoff, it’s often a sign of an imminent Portola touchdown.
Quarterback Ricky Lowdermilk has thrown only nine passes in two games, but he’s hit on four of them for 111 yards and two touchdowns. And Zach’s brother, Michael Martinez, has only five carries this season—but they produced 138 yards and two touchdowns.
Linebackers Klint Williams and Oscar Romero need strong performances to contain a Cougar running attack that sputtered in Monday’s 28-8 loss at Middletown, which UL coach Alex Stabiner attributed to the lackluster play from his offensive line.
“We needed the front eight to take care of the running game,” Stabiner said.
Instead, it was the quick and swarming Mustang defense that took care of UL’s ground game, holding it to 156 yards – and only 55 in the second half after MHS coach Bill Foltmer reminded his defense how to adjust to various Cougar formations.
Cougar QB Travis Coleman gained 87 yards in 14 carries, but Middletown held UL’s speed-power combo of Ward Beecher and Joey Valdez to 51 yards in 15 carries.
Upper Lake would normally have a good shot at beating Portola again, but this isn’t a normal week.
With the Scotts Valley fire pushing back the Middletown game to Monday, the Cougars only had three days this week to recover and prepare, plus that five-hour bus ride across the valley and up the mountain to Portola, 50 miles northwest of Reno.
The Tigers, on the other hand, had two weeks to prepare for the rematch (they had a bye last week). And somewhere in the back of their minds, Portola players like Zach Martinez have been preparing for this one for over a year.
Prediction: Portola 27, Upper Lake 14.
Middletown (1-1) at El Molino (0-3): 5/7 p.m. In past years, this one might have been a good test for Middletown, but El Molino’s football program is reeling these days after taking a couple of huge hits over the past 14 months.
First, the Lions didn’t field a JV team last year because of a low turnout. It was reinstated for this season, but without last year’s feeder team, El Molino’s varsity is playing with only 18 players – about half the number most teams can rely on.
The second blow came when second-year head coach Matt Transue got pinked-slipped from his fulltime teaching job at Elmo (he’s since taken a fulltime position at Rancho Cotate High), but he decided to finish the season as the Lions’ off-campus coach, which limits the time he can spend with his players during the day preparing for games.
Middletown is coming an impressive 28-8 win over Upper Lake, in which Austin Benson broke loose for 192 yards in 24 carries and four touchdowns.
The Lions have yet to score this season in losses to Fortuna (48-0), Justin-Siena (53-0) and St. Bernard’s (41-0), and though they might score against Middletown, they won’t be able to hang with the Mustangs for very long.
Prediction: Middletown 27, El Molino 7.
South Fork (1-2) at Clear Lake (1-1), 5:30/7:30 p.m. at Lakeport: There are issues like the ones facing El Molino, then there are the types of problems that Stellar Prep brought to Clear Lake last week.
“Total disorganization,” is how Cardinal coach Milo Meyer described Stellar Prep’s act, which included 130 yards in first-quarter penalties, some shoving matches with CL players, and a first quarter ejection for unsportsmanlike conduct of an SP player who managed to sneak back onto the field in the second quarter for a couple of plays before a referee recognized him and kicked him out again.
It wasn’t particularly pretty, but the Cards still dominated for a 48-0 victory.
South Fork might not provide Clear Lake with a lot of competition, but the Miranda team, which has a 22-19 win over John Swett and losses to Calistoga (61-28) and Tomales (54-6), isn’t likely to cause the grief and frustration that Stellar Prep did.
The Cards, who took an 0-3 record into league play last year, have alternately surprised and impressed in their first two games, and will likely take a 2-1 mark into NCL action next week.
Prediction: Clear Lake 40, South Fork 6.
Valley Christian (3-0) at Lower Lake (0-2), 5:30/7:30 p.m. The Lower Lake Trojans could use a little John Swett or Stellar Prep or South Fork on their schedule right about now – an opponent they can match up against, maybe even beat.
But after lopsided losses to Hoopa Valley (41-14) and Arcata (44-6), they’ll instead face an even better opponent in powerful Valley Christian, ranked second among NCS Div. V schools.
Lower Lake has the second most-difficult pre-league schedule among NCL teams (only Middletown’s is tougher), so there won’t be any early-season wins to build a little confidence. And then the Trojans play Middletown in their league opener next week.
Prediction: Valley Christian 46, Lower Lake 13.
Esparto (0-3) at Kelseyville (1-1), 5:30/7:30 p.m. The Knights, who matched last year’s win total with a victory at John Swett last week, can surpass it tonight – and take another small step forward in their quest for credibility.
Esparto is a winless Div. III team that’s been that been out-scored 116-25 in losses to Pierce (47-12), Winters (58-0) and Rio Vista (53-13) – a factoid that could be misleading when you consider that Pierce and Winters are undefeated and Rio Vista is 2-1.
In other words, Esparto is a lot better than the John Swett team that Kelseyville victimized last week. The Knights can win this one, but they’ll have to bring their ‘A’ game.
Prediction: Kelseyville 27, Esparto 21.
Calistoga (2-1) at Willits (1-1), 5:30/7:30 p.m. At No. 74, Willits is rated 20 positions higher than Calistoga among all NCS teams, and if the Wolverines want to keep believing they can contend in the NCL I race this season, which starts next week, they need to make a statement tonight. Calistoga, which went 0-10 last year, has made strides with victories over Cloverdale (28-20) and South Fork (61-28), and more impressively, gave California School for the Deaf a scare last week before falling 35-29.
Willits opened with a 38-0 win at lowly Richmond but couldn’t score last week in a 7-0 loss to Ukiah. As tempted as we are to forsake the “class” gauge here in favor of form (and a Calistoga upset), we’re going with the Wolverines to prevail in their home opener.
Prediction: Willits 27, Calistoga 20.
Saturday
Cloverdale (0-2) at St. Vincent’s of Petaluma (1-1). The Mustangs should get their high-powered passing game back in gear after super-quick St. Helena shut it down last week. Cloverdale has hung tight in losses to Calistoga (28-20) and McKinleyville (29-24).
Prediction: St. Vincent 40, Cloverdale 20.
Prediction record: Last week: 3-2. Season: 9-2.
Email Rich Mellott at
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – The closure order for the North Pass Fire area was adjusted on Thursday, reopening the southern part of the Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness, while maintaining the closure within most of the fire perimeter on the Mendocino National Forest.
The North Pass Fire, caused by lightning, started Saturday, Aug. 18, and has consumed approximately 41,983 acres north of Forest Highway 7 between Anthony Peak and the community of Covelo.
It remained at 97-percent containment early Friday, with full containment estimated to occur this on Sunday.
Closure Order Number 08-12-15 went into effect at midnight Thursday, replacing Order Number 08-12-14. The full closure order, including the map, is available online at www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino under “Alerts and Notices” or on Inciweb at www.inciweb.org/incident/3201/ .
While it opens up a large portion of the wilderness, access is still restricted in and around the fire perimeter.
Under the order:
-
Forest Highway 7 is open.
-
Hams Pass/Blands Cove Road (24N21) is closed north of Hams Pass.
-
Indian Dick Road (Forest Road M1) is open from the intersection with Road 23N39 (Espee Ridge) north towards the Asa Bean Trailhead. Road M1 is closed from Road 23N39 south to the Eel River Work Station.
-
Forest Road M2 is open from Paskenta west to its intersection with Forest Road M21. It remains closed from the M21 intersection south to the intersection with Forest Road M4.
-
Forest Road M4 is open from Paskenta west to its intersection with Forest Highway 7 (Mendocino Pass).
While some major roads are once again open to the public, drivers should still watch for increased traffic in the area.
Residents and landowners or lessees of land within the closure area are exempt from the order to the extent necessary to access their property.
“We are happy to be able to restore public access to more of the northwest portion of the Mendocino National Forest,” said Forest Supervisor Sherry Tune.
“We are asking the public to respect the closure order for the remainder of the North Pass Fire area, including portions of M1, M2 and the Wilderness and the many roads and trails within the area,” said Tune. “This will help us maintain public and firefighter safety as we continue suppression and repair efforts to achieve control of the North Pass Fire. We will open the North Pass Fire area when we are confident that the conditions in the area are no longer a threat and the resources have sufficiently stabilized.”
Violation of the closure order is punishable by a fine of no more than $5,000 for an individual, $10,000 for an organization, or up to six months imprisonment or both.
For more information, please visit www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino or contact the forest at 530-934-3316.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man who allegedly led police on a foot chase on Wednesday and subsequently was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft may have been involved in a string of car and boat thefts in August.
Louis Charles Carlson, 37, was arrested on a number of charges following the Wednesday chase, which began a Clearlake Police Department investigation that allegedly is linking him to a number of other cases, according to Sgt. Rodd Joseph.
At 3:15 p.m. Wednesday Clearlake Police Officer Arron Winslow conducted a traffic stop on a 1970 Ford Mach 1 Mustang for minor traffic violations on SR53 near the intersection with 18th Avenue, Joseph said.
The driver, later identified as Carlson, allegedly provided investigating officers with a false name and claimed to have no identification with him, Joseph said. The name Carlson allegedly provided to officers showed to have a suspended driver’s license.
Joseph said officers elected to arrest Carlson for the suspended driver’s license and for not having identification. Carlson fled on foot when he learned he was going to be arrested.
Officers gave chase and Officer Adams ended up arresting Carlson at the dead end of 20th Avenue, near Highway 53, after a brief foot chase, Joseph said. At that time officers identified the suspect as Carlson, who also had an outstanding felony warrant for his arrest.
Officers decided to tow Carlson’s vehicle and requested a tow truck, Joseph said. Prior to the Ford Mustang being towed it was determined to be a stolen vehicle out of Clearlake.
Joseph said police learned that Carlson had begun the process of putting the vehicle into his name through the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Mustang was returned to the lawful owner.
Carlson was arrested on felony warrants and allegations including obstructing a peace officer, resisting a peace officer, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, false identification to officer, false information to officer and committing a felony crime while out on bail for a felony crime.
On Monday Clearlake officers had located several abandoned stolen vessels and vehicles in the 16800 block of 19th Avenue, Joseph said.
Most of the stolen vehicles and vessels had been reported to the California Highway Patrol as stolen in the unincorporated areas of Lake County during the month of August, he said.
Joseph said police obtained evidence at the scene allegedly linking Carlson to the vehicle thefts. Police believe that Carlson is involved in these vehicle and vessel thefts and are continuing with the investigation.
Anyone with information on these vehicle and vessel thefts is asked to contact Clearlake Police Officer Thompson at 707-994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The service of a search warrant by the Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force Tuesday evening has resulted in one arrest and the seizure of 56.7 grams of methamphetamine.
Detectives arrested 31-year-old Christin Jean Kukar of Clearlake for alleged possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale and transportation of a controlled substance, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
On Monday narcotics detectives secured a search warrant for Kukar's person, home and vehicle, Brooks said.
Then on Tuesday at 9 p.m. narcotics detectives conducted an enforcement stop of Kukar’s vehicle on Highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks, Brooks said. Kukar, 26-year-old Brandie Lea Meyer of Clearlake Oaks and a 14-year-old minor were occupants of the vehicle.
Narcotics detectives served the search warrant on Kukar and her vehicle, Brooks said. Kukar allegedly admitted to possessing methamphetamine and removed approximately 56.7 grams of methamphetamine from inside her pants.
He said Meyer and the minor, who were detained at the time of the stop, were later released.
Shortly after the enforcement stop, narcotics detectives served the search warrant on Kukar’s home, which is located on 35th Avenue in Clearlake. Brooks said detectives were unable to locate any additional contraband.
Brooks said the estimated street value of the 56.7 grams of methamphetamine found during the search is approximately $6,000.
Kukar was arrested and transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility where Brooks said she was booked. Bail was set at $35,000, and jail records indicated she posted the required percentage of bail and was released.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be reached through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.