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- Written by: Rich Mellott
This week’s Fall Football Preview is following the county’s high school teams as they get ready for the upcoming season.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Upper Lake High Cougars, Lake County’s bounce-back team of 2011, are in a difference space this summer.
If you’re familiar with the double-wing power running game that Upper Lake coach Alex Stabiner likes to run, you’d be tempted to say that the space his players currently occupy is the approximate size of one of those old phone booths that faddish college kids use to pack in the 1950s.
In Stabiner’s “phone booth” offense, the Cougars cram as many players as possible between the tackles and then start up the bulldozer, which knocks down anything in the way and creates vast amounts of open space (yes, the “space” motif again) through which the running backs rumble.
Last year, the year the Cougars turned everything around, league offensive MVP Bradley Brackett – and isn’t that the perfect name for a kid who runs through and around phone booths? – gained 1,396 yards to lead the county in rushing.
But that different “space” the Cougars are occupying these days would also refer to their final position in the 2011 North Central League II standings – second behind the Tomales Braves – or their No. 7 spot in the preseason NCS Div. V ratings, one notch ahead of the Braves and one below California School for the Deaf, which knocked them out of the NCS playoffs last season with a first-round 27-24 victory.
Yes, the Cougars’ made the playoffs in their bounce-back season of 2011, but to appreciate what that means (as well as what a return trip to the playoffs could mean this year), you need to know from where they bounced.
A year ago, Upper Lake’s football program was shaking on its foundation and the old trophies were rattling on the shelves in the gymnasium lobby.
Coming off a 1-10 campaign and an off-season without a training program. the young varsity team showed up for the first day of summer practice – only to discover that not only did they have a new head coach, but he had just been hired about 20 minutes earlier.
But Stabiner knew the players, had coached most of them on the JV team.
There were some good senior athletes and a talented group of underclassmen that had won on the JV level and, perhaps just as important to Stabiner, had shown signs that, by and large; it was a rabid pack of competitors.
“This group really loves competition,” Stabiner said. “They just don’t like to lose.”
That competitive drive was obvious last year as Upper Lake started winning some games, but so were several of the team’s shortcomings, which probably cost the Cougars a chance to win two, maybe even three more.
Before their second game against league rival Tomales (the teams tied 8-8 in the first meeting), a half-dozen Upper Lake seniors blew off practice one day – and Stabiner benched them.
Tomales won the game, 24-20, which ultimately cost Upper Lake a chance for the league championship.
The Cougars still qualified for a Div. V playoff game, albeit against a tougher early opponent (California School for the Deaf) than they would have otherwise faced had they just taken care of business a little better.
The next case of poor judgment was when Stabiner’s team – including himself and his assistants, he’s quick to admit – didn’t take California School for the Deaf seriously enough.
The coaching staff studied the CSD films and came away feeling confident they would win. Too confident.
“They were a lot better in person than they were in the film,” he said, irony apparent in his tone.
So flash forward now to three weeks ago, when that formerly young and promising group of players start another round of summer drills.
This time they’re coming off a 7-3-1 season and had a shot at the league title and even got some playoff experience – but it’s obvious to their coach that all that wasn’t enough.
“On the first day of practice, it was on all of their faces, that they were on a mission,” Stabiner said.
Beyond their competitive nature, “it looked like they know what they need to do in order be compete.”
Actually, Stabiner said, the majority of the players had been on that mission since the playoff loss to CSD, at which time they began taking up new “off-season” activities like wrestling, pumping iron in the weight room, going to football camps, and otherwise working their tails off.
The might sense, like their coach, that opportunities like the upcoming season don’t come around every day.
The Cougars have the returning players to be an outstanding Div. V team, especially on offense.
Brackett graduated last spring, but the rest of the Cougars’ yardage-devourers are back, including Ward Beecher (1,073 yards, 17 TDs) and 6-1, 240-pound fullback Joe Valdez (746, 11 TDs).
Also back is quarterback Travis Coleman along with most of the offensive line, led by all-leaguer John Karlsson.
Coleman might even do more than hand the ball off this season, running it himself or throw a few more passes. But don’t expect a Stabiner team to ever start airing it out.
The Cougars threw a total of 31 passes all of last season – an average of less than three a game.
The defense is in good shape in the line, where Karlsson doubles up as an all-leaguer and Valdez, also an all-league pick, uses his strength and size. The secondary, where Coleman doubles as an all-league player, is also solid. The one area where graduation hurt the most was at linebacker.
They Cougars will get a chance to get even with CSD as well as Tomales this season in the new NCL II-Bay Football League, which also includes St. Vincent of Petaluma, Calistoga, Stellar Prep, Emery, and St. Elizabeth.
Rich Mellott can be reached at
Upper Lake Cougars
Coach/Record: Alex Stabiner (2nd season), 7-3-1.
Assistants: Frank Gudmunson, Thomas Burnett, Ron Campos, Tim Green.
Last year: 7-3-3.
League: 4-1-1 (2nd in NCL II).
Returning starters: 7 on offense, 6 on defense.
Top players: All-leaguers Jon Karlsson (OL/DL), Joe Valdez (RB/DL), Travis Coleman (DB/QB), Ward Beecher (RB).
Key games: Sept. 8 vs. Middletown will be a good non-league test, and Sept. 21 at Calif. School for the Deaf is a key NCL II-Bay Football contest (along with being a rematch of last year’s NCS Div. V playoff opener won by CSD). Season finale Nov. 2 against Tomales also looms; the NCL II champion Braves beat the Cougars for the title last year.
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- Written by: Rich Mellott
Annual scrimmage tonight at Clear Lake High
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Like the Clear Lake team that hosts it, the annual Lake County Scrimmage tonight (6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lakeport) has a leaner look than in previous years.
Varsity and JV teams from only three schools are participating – Clear Lake, Upper Lake and Middletown – because Kelseyville and Lower Lake dropped out to hold their own scrimmage last Friday at Kelseyville.
Admission to the 18th annual fundraiser for the Clear Lake athletic program is $3 – lower than in past years, but fans won’t get the meal that traditionally came with their ticket. Instead, the concession stand will be open.
Here’s how the teams will square off: Varsity offenses face the west end zone at Don Owens Stadium, JV offenses face the east end zone, with each offensive and defensive unit getting 15 minutes against opposing units.
Fort Bragg changes football coaches right before season opener
FORT BRAGG, Calif. – Ray Perkins, a former assistant coach under Timberwolves’ coaching legend Jack Moyer, became Fort Bragg’s new head football coach earlier this week – just days before tonight’s season opener at McKinleyville.
Perkins, formerly the head coach at Pierce High in Arbuckle (2005-2009), replaced Kevin Costello, who coached the Timberwolves last season but resigned earlier this month amid reports of dissension among his assistant coaches.
The Timbervolves’ assistants have been running the summer practice sessions.
Perkins, whose teams at Pierce compiled a 21-31 record over five seasons, left Arbuckle earlier this year to take a teaching job at Fort Bragg’s alternative high school.
A second NCL I team from Mendocino County opens the season tonight on the road – but Willits has a better shot at defeating Richmond High than Fort Bragg has against McKinleyville.
Richmond is an NCS Div. II team (compared to Willits’ Div. IV status), but the East Bay school went 1-9 last year and opens the season at the very bottom of 25-school Div. II section rankings.
The Wolverines (9-3), ranked ninth among Div. IV teams and expected to battle St. Helena and Middletown for the NCL I title, should open with a victory.
Fort Bragg and McKinleyville appear to be evenly matched Div. IV teams.
Rich Mellott can be reached at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Unemployment rates in Lake County and statewide remained unchanged in July, with nationwide unemployment up slightly according to the latest reports on jobs.
The California Employment Development Department’s report said Lake County’s July unemployment rate was 14.7 percent, unchanged from June but down from 16.2 percent in July 2011.
California’s unemployment rate was 10.7 percent in July, unchanged from June, and down from 11.9 percent in July 2011, according to data derived from federal survey of 5,500 California households, the report showed.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the nationwide unemployment rate increased in July to 8.3 percent, up from 8.2 percent in June but down from 9.1 percent in July 2011.
Lake County, which has plateaued at the 14.7 rate since May, had a total wage and salary employment decrease of 450 jobs between June and July, according to Dennis Mullins of the Employment Development Department’s North Coast Region Labor Market Information Division.
Mullins said the government category – primarily education – had cutbacks that entirely offset a private industry gain of 80 jobs over the month.
For the year, Lake is down 370 jobs with four industry sectors gaining and seven declining. Total government jobs are down 410 over the year, he said.
Year-over job growth in Lake County occurred in farm, 60; trade, transportation and utilities, 20; private educational and health services, 10; and leisure and hospitality, 20, Mullins reported.
Lake County industry sectors showing declines over the year included mining, logging and construction (-30), manufacturing (-10), information (-10), financial activities (-10), professional and business services (-20), other services (-10) and government (-410).
Marin remained the county with the lowest unemployment statewide, at 6.7 percent, with Imperial County coming in with the highest unemployment, 29.9 percent.
Lake County remained ranked No. 45 among California’s 58 counties, while its neighboring counties showed the following July rates: Colusa County, No. 55, 17.3 percent; Glenn, No. 48, 15.2 percent; Mendocino, No. 20, 9.8 percent; Napa, No. 4, 7.7 percent; Sonoma, No. 8, 8.6 percent; and Yolo, No. 23, 10.5 percent.
Employment detail shows where jobs were added, lost
The Employment Development Department said there were 518,605 people receiving regular
unemployment insurance benefits during the July survey week, compared with 483,445 in June and 566,380 in July 2011.
New unemployment insurance claims for numbered 52,336 last month, compared with 66,296 in June
and 57,897 in July of last year, according to the report.
California’s nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 25,200 to a total of 14,358,600 in July, following 45,000 jobs gained in June, for a total gain of 507,200 jobs since the recovery began in September 2009, the report said.
The Employment Development Department bases those estimates on a survey of 42,000 California businesses. The year-over-year change – July 2011 to July 2012 – shows an increase of 365,100 jobs, up 2.6 percent.
The federal survey of 5,500 households showed a decrease in the number of employed people, estimating that Californians holding jobs in July was 16,444,000, a decrease of 40,000 from June, but up 277,000 from the employment total in July of last year.
The number of people unemployed in California was 1,962,000 – down by 12,000 over the month, and down by 228,000 compared with July of last year, according to the report.
The report showed that six categories – financial activities; professional and business services; educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government – added jobs
over the month, gaining 41,300 jobs. Professional and business services posted the largest increase over the month, adding 15,200 jobs.
Four categories – construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; and information – reported job declines over the month, down 16,100 jobs, the state said. Trade, transportation and utilities posted the largest decrease over the month, down 8,000 jobs. One category, mining and logging, was unchanged over the month.
In a year-over-year comparison – July 2011 to July 2012 – nonfarm payroll employment in California increased by 365,100 jobs, up 2.6 percent, according to the Employment Development Department.
Ten categories – mining and logging; construction; trade, transportation and utilities; information; financial activities; professional and business services; educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government – posted job gains over the year, adding 372,500 jobs, the report noted.
It showed that professional and business services posted the largest gains on both a numerical and percentage basis, adding 115,600 jobs, up 5.4 percent.
The report noted that one category, manufacturing, posted job declines over the year, down 7,400 jobs, a 0.6 percent decline.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Young, attractive and energetic – that describes “Fergie.”
Fergie is a 1 year old female German Shepherd mix who recently arrived at Lake County Animal Care and Control.
She has classic black and tan shepherd coloring and a long coat. She has not yet been spayed.
Fergie loves to frolic in the yard, chase bugs, get pats and enjoy cookies while relaxing in the shade.
She has some basic obedience training and, thanks to her intelligence, likely would quickly catch on quickly to additional training.
If you’re looking for a classy new pal, visit her in kennel No. 24, ID No. 34030.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at