Isn’t it strange how you remember some games because the winning team is relieved more so than happy that they won?
The St. Helena High football team’s 28-27 win over the Upper Lake Cougars on an unseasonably warm late October day in Northern Lake County had exactly that feeling. Very seldom do you ever see a team nearly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Setting the stage: It was generally assumed that St. Helena and Clear Lake would be the top combatants for the North Central League I South title. One week earlier, St. Helena defeated Clear Lake 18-8 in a game that had the grace of a bare-knuckles brawl. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just how it played out.
There was no reason to think Upper Lake would be a threat before that season. Because of its enrollment bordering on 400 students, Upper Lake opted to move up from NCL II to NCL I in 2005. The Cougars’ move to NCL I seemed like a good idea at the time because their travel time would to other schools would decrease based on proximity of other schools within the league.
The Saints, however, had three more NCL I South hurdles to clear (Upper Lake, Cloverdale and St. Vincent) before claiming their first league crown since 1978. The Cougars entered the game 3-3 after having snapped a three-game losing skid the previous week with 40-0 whitewash over Cloverdale. St. Vincent (Petaluma), like the Cougars, also joined the NCL I after years of being an annual powerhouse in the NCL II. The Mustangs won the CIF North Coast Section Class B title in 2005.
Thumbnail sketch of the game: The Saints players and coaches (including head coach Ian MacMillan) had the body language of, “OK, we won, now let’s get out of town.”
The Cougars pulled to within 28-27 at the 2:44 mark of the fourth quarter. Upper Lake opted to go for the two-point conversion instead of kicking the extra point and having a potential overtime game, which would have been an option since it is a league contest.
Cougars quarterback Billy Binns, however, fumbled the shotgun on the conversion as he retreated to pass. Binns fell on the ball and the Saints prevented the go-ahead two-pointer. The Saints’ Billy Joe Paulisich recovered the ensuing onside kick — one of two for the game — and St. Helena ran out the clock for the victory.
The Saints appeared to have the game salted away when quarterback Jake Holguin connected with Chris Yeakey on a wide receiver screen for a 46-yard catch-and-run score aided by a Kendall Sanders block.
Holguin connected with Yeakey for the two-point conversion to make it 28-13 St. Helena with 5:29 left in the game, but the Cougars’ Robert McCutcheon returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards to paydirt. Binns connected with Jayce Meri for the two-point conversion, making it 28-21 St. Helena.
The two teams went back and forth in the first half. The Saints’ first two scores came courtesy of Holguin, who finished with 13 carries for 96 yards.
Holguin scored on an 18-yard touchdown run, and with 40.7 seconds left in the first half, he hit Yeakey for 34-yard strike.
St. Helena’s David Fanucci (27 carries, 113 yards) scored from 2 yards out midway through the third quarter. John Hudson added 86 yards on 14 carries while Yeakey tallied 85 yards receiving on three grabs.
On the defensive side, Upper Lake hurt the Saints on third down in converting 5-of-9 attempts to keep St. Helena from putting the game out of reach sooner.
Fanucci recovered a fumble while Alex Seyve added a quarterback sack.Sanders and Gino Trinchero each recorded tackles for lost yardage.
What it meant: St. Helena lost at home one week later to Middletown (20-0) before cementing the NCL I South title with wins over Cloverdale (57-7) and St. Vincent (40-0) before losing to Ferndale in the CIF North Coast Section Class A playoffs. MacMillan resigned after the season. The ill-fated Dave Collinsworth era ensued, lasting just one season. Brandon Farrell has been the program’s head coach since 2008. The Saints have gone 70-26 under him.
Upper Lake and St. Vincent’s tenure in the NCL I lasted just five years (2005-2010) with mixed results. Upper Lake, which now competes in the NCL III (8-man football), went 14-47 overall and 3-21 in NCL I South in that span. The Cougars had 26 losses of 28 points or more. St. Vincent, which competed in the Bay Football League in 2015, will play in the NCL I this coming season in football. The Mustangs went 44-27 overall and 16-8 against NCL I South clubs. St. Vincent had 18 wins of 28 points or more in that span.
The irony to the 2006 season was that the Cougars went 5-5 overall and 2-2 in league play. Conversely, St. Vincent went 2-8 overall and 1-3 in league.
Side note: Since I am no longer reporting for a family newspaper, I can tell this story. Behind the visitors’ football bleachers at Upper Lake, there is a cemetery that is on a slope.
On this unseasonably warm day in late October, there was a fellow heckling St. Helena, specifically its fans throughout the day. How can I put it charitably but this heckler was drinking adult moisture throughout the day.
When Binns’ fumbled the two-point conversion, a Saints’ fan yelled at the heckler, “How do you like that Grave Boy!” The heckler proceeded to moon (as in pull down his pants to show his rearend) the St. Helena fans. One of the Saints parents responded by saying, “Say no to crack!”
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