I can’t start this ranking page with business as usual.
Business is far from usual.
When I started writing for the website, I decided to include the NCL World. It is a world I grew up in and have been part of ever since.
I include them in the rankings. Do I think at times they would beat an NBL or SCL team left off? Not all the time. But these schools try just as hard as the bigger schools.
Even with the summer of fires in Lake County, from the outside looking in, things seemed normal. Sports wise it was. The scores have been rolling in like any other year.
That normal changed over the weekend. The Lower Lake football team went from winning on Friday to on Sunday helping support the people that were affected by the fire that hit this weekend.

For a while the kids at Middletown didn’t know if they had a school. If there is a bright side to a story that doesn’t have much of a bright side, Middletown High School is still standing.
Another bright side is the outpour of support throughout the community. I posted some of that on our Facebook page and tweet from Senator Mike McGuire that nearly $200,000 has been donated.
That is what people do .
The best to the people of Lake County.
 
 
RANKINGS
No. 1 Rancho Cotate (2-0) (Last Week No. 1)…A one sided win that lasted past 11 pm…Big test this week at Antoich.
No. 2 Analy (3-0) (3)…No. 1 and 2 share the same home field. It is too bad that they don’t meet. According to the power rankings, Analy has gone through the toughest part of its schedule.
No. 3 Cardinal Newman (1-2)(2)…it is hard to knock them too far for loss to Clayton Valley, who power ranking wise is only behind De La Salle in the NCS. Hopefully Jordan Brookshire will be back at quarterback next week.
No. 4 St. Helena (3-0) (5)… The Saints had the win of the week. Get a week off before jumping into NCL I play.
No. 5 Santa Rosa (2-0) (10)…A big jump after an impressive win over Fremont. Next up they take a trip to Petaluma to renew the oldest rivalry in the area.
No. 6 Fort Bragg (3-0) (7)…Two of the three wins have been one sided. Jumps into league play this week with trip to Clear Lake.
No. 7 Maria Carrillo (1-2) (6)…What happened in the second half? They get a week off before opening NBL play against Montgomery.
No. 8 Windsor (2-1) (4)…They have two weeks to brew about a long night against Miramonte.
No. 9 Willits (2-0) (9)…They had a week off to prepare for a Saturday trip to St. Vincent.
No. 10 Cloverdale (2-0) (10)…They had a week off to prepare for a trip to Healdsburg.
POWER RANKINGS
No. 1 Rancho Cotate (Last Week No. 1)…They are No. 9 overall in the North Coast Section
No. 2 Analy (3)
No. 3 Cardinal Newman (2)
No. 4 Windsor (4)
No. 5 St. Helena (8)
No. 6 Casa Grande (6)
No. 7 Fort Bragg (7)
No. 8 Maria Carrillo (5)
No. 9 Santa Rosa (NR)
No. 10 Cloverdale (NR)

HONOR ROLL
Ty Evenich (Tomales)…Rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns in a 46-16 win over Mendocino. Tomales has started its first year in the 8 man league 2-0.
Nick Jensen (Casa Grande)…Overall it was a tough night for the Gauchos as they lost to Franklin 35-7. Jensen had twelve tackles, two of them sacks. It was the second game of the season he had a two sack game.
Cole Martin (Maria Carrillo)…Return a kickoff 99 yards for one score and a punt 70 yards for another. Those were both in the first half. Maria Carrillo would like to forget the second half in a 51-28 loss to Benicia.
Gunner Mefferd (Rancho Cotate) …Five more touchdown passes in a 40-14 win over Vanden. Two of them were to Chris Taylor-Yamanoha. Meddord has nine touchdown tosses in two games.
Dominic Pederson (St. Vincent)…In a game that was more like a St. Vincent team that we are used to seeing, Pederson threw five touchdowns passes and rushed for another. Three of the touchdown passes went to Nick Vollert.
Cody Shepard (Ukiah)…Rushed for 100 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-12 win over Piner. He has scored seven touchdowns in the last two games.
Frankie Suarez (Elsie Allen)…Nearly 300 yards in total offense, 208 yards passing and another 61 rushing. Threw two touchdown passes and ran in one more.
Lucas Triplett (Fort Bragg)…12 catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-0 win over El Molino. In the first three games of the season, he has caught six of Kaylor Sullivan’s ten touchdown passes.
Schuyler Van Weele (Analy)…10 catches for 99 yards and three touchdowns. All three touchdowns were in the first quarter as Analy took a 21-0 lead over Montgomery on its way to a 42-7 win. It was his second three touchdown game. The first game was in the opening 48-29 win over Casa Grande in which he caught ten for 210 yards.
Alan Venegas (Calistoga)…Rushed for 247 yards and three touchdowns in a 54-16 win over Upper Lake. He was one of three Calistoga players who scored three touchdowns and part of monster 674 rushing night.
Luke Wheless (Petaluma)…17 carries for 115 yards and one touchdown in a 24-0 win over Terra Linda. He also had a sixty yard punt return to help Petaluma to its first win of the season.
Hokulani Wickard (Lower Lake)…The sophomore quarterback passed for 193 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 48. He had to leave the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and when he returned, threw his second touchdown, which was the winning score in a 21-14 win over Healdsburg. It was Lower Lake’s second 21-14 win over an SCL team. The first one over El Molino, Wickard was 23 of 26 for 185 and three scores.
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net