HEALDSBURG — Jordan O'Keefe's 53-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown with 1:11 remaining capped a 16-0 Lower Lake fourth quarter as the Trojans rallied to beat the Healdsburg Greyhounds 36-30 in a non-league varsity football thriller Friday night at Recreation Park.
It was the first win for Lower Lake (1-2) since a 47-27 league victory over Clear Lake on Oct. 25, 2019. The Trojans had lost 11 straight until O'Keefe's late heroics against the Greyhounds ended that streak once and for all.
"I'm excited for the players to get this win, but as a coach I reflect on all the things we could have done better," Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said as the Trojans improved to 1-2 while dropping the Greyhounds to 0-4 on the season.
Lower Lake entered the fourth quarter trailing 30-20. A touchdown pass from quarterback Demarion Jones to Charles Jones and the ensuing two-point conversion run by Demarion Jones narrowed the deficit to 30-28 with a little more than two minutes remaining, by which time the Trojans had used up all of their timeouts.
After recovering an onside kick, Healdsburg was looking to run out the clock but a Greyhounds running back made an unwise decision on a second-down carry up the middle. Cornerback Zander Carver slowed his forward momentum, but instead of going down and using up precious clock, the Healdsburg player tried to bounce the play to the outside where O'Keefe wrestled the ball from his arms. After briefly bobbling the ball, O'Keefe raced down the Lower Lake sideline for the game-winning score. Demarion Johnson's conversion run made it 36-30.
"O'Keefe ripped it out of his hands and then he was gone," Jakubowski said.
Healdsburg's last-gasp effort to salvage a win ended up in the arms of Micah Gurule, who intercepted a pass that was tipped by teammate Steven "Buddy" Felder. Lower Lake took a knee to run out the final seconds.
Lower Lake led 12-0 after one quarter on the strength of touchdown runs by Charles Jones and O'Keefe. The Trojans took a 20-16 lead into halftime, adding a score in the second quarter on Felder's 80-yard interception return.
Healdsburg pushed in front 30-20 with a 14-0 third quarter.
Demarion Jones, who is replacing the injured Michael Russell at quarterback, rushed for close to 100 yards and had another 50 yards passing, according to Jakubowski.
"He had a good night running the ball," Jakubowski said. "He's a tough kid."
O'Keefe played well on both sides of the line of scrimmage for the Trojans. Along with his rushing touchdown and game-winning fumble recovery, he caused two other fumbles earlier in the contest that Healdsburg recovered.
"He also broke up a pass,"Jakubowski said.
After dropping their first two games of the season, including a 70-0 loss to Rio Vista in their season opener, the Trojans never stopped fighting, according to Jakubowski, who said that was the most gratifying part of the come-from-behind win against Healdsburg.
"We've had our ups and downs, but the guys never quit," Jakubowski said.
After playing each of its first three games on the road, Lower Lake returns home next Friday to play Middletown (0-3) in the North Central League I opener for both teams.
Lower Lake's junior varsity squad dropped a 25-12 non-league decision to Clear Lake on Friday night in Lakeport.
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