Napa Valley High School Football: Covarrubias leads St. Helena in wild overtime win at Lower Lake, 43-37

A week after trading leads with Upper Lake throughout an exhausting road win, the St. Helena High football team traded massive scoring runs in another wild North Central League I victory, 43-37 in overtime, at Lower Lake on Friday night.

Previously injured quarterback Jhony Covarrubias made an electric season debut for the Saints (2-3, 2-1 NCL I), throwing for two scores and running for two, while running back Sam Beck, healed up after a bye week, rushed for a season-high 133 yards and another score.

St. Helena led 37-8 at halftime after Covarrubias ran for 11- and 19-yard touchdowns and threw a 39-yard scoring strike to Troy Taber, who had quarterbacked the team through its first four games. Taber added a 10-yard scoring run, Beck a 5-yarder, and Camilo Aguirre four extra points and a 27-yard field goal.

But the Trojans (3-3, 1-3 NCL I) responded with 29 unanswered points — on four touchdown runs and a pair of two-point conversions — to somehow send it into overtime tied at 37-37.

However, Covarrubias got to finish off his remarkable comeback game with a winning 31-yard touchdown pass to Eric Torres.

Covarrubias finished 14 of 23 passing for 178 yards and three TDs with no interceptions. Beck went for 133 yards on a workmanlike 28 carries, the longest being for 20 yards. Covarrubias had eight carries for 37 yards and two TDs, most on a 19-yard pickup. Taber had four carries for 34 yards, Russell Wilms one tote for 27 yards, and Torres three carries for 12.

Taber — a transfer from Middletown who will face his former squad when St. Helena visits the Mustangs next Friday night — got to be on the receiving end with the Saints for the first time and led them with 64 yards on four catches. Dean Sommer added five receptions for 50 yards, Torres two for 44 yards, and Latif Basile three for 19 yards.

St. Helena's defense was led by Sommer (six solo tackles, one interception), Adam Herdell (five solos, two assists), Nick Groth (four solos, one assist, one tackle for a loss, one fumble recovery), Wilms (four solos, one assist, one interception), Matt Larrabee (four solos, one assist), Nick Beck (two solos, two assists), Ben Brakesman (two solos, one assist, one sack, one tackle for a loss), and Junior Ramirez (two solos).