PETALUMA — Trailing 14-0 late in the first quarter on Saturday at Kiely Field, the St. Vincent Mustangs were desperately in need of a spark on a rainy afternoon in Petaluma.
And as he has done so many times this season, sophomore running Kris Farinha provided it … with a flourish, rallying the Mustangs to a 25-14 win in a North Central League I interlock varsity football game that also was the regular-season finale for both teams.
Kelseyville closes out the season at 1-9, its worst finish since the 1985 club went 0-9, and St. Vincent, by virtue of its win over the Knights, pulled down the No. 1 seed on Sunday at the North Coast Section Class B at-large and seeding meeting in Walnut Creek.
“I thought we came into the game well-prepared,” St. Vincent coach Gary Galloway said when asked about his team”s painfully slow start against Kelseyville. “We had a good week in practice, too.”
Farinha had bobbled two earlier kickoff returns, one to open the game and another following Mike Duman”s 44-yard punt return that staked the Knights to a 6-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. After the Knights went up 14-0 on a Josh Huston 12-yard touchdown run and a Huston conversion run, Farinha gave it another shot.
Once again, he lost the handle on the football, which scooted about 5 yards in front of him, but he scooped up the ball on the dead run and never stopped until he reached the end zone some 75 yards away.
“God was watching after him,” Galloway said. “He”s had so many big plays for us this season and that was another one when we really needed it.”
If Farinha”s weave and bob down the St. Vincent deadline electrified the Mustangs, it had just the opposite effect on the Knights, who picked up just one first down the rest of the first half and also struggled on defense, allowing the Mustangs to score touchdowns on each of their three possessions of the second quarter.
“Big plays have been our Achilles” heel all season,” Kelseyville coach Thad Owens said.
The Mustangs turned a Duman interception late in the first quarter into a seven-play, 45-yard scoring drive early in the second quarter as Cullen Carroll scored on a 15-yard run. The Knights were able to block the extra point to retain the lead at 14-13, but game momentum had clearly shifted to the Mustangs.
St. Vincent pushed ahead to stay following a Kelseyville punt, moving 60 yards in five plays, the final 30 on a touchdown pass from quarterback Ian Williams to wide receiver Nick McCarthy for a 19-14 lead.
The Knights lost a fumble four plays into their next possession and the Mustangs moved 45 yards in five plays for a 25-14 lead. Williams” 27-yard pass to Josh Wheless accounted for the game”s final points. Wheless was double-covered on the play, but when he adjusted his route and came back to grab an underthown ball, both Kelseyville defenders ran right past him.
Kelseyville”s best scoring opportunity in the second half came on its initial possession of the third quarter. Nine straight running plays moved the ball down to the St. Vincent 23, where the Knights lost possession on downs, coming up a yard short on a fourth-and-two play from the Mustang 24.
The rain intensified down the stretch and the field conditions became worse as the game went on, hindering both offenses.
Huston finished the game with 105 yards on 24 carries, giving him 1,137 yards for the season.
“He”s a great kid and he”ll be successful at whatever he does in the future,” Owens said of the senior. “He never has a bad word to say. It was a pleasure to coach him.”
Looking ahead to 2008, which will be Owens” second season, the Kelseyville coach said the Knights have a foundation to build on.
“You”re climbing that ladder and we”ve reached a certain point,” Owens said. “Now we have to stay right there so we don”t have to start all over again next season. We have an offseason program in place and we need the kids to work hard so that we”re ready to go next season.”
Farinha finished with 71 yards on 25 carries for St. Vincent and Williams went over 1,000 yards passing for the season, completing eight of 12 passes for 123 yards.
