KELSEYVILLE — The St. Vincent Mustangs weren”t playing a league game on Friday, but before the night was over they had tied the Clear Lake Cardinals for the North Central League I South championship.
St. Vincent smacked Kelseyville 51-6 in NCL I interlock varsity football action at Kelseyville to finish the regular season at 9-1, matching the school”s 9-1 mark during the 1998 campaign. And while the Mustangs were roughing up the Knights, the Clear Lake Cardinals were losing 7-0 to St. Helena in NCL I South play at St. Helena. As a result, Clear Lake and St. Vincent finish tied atop the South standings at 3-1.
The next stop for St. Vincent is the North Coast Section Division V playoffs, where they”re a pretty good bet to be the No. 1 seed.
Kelseyville missed a chance to post a winning season, instead settling for 4-5-1 in coach Thad Owens” second season.
“We were 1-9 last season and 4-5-1 this season,” Owens said. “It”s not where we want to be but we have an overall plan and we”re working through it with our offseason program. This program isn”t going to be built in a single season.”
Kelseyville”s struggles against St. Vincent follow a season-long trend, according to Owens.
“They”re a good team and when we”ve played good teams this season like Middletown and Fort Bragg we”re shutting down and not showing up,” Owens said.
St. Vincent led 16-0 after one quarter and 30-0 by halftime. Cullen Carroll rushed for a career-high 110 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Josh Wheless completed 14 of 20 passes for 192 yards and four TDs.
Kelseyville”s lone score came on a Nick Rodriguez 7-yard run in the third quarter. He finished with 45 yards on 11 carries. Troy Davis led the team with 48 yards on 15 carries.
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