KELSEYVILLE — Saving their best effort for the final game of the season, the Kelseyville Knights turned in three strong quarters before succumbing to the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 28-7 in a North Central League North varsity football game on Friday night in Kelseyville.
It was the season finale for the Knights (1-3, 3-7), who took a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the second half, mounting a long scoring drive capped by Steven Grossner”s 4-yard run.
“We held them scoreless in the first half and then punched one in,” Kelseyville coach Thad Owens said.
The lead lasted only a few seconds as Jake Cimolino, Fort Bragg”s star running back, returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown.
“We gave up another big play,” Owen said of a trend that has hurt the Knights throughout the 2009 campaign.
Cimolino put the Timberwolves (3-1, 8-2) ahead to stay with a 65-yard run later in the third quarter. He added two more touchdowns runs in the fourth quarter — 1 yard and 37 yards.
“We played our best three quarters of the season in the first three quarters tonight,” Owens said. “It”s an indication of what this group is capable of and an indication of the direction we”re heading.”
Kelseyville fullback Morgan Nelson rushed for 125 of the Knight”s 258 yards on the ground, and Grossner added 90 on 21 carries.
The Knights turned the ball over only once.
“It says something about the way they played,” Owens said of the Knights. “We had a good blitz package set up and defensively we had a good game plan.”
The Timberwolves are headed to the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs next week as an at-large team and won”t know until Sunday who, when and where they”re playing.
“Jack came over and talked to our kids after the game,” Owens said of Fort Bragg coach Jack Moyer. “He was really impressed with how we played.”
Grossner led Kelsey-ville”s defense with 10 solo tackles and two assists.
