KELSEYVILLE — Not even close. In a battle of mentor vs. student, it was the student ? by a rout.
Kelseyville quarterback Chris Aguon ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more, both to Michael Davis, to lead the Kelseyville Knights to a 60-18 trouncing of the Lower Lake Trojans in a North Central League I North varsity football game Friday night in Kelseyville.
The Knights, who led 25-12 at halftime, have won six in a row and are atop the North standings at 2-0. They”ll travel to Middletown (1-0, 6-1) next Friday in a game with serious league title implications for both teams. Middletown defeated Fort Bragg 38-14 on Friday night in Fort Bragg, handing the Timberwolves (1-1, 6-1) their first loss of the season.
Lower Lake drops to 0-2 in the North and 4-3 overall.
In a game matching former and longtime Kelseyville coach Stan Weiper against its current one, rookie skipper Rob Ishihara, it was Ishihara”s Knights who busted the game wide open in the second half.
“The turning point came early in the third quarter,” Ishihara said. “They (Trojans) were about to score but Mike Davis recovered a fumble and we drove down the field and scored.”
Aguon”s third rushing TD of the game, a 30-yard carry, boosted the Knights” lead to 33-12 as Aguon added the conversion run.
It was pretty much all Kelseyville after that. The Knights scored again on a Mike Allen run late in the third quarter and they added three insurance scores in the final period — an Aguon 21-yard pass to Davis, Garrett Huggins” fumble recovery in the end zone, and a Braiden Wayments 43-yard run.
Ishihara, a three-year starter at quarterback for Weiper back in the late 1990s at Kelseyville, watched the Knights overpower the Trojans in every conceivable way. Kelseyville rolled up 513 yards of offense and did not commit a turnover. On defense, the Knights forced five turnovers, including a Davis 82-yard interception return that set up a Kelseyville score.
The game was tied at 6 and at 12 before an Allen 5-yard run in the second quarter put the Knights ahead to stay at 18-12. They struck again with 1:33 left in the half on a 48-yard pass from Aguon to Davis.
“I”m very happy with the way this season has gone,” Ishihara said. “The kids love to play and they love to play hard. We are wearing teams down in the second half and that”s what has gotten us over the hump.”
Nick Rodrigues led the Kelseyville rushing attack with 136 yards on 12 carries and Aguon also topped 100 — 102 yards on eight carries. He also completed 3 of 6 passes for 90 yards, all to Davis.
