KELSEYVILLE — The Hamilton City Braves weren”t the team the Kelseyville Knights were expecting Friday night in Kelseyville.
“They were bigger and more physical than we saw on the game films,” Kelseyville coach Rob Ishihara said following a 42-10 loss in the Knights” season opener.
Hamilton City (1-2) was playing its third game of the season and entered play having been outscored 61-3 in its first two outings.
Minus starters James Green and Devin Baker, both All-Leaguers for the Knights last season, Kelseyville had an even bigger hill to climb. Green was out with a hamstring injury while Baker has the flu.
“We”re definitely undersized right now,” Ishihara said. “They just handled us physically.”
Hamilton City built a 35-3 lead in the first half, the Knights” only points coming on a Diego Barajas 44-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter.
Kelseyville scored its only touchdown with 3:55 left in the game on a 25-yard pass from John Mark Reagan to Dustin Thaxton.
Geno Poloni had 14 carries for 61 yards for the Knights and also caught one pass for 23 yards. Reagan completed 5 of 9 passes for 92 yards in his varsity debut. He was intercepted once.
Both teams turned the ball over twice. Thaxton intercepted a pass and Barajas recovered a fumble for the Knights.
“The kids gutted it out and played hard for four quarters,” Ishihara said.
Kelseyville tries again for its first win next Friday with a non-league game in Esparto.
