KELSEYVILLE >> While high school sports are thoroughly unpredictable, here”s something you can count on tonight when the Clear Lake Cardinals play the Kelseyville Knights in Bass Bowl V at Kelseyville High School; the winner is going to reel in a boatload of momentum while the loser will be bailing water.
Both teams have won twice since the Bass Bowl series began in 2010. Clear Lake hosted each of the first four games because of league realignment and a structural defect with Kelseyville”s grandstands, long since corrected.
“It”s the first time we”re hosting the game and we”re pretty excited about it,” Kelseyville coach Mike McGuire said.
McGuire, a newcomer to the longstanding Kelseyville-Clear Lake rivalry, is 1-0 in Bass Bowl games after coaching the Knights to a 36-14 victory in 2013, his first season at the school. While he”s relatively new to the area, McGuire said he knows what the game means to his players, his coaches and the community.
As you probably guessed, it”s a big deal.
“It does mean that much to our community,” McGuire said. “It means a tremendous amount to our coaches who are (Kelseyville) graduates, to our players. There are a lot of reasons to be excited about this game.”
In other high school action involving Lake County teams on Week 8 of the regular season, all taking place under the lights tonight, Middletown (3-1 league, 5-2 overall) hosts Cloverdale (3-1, 5-2), Lower Lake (1-3, 3-4) visits Willits (1-3, 3-4), and Upper Lake (0-3, 0-7) travels to Tomales (2-1, 5-2).
Clear Lake at Kelseyville
Along with being traditional rivals, the Cardinals (0-4 league, 3-4 overall) and Knights (1-3, 4-3) should have plenty of motivation to win tonight”s showdown. For starters, both teams are trying to end losing streaks. Clear Lake has lost all four of its league games after a 3-0 preseason and Kelseyville is coming off ugly back-to-back losses to title contenders Fort Bragg and Middletown.
Both teams also remain alive for playoff berths in their respective North Coast Section divisions — Kelseyville in Division IV and Clear Lake in Division V.
“There are a lot of reasons to go out and play well,” McGuire said. “It”s our last regular-season home game, our senior night. And I think we”re a better team than we”ve shown in the last couple of games.”
The Knights have been beset with injuries this month, compounding the team”s woes in a 33-7 home loss to Fort Bragg two weeks ago and a 48-0 loss at Middletown last week, a game in which Kelseyville had seven starters out of action. All are expected to play tonight against Clear Lake, according to McGuire.
“All the kids are excited to play. When it”s the Bass Bowl, the kids find that little extra oomph to get them going,” McGuire said. “A rivalry is a rivalry. The kids have been talking about this game for a few weeks.”
As for the Knights” pursuit of an at-large berth in the Division IV playoffs, McGuire said his team needs to play well in each of its final three games to get back to the postseason for a second straight year.
“We”re not out of this thing,” McGuire said.
Clear Lake also played without seven starters a week ago against St. Helena. Even so, the Cardinals played their best league game to date, trailing by a single score or less most of the way before ultimately falling 20-8 to the undefeated Saints (4-0, 7-0).
Tonight”s winner gets to hoist the Bass Bowl trophy following the game. The winning team will also take a 3-2 series lead and secure rivalry bragging rights for another year.
It”s the first Bass Bowl appearance for Clear Lake coach Darin Brodnansky, who is more than ready to celebrate his first league win. If he doesn”t get that victory in tonight”s game, the schedule only gets tougher for the Cardinals, who return home next week to play Middletown before finishing up the regular season Nov. 7 in Fort Bragg.
Cloverdale at Middletown
Middletown and Cloverdale enter play tonight tied with Fort Bragg (3-1, 5-2) for second place in the league standings, one game behind St. Helena, which is on the road at Fort Bragg.
While the Mustangs need to take care of their own business first, they most certainly have a vested interest in the happenings on the Mendocino County coast.
If Middletown wins and if Fort Bragg upsets St. Helena, the three teams will be tied for first place with two weeks to go. If the league ends in a three-way tie, Middletown receives the league”s automatic playoff berth based on a number-draw tiebreaker held before the start of each season.
“We drew the low number,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said.
If Middletown and St. Helena end up as co-champs, the Saints get the nod based on head-to-head results.
“I think it”s going to be a good game,” Foltmer said of St. Helena-Fort Bragg. “The key is containing their (Saints”) quarterback. We weren”t able to do it.”
Before there can be any chance of a three-way tie, the Mustangs need to beat Cloverdale.
“They (Eagles) looked good against Lower Lake last week,” Foltmer said of Cloverdale”s 40-20 win. “They run an old version of the toss offense, pulling their guard, tackle, wing and even their quarterback. When that happens it”s a cluster in there. It basically becomes a scrum and it comes down to how well we combat the scrum.”
Middletown”s defense shut down Kelseyville a week ago and Foltmer is looking for another strong effort from his unit this week.
“Like I always say, they have to stop us on defense, too, and we”ve moved the ball pretty much against everybody we”ve played,” Foltmer said.
The Mustangs are not without their own bumps and bruises. Receiver/defensive back Brett Pike is out with a hip injury and receiver/defensive back Greg Devilbiss is doubtful with a knee injury.
“But for this point of the season, we”re a lot more fortunate than some other teams,” Foltmer said. “To win you need a little bit of skill and a little bit of luck.”
Lower Lake at Willits
With two of their final three games taking place away from Gordon Sadler Field, the Trojans are hoping to finally win one away from home, where they are 0-3 this season. Given that their final game of the regular season is Nov. 7 in Middletown, tonight might be their best chance to secure that elusive road victory.
“We don”t play well on the road, I”m not sure exactly why,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said. “We haven”t played a good game from start to finish on the road this season. It”s hard to explain but we have to figure it out.”
Playing well up front might be a good first step, according to Gaddy, who said the Trojans” line play hasn”t been consistent enough, home or away, to reach the level they”re seeking.
“We have to re-establish ourselves at the line of scrimmage,” Gaddy said.
Led by quarterback Isazah King, Lake County”s rushing leader with 1,027 yards, and running back James Clark, who moved into the backfield in Week 4 and has been solid contributor ever since, the Trojans are moving the ball on the ground and more than capable of putting points on the board in a hurry. Clark is averaging nearly 112 yards a game to King”s 147.
“It”s a tribute to his hard work both on the field and in the classroom,” Gaddy said of Clark”s success this season. “It just shows hard work pays off.”
Lower Lake has a few bumps and bruises but is otherwise in good shape as far as injuries go.
“We went through our injury bug,” Gaddy said.
On the importance of tonight”s game against the Wolverines, who are smarting after a 41-0 loss a week ago to rival Fort Bragg, Gaddy called it a must-win.
“We have to win in Willits,” he said.
Upper Lake at Tomales
The second half of Upper Lake”s NCL II schedule begins tonight in Tomales where the Cougars (0-3, 0-7) will once again be able to tap the talent they have at the junior varsity level because the Braves have no JV team.
Upper Lake pulled up a handful of JV players a week ago against Calistoga, which recently folded its JV program, and those players shined in a 23-12 loss to the Wildcats. In fact, call-up quarterback Nick Newcomb rushed for both of the Cougars” touchdowns against Calistoga, Upper Lake”s first points of the season.
“After reaching the end zone not once but twice last week against Calistoga, the Cougars are going into Tomales with a little more confidence in being able to cross the goal line,” Upper Lake coach Frank Gudmundson said.
“Newcomb, Andreas Santos, Cody Rybolt and Anthony Serrano provide us much-needed skills in certain positions,” Gudmundson said of his JV reinforcements.
The return last week of inside linebacker Isaiah McBee also helped the Cougars and he”ll be suiting up tonight against the Braves.
Tomales dominated the line of scrimmage in its 42-0 league-opening win over Upper Lake on Oct. 4 in Upper Lake.
“This game will be won on the ground and with all the offensive work this week we are expecting our line to move some players and open some holes for (running backs) Jesse Campanero, Nick Stith and Mike Di Andrea to run through,” Gudmundson said. “Now we will have to see how the players will handle the rain, mud wind and the drive to Tomales.”
With no JV game tonight, the kickoff for the varsity contest has been moved up to 6 p.m.
