NAPA >> The Justin-Siena Braves made the Kelseyville Knights pay for their mistakes in the first half while rolling to a 42-0 win in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs on Friday night at Justin-Siena High School in Napa.
While the Kelseyville defense played well enough in the first quarter to keep the game semi-competitive, the Knights” offense and special teams certainly didn”t help the situation. Kelseyville lost a fumble deep in its own territory to set up Justin-Siena”s first score, then after Kelseyville”s defense held on the next Braves possession, Justin-Siena returned a punt for a touchdown.
The Braves pushed their lead to 21-0 by quarter”s end, using an interception to set up a short scoring drive.
“The defense played a good game in the first quarter, but given the situation we kept putting them, it”s hard to operate that way,” Kelseyville coach Mike McGuire said.
Justin-Siena added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to open up a 35-0 halftime lead.
“Justin-Siena reminds me a lot of St. Helena,” McGuire said of the North Central League I co-champs this season. “A few teams in our league could have given them a better run for their money, that”s for sure.”
Kelseyville promoted a handful of junior varsity players for the game and their varsity initiation was a tough one, according to McGuire.
“A lot of kids playing in a varsity game for the time ? that”s a pretty tough way to start your varsity career,” McGuire said. “But they played hard and I”m proud of them for that.”
After going 6-5 and losing in the first round of the playoffs a year ago in his initial season as head coach, McGuire was expecting his 2014 club to do even better, but it never happened. After a 3-0 start in the preseason, the Knights managed just a 2-5 mark in the North Central League I.
Injuries hurt the team early in its league schedule but McGuire said the team”s work ethic needs to improve next year.
“Too much work during the year to have that kind of result,” he said of the team”s final record of 5-6.
Justin-Siena, the No. 3 seed in the Division IV playoff field, advances to next weekend”s quarterfinal round and will host the winner of today”s first-round game between Fortuna and Piner.
