KELSEYVILLE >> High school teams, certainly public school teams, go through cycles as their talent level ebbs and flows. Good coaching can ease the downward cycles somewhat but not eliminate them.
At Kelseyville High School, the trend for the past decade has been mostly downward as the Knights have compiled only three winning seasons in the last decade (2006, 2010, 2013), and only one time in the last 10 years has Kelseyville posted a winning league record (2006). There have been a handful of first-round playoff games but nothing else. Only one time in the last 10 years have the Knights posted as many as seven wins in a season (2010).
While those numbers are not good news by any stretch of the imagination, it’s also fair to say Kelseyville hasn’t been awful with the exception of 1-9 seasons in 2007 and 2011.
Entering the 2016 campaign, which is head coach Erick Larsen’s second at the helm of the Knights, Kelseyville is looking to start a new trend. That the North Central League I has no clear favorite going into the season means that opportunity abounds not only for the Knights, but for all nine members of the league, including newcomer St. Vincent of Petaluma.
Kelseyville opened practice for the new season on Monday and its roster as of midweek stood at 20 players, a number that should grow in the coming weeks as players trickle in before the first day of school Sept. 6. There are plenty of familiar faces on the roster, including returning quarterback Logan Barrick, and some key contributors off last year’s junior varsity team. Kelseyville’s youth football program, the Chiefs, also continues to produce winning teams, which means help is in the pipeline.
The Knights play their first game on Sept. 2 at home against Healdsburg. Before that, they’ll participate in a county scrimmage on Aug. 19 at Gordon Sadler Field in Lower Lake.
