KELSEYVILLE >> The South Fork Cubs don’t have to play another North Central League I team this season … and that’s a good thing.
After losing 35-0 to Clear Lake on Sept. 2 in Lakeport, the Cubs returned to Lake County on Friday night where they made the perfect homecoming opponent for a Knights team plenty upset about its performance a week earlier in a 40-8 loss to Middletown.
The end result?
Yep, you guessed it. Kelseyville took out a bit of frustration while efficiently going about its business in a 46-7 victory that moves the Knights to 3-1 on the season and matches their win total from last season, head coach Erick Larsen’s first with the team.
Larsen emphasized going into Friday’s action that he not only wanted to win the game, but also see improvement in the process. Asked if he was satisfied with his team’s performance, Larsen nodded in the affirmative.
“We’ll know more when we see the film. The film will tell the real story, but I was pleased with how we played,” Larsen said.
South Fork (0-4) at least made it through all four quarters this time around against a Lake County opponent. In their loss to the Cardinals earlier this season, the game was stopped early in the third quarter because the Cubs were running out of players due to injuries. South Fork lost another player in this one — he was taken away by ambulance — but Kelseyville also saw two starters — lineman Jorge Carillo (leg) and running back Patrick Mick (elbow) — go down, the severity of their injuries unknown as of press time.
“Losing them would affect our depth,” Larsen said.
Kelseyville scored TDs on all five of its possessions in the first half, including a pair of rushing scores from do-everything running back Dwayne Yiggins, who not only ran 31 and 16 yards for TDs in the first half but intercepted a pass that led to 41-yard touchdown toss from Logan Barrick to Ean Valenzuela. Yiggins also returned a punt 50 yards for another score to give the Knights a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter.
The Knights added yet another touchdown in the closing stages of the first half thanks to an Aaron Teal interception. Santiago Olea’s 5-yard run made it 40-0.
Mick’s 16-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter put Kelseyville ahead to stay at 6-0. The Knights led 14-0 at the end of the opening period.
Reserves played the entire second half for the Knights.
“It was a good game for building depth,” Larsen said.
The Knights tallied their final six points on Teal’s 4-yard midway through the third quarter.
“That was his first high school touchdown and his first high school interception,” Larsen said of Teal’s pick in the second quarter.
Kelseyville finished with 314 yards of total offense. South Fork gained just 23 net yards in the first half against the Knights’ first-team defense. The Cubs picked up only two first downs and never moved the ball into Kelseyville territory.
The Knights resume their North Central League I schedule next week when they travel to Cloverdale.
