LAKE COUNTY >> It’s a weekend of some consequence on the Lake County high school sports scene. While basketball and wrestling are about to embark on a new season, the fall sports playoffs are well underway and continue today in football and cross country. The stakes are high all the way around.
Close to home, the Kelseyville Knights (8-3) visit the Middletown Mustangs (7-3) tonight at 7 p.m. in a quarterfinal-round game of the North Coast Section Division V football tournament at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown. The winner moves on to next week’s semifinal round and will play No. 2 seed Fort Bragg on Nov. 26 in Fort Bragg at 7 p.m.
Fort Bragg routed Ferndale 35-0 in one of two Division V quarterfinal-round games on Friday night. Also on Friday, No. 1 seed Berean Christian defeated No. 8 California School for the Deaf 49-22.
Kelseyville and Middletown are meeting in the playoffs for the first time since 1999 when Middletown defeated Kelseyville 17-7 in the old North Coast Section Class A championship game at Kelseyville High School. They are playing for the second time this season after the Mustangs’ 40-8 victory on Sept. 16 in Middletown, the league opener for both schools.
By the time Kelseyville and Middletown kick off at Bill Foltmer Field, Kelseyville cross country runner Andre Williams III will know if he’s a state qualifier. Williams runs at 9 a.m. today in the Division V boys race at the NCS Cross Country Championships at Hayward High School. If he finishes in the top five among runners who are not members of the top five scoring teams (those teams and all of their runners automatically advance to state), he will advance to the CIF State Championships on Nov. 26 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Lake County’s last male state qualifier was Lower Lake’s Mike Perez in 2005. Julia Malvino of Middletown also qualified that year.
Williams is coming off a win at the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships on Nov. 9 at the Cache Creek Winery course in Clearlake Oaks. He is the first Kelseyville boy to win that race since 1997.
Based on season-best times posted by Williams and other top runners in Division V, Williams’ chances of reaching state are pretty good. As a sophomore, he would be the youngest Lake County runner ever to reach the state championships.
Top-seven finishers in all 10 of the races (Division I-V for boys and girls) held today receive section medals as do team members on the top three teams in each division.
Williams isn’t the only Lake County runner entered in today’s NCS meet. Several of his teammates as well as runners from other county schools, most notably Middletown, are also taking part.
