FORT BRAGG >> Dwayne Yiggins scored late in the fourth quarter to bring Kelseyville within a touchdown of Fort Bragg, but the Timberwolves worked some fourth down magic on their next possession to put away the Knights 20-7 in the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division V football playoffs on Friday night at Timberwolf Stadium.
Lucas Triplett’s 33-yard pass to wide receiver Shane Giaccani on a fourth-and-5 play with a little more than two minutes remaining secured the victory for the No. 2-seeded Timberwolves (11-1), who have allowed just one touchdown in their first two playoff games. They’ll play No. 5 seed St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo for the Division V championship a week from today at Alhambra High School at 7 p.m.. St. Patrick/St. Vincent (10-3) upset No. 1 seed Berean Christian 30-16 in Friday’s other semifinal.
The Triplett-go-Giaccani connection also accounted for a Timberwolf touchdown in the third quarter as Fort Bragg increased its lead to 14-0. Up to that point, the only other score came on fullback Trystin Strickland’s 1-yard run to cap the Timberwolves’ first possession of the game.
Kelseyville intercepted a pair of Triplett passes and the Knights also recovered a fumble late in the game to stay close. That fumble recovery by Kyle Moore set up a short Kelseyville drive that ended with Yiggins’ 10-yard run with 4:43 remaining. Bryan Carillo’s extra-point kick cut the Timberwolf advantage in half at 14-7.
The Knights attempted an onside kick when play resumed but the ball bounced right into the arms of a Fort Bragg player near midfield.
“We tried an onside kick but the ball didn’t bounce the way we wanted it to,” Kelseyville coach Erick Larsen said.
A short drive by the Timberwolves quickly petered out, leaving them facing a fourth-and-five from the Kelseyville 33-yard line. Too far away for a field goal, especially given the sloppy field conditions, and with little to gain from a punt, Fort Bragg went for it. Giaccani worked his way free behind the Kelseyville coverage and Triplett, as he has done all season, found him for the touchdown. Ten of Triplett’s 21 touchdowns passes this year have gone to the senior wideout, who topped 1,000 yards for the season in the win.
“They hit 5 (Giaccani’s uniform number) on a crossing route and we put no pressure on Triplett,” Larsen said of the game-clinching score.
While Kelseyville’s defense was able to bottle up Fort Bragg’s running game most of the night, especially up the middle, Triplett hurt the Knights on a couple of occasions by by breaking containment.
“They got outside a few times and Triplett scrambled a couple of times to hurt us,” Larsen said. “He did what an athlete like him is supposed to do.”
Kelseyville did win the turnover battle for the third straight playoff game. Yiggins and Logan Barrick both had interceptions to go along with Moore’s fumble recovery. The Knights coughed the ball up only once, that after Barrick was sacked and stripped of the ball. The Timberwolves got to Kelseyville’s quarterback four times whereas the Knights sacked Triplett only once.
The Knights (9-4) worked the ball into Fort Bragg territory a handful of times but it wasn’t until Moore’s fumble recovery midway through the fourth quarter that they finally reached the end zone.
Yiggins closed out a stellar senior season with 76 yards on 14 carries, including his 16th rushing touchdown and 20th TD overall of the season. He rushed for 1,397 yards overall this year.
“Yiggins did a great job running the ball all year,” Larsen said. “Great second effort. He broke the first tackle again and again. I’m proud of him for how far he’s come as a person and a player this season … the whole package.”
That pride extends to all of the Knights as well, according to Larsen.
“I’m proud of the boys because every time there was a downturn during the season, they came right back. Through the year we got better every game. The kids were fighters to the end,” Larsen said.
“Our goal was to be playing playoff-level football at the end and we achieved that. You always want to win, but I think we came out of this season as winners.
“It was a whole lot better than last season,” Larsen said of his 3-7 rookie campaign in 2015.
