LAKE COUNTY >> The high school football season in Lake County is officially over following Kelseyville’s 20-7 loss to Fort Bragg in the North Coast Section Division V semifinals on Friday night at Timberwolf Stadium.
Trying to pull off an upset for the second week in a row, the Knights (9-4) were unable to overtake the Timberwolves (11-1) but did hang around until the very end. Fort Bragg, the No. 2 seed in the original Division V field, was probably happy to see No. 1 seed Berean Christian lose to No. 5 St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo in the other semifinal, if for no other reason than to get the section title game played at a neutral site closer to Fort Bragg’s house than St. Patrick/St. Vincent’s house, which is usually a fringe benefit of being a higher seed. But guess what?
Yep, the section is scheduling that championship game for Saturday night at Alhambra High School, making it nearly a home game for the Bruins (10-3), who are just 14 minutes and 21 miles away. And Fort Bragg? Well, the Timberwolves will be on the road for more than three hours and face a round trip of nearly 354 miles. If that’s a neutral site, Fort Bragg might be better off playing in Vallejo. After all, it’s closer.
The decision to hold the game so far away from the Mendocino County coast certainly didn’t sit well with the Timberwolves, but what’s a public school to do while floating through a shark-infested sea of private powerhouses?
Fort Bragg won the North Central League I with a 8-0 record this season. It has allowed just seven points in its first two playoff games, those seven being scored by the Knights midway through the fourth quarter on Friday. Kelseyville closed to 14-7 but couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick. Fort Bragg’s next possession bogged down at the Kelseyville 33-yard line but Timberwolf quarterback Lucas Triplett connected with his favorite wide receiver, Shane Giaccani, on a 33-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-five play to break the Knights’ back with two minutes remaining.
It was the second meeting between Fort Bragg and Kelseyville this season and both games were certainly the worth the price of admission. Fort Bragg also won the first meeting, 21-20, on Nov. 4 at Kelseyville in the league finale for both teams.
“Our goal was to be playing playoff-level football at the end and we achieved that,” Kelseyville coach Erick Larsen said while looking back on the 2016 season. “You always want to win, but I think we came out of the season as winners. It was a whole lot better than last season (3-7 in 2015).”
Here’s a look back at the highlights/lowlights and everything in between that was part of Week 13:
Statistics
Rushing — Dwayne Yiggins rushed for 76 yards on 14 carries and scored Kelseyville’s lone touchdown on a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Logan Barrick was the Knights’ next leading rusher with 25 yards on four carries.
Passing — With Fort Bragg filling the box with defenders in an attempt to stuff Kelseyville’s running game, Barrick had plenty of chances to hurt the Timberwolves up top. He went 8-for-27 for 72 yards.
Receiving — Gideon Turner had two catches for 31 yards and Scott Sanchez caught two passes for 24 yards.
Special teams
One chance, one point — Bryan Carillo converted his only extra-point kick for the Knights.
Defense
Lucky number six — Dwayne Yiggins intercepted a pass and also had a sack for Kelseyville. It was his Lake County-leading sixth interception of the season. Logan Barrick picked off another Fort Bragg pass and returned it 41 yards. Kyle Moore had a fumble recovery.
Turnover battle — Kelseyville beat Fort Bragg three to one, but it didn’t translate into a win like the week before against Middletown. Fort Bragg won the sack battle four to one.
This and that
What he did in 2016 — Kelseyville’s Dwayne Yiggins led the county in carries (217), rushing yards (1,397), rushing touchdowns (16), total touchdowns (20), points scored (128) and interceptions (six). Otherwise he had a pretty quiet year.
Good year — The last time Kelseyville won nine games in a season was 2000. While the Knights lose some key players to graduation, they also return a fair number of starters and also inherit a junior varsity team than went 9-1 and won the league.
And that’s that — The Week in Review column has been a Record-Bee staple for quite a few years now and it has been a fun way to honor the county’s players, teams and mostly positive sports happenings each week during the fall sports season. Thanks to all of you who have followed it down through the years, but it’s time to do something else now. As my favorite character from the hit show M*A*S*H said in his final line in the final episode of that long-running TV series (1972-1983), “Ladies and gentlemen take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.”
