FORT BRAGG >> The weather was far from tropical on Friday night in Fort Bragg, but the Kelseyville Knights did what they needed to do on the Mendocino County coast and that was beat the Timberwolves, 14-13, in the North Central League I and regular-season finale for both teams.
Kelseyville finishes league play at 6-1, its only loss a 7-6 decision to undefeated league champion Middletown, and in sole possession of second place in the final league standings.
In terms of facing and conquering adversity, this one had it all for the Knights, who won on the road in bad weather to end an 11-year losing streak to the Timberwolves.
“We finally got that Fort Bragg monkey off out backs,” Kelseyville coach Erick Larsen said of beating the Timberwolves, who ended the Knights’ season a year ago with a 20-7 win in the semifinal round of the playoffs.
Speaking of the playoffs, the Knights take a 7-2 overall overall into next weekend’s North Coast Section Division V tournament. They’ll learn on Sunday where they’ve been seeded in the field. Besides Middletown, Kelseyville’s only other loss this season was a 50-29 non-league decision to St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo, the team that will likely pull down the No. 1 seed in Division V.
“We can make a strong case for the No. 3 seed,” Larsen said. “We’re a young team that’s still learning about ourselves and the nice thing is we’re getting better every week.”
Light rain fell most of the game, creating a sloppy playing surface, according to Larsen.
“It’s good for us getting to play in those conditions. We missed some opportunities early in the game and that’s not what you want against a good team like Fort Bragg.”
Kelseyville’s defense didn’t allow a point in the game as Fort Bragg scored on a 55-yard interception return by Rylan Colobmi in the third quarter and a 82-yard kickoff return by Jason McCoard later in the same quarter.
Sandwiched between those two scores was a Robert Chavez 4-yard touchdown run. Chavez also ran in the conversion to give the Knights a shortlived 8-7 lead, but McCoard returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to put the Timberwolves back in front 13-8.
Kelseyville was on the move again late in the third quarter and quarterback Adam Garcia’s 8-yard keeper just 17 seconds into the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winning score.
The Knights’ defensive unit not only didn’t allow Fort Bragg to reach the end zone, but it forced five turnovers and staged a brilliant goal-line stand right before halftime, one that ended with the ball at the Kelseyville 2-yard line.
“That was a big-time defensive stop,” Larsen said.
The Knights finished with 174 yards of total offense, of which just 16 were through the air. Chavez led the team in rushing with 60 yards on 12 carries.
On defense, middle linebacker JD Prescott caused two fumbles and led the Knights in tackles with 11 solo stops and two assists. Zack Watkins intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble while Jon Vanderwall recovered a fumble and had a sack.
Kelseyville also won the junior varsity game 22-6.
