KELSEYVILLE >> The Kelseyville Knights were about to put away the Willits Wolverines midway through the fourth quarter on Saturday night when a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown changed everything.
Fortunately for the Knights, that long pick-six by Willits’ Jacob Arms only made things more interesting as Kelseyville held on for a 20-14 victory in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division V playoffs at Kelseyville High School.
The Knights’ nail-biter win sets up a playoff rematch with Middletown (9-1) next Friday at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown. A year ago the Knights upset the Mustangs 14-12 in the quarterfinals. Whoever wins this year’s semifinal game advances to the Division V championship the weekend of Dec. 1-2 and will play the winner of next Saturday’s other semifinal between No. 1 seed and defending section champion St. Patrick/St. Vincent and Clear Lake.
“I have to hand it to Willits, they finished the season strong,” Kelseyville coach Erick Larsen said of the Wolverines (2-9) , the No. 11 playoff seed that upset Fort Bragg in a first-round game last week. “I”m not going to take anything away from them because they played their butts off. They played their best games at the end of the season.”
Kelseyville (8-2), the No. 3 seed, appeared on its way to an easy win with a 20-0 halftime lead. The Knights had a 14-0 lead after one quarter as Adrian Villalobos scored on a 10-yard run and quarterback Alex Garcia added a 1-yard touchdown run. Garcia’s 8-yard TD pass to Zack Watkins midway through the second quarter made 20-0.
It remained that way until the opening seconds of the fourth quarter when Willits, taking advantage of a short field and aided by a 15-yard penalty on Kelseyville, scored its lone offensive touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Keegan Reed to Triston Martin.
Kelseyville answered with a drive of its own and was poised at the Willits 2-yard line when disaster struck.
“We’re about ready to go up 27-7 and before you know it’s 20-14,” Larsen said. “It was supposed to be a dump pass to the tight end but their No. 20 (Jacob Arms) read it perfectly and made one heck of a play.”
The long interception return by Arms made it a six-point game with 5:15 remaining.
Kelseyville’s defense answered the call, twice recovering fumbles – one each by Villalobos and J.D. Prescott – to stop Willits drives in the closing minutes.
“I’m really proud of the way our defense played,” Larsen said.
Prescott, in addition to his fumble recovery, led the Knights with seven solo tackles and five assists. Robert Chavez added six tackles and two assists while Jordy Lopez had four tackles, including a sack. Villalobos also had an interception to go along with a fumble recovery.
On offense, the Knights moved the ball with ease through the first half but had a much tougher time solving the Willits defense during the second half.
“Willits changed up what they were doing up front and shut us down,” Larsen said.
Garcia completed 8 of 19 passes for 155 yards with two interceptions and the touchdown. Villalobos was as active on offense as he was on defense for the Knights as he rushed for 55 yards and caught two passes for 43 yards.
While it wasn’t his team’s prettiest win of the season, Larsen said style points don’t count at this time of year.
“At the end of the day you either put it in gear and move forward or you put it in park and are done,” Larsen said. “We’re moving on.”
