KELSEYVILLE >> Ready or not, the 2018 high school football season opens Friday night when Kelseyville High Schools hit the road to play Stellar Prep, a rematch of their 2017 opener won 8-0 by the Knights at Kelseyville.
“We’re still a few days behind schedule,” Kelseyville coach Erick Larsen said of the time the Knights lost during the height of the Mendocino Complex fires when practicing outside was impossible because of the poor air quality. “The kids have a real positive attitude.”
Those lost outside practices mean the Knights haven’t been able to cover all bases, especially on special teams.
“The receiving end of special teams is something that worries me,” Larsen said.
Even the task of picking all the starters has been made more difficult between the Knights had to drop out of the St. Helena scrimmage on Aug. 10 because their players didn’t have enough practices (10 are required) to participate.
“Without the scrimmage you don’t have a true litmus test to see the players in a game situation, to see how they react and respond,” Larsen said.
The scrimmage also allows coaches to make adjustments to their offense and defense under game-type conditions.
“I’m sure we’ll be changing up things as the game goes along (on Friday),” Larsen said.
Stellar Prep is coming off a 4-8 campaign in 2017 compared to Kelseyville’s 8-3 mark a year ago.
“They’re big up front, skilled and have a lot of athletes, just like last year,” Larsen said. “We’re expecting a similar gameplan from them.”
Last year’s meeting was dominated by defense. In fact, the first two of Kelseyville’s eight points came on a safety. The score remained 2-0 until Bryan Carrillo scored a short fourth-and-goal run in the third quarter to make it 8-0. Carrillo, who also starts at defensive end, won’t be available to the Knights in this year’s opener as he does not have the required 10 practices yet.
Stellar Prep threatened several times to reach the end zone a year ago, but Kelseyville’s defense was up to the task each time, stopping the Thunder on downs or forcing some huge turnovers.
“I’m feeling good about the offense,” Larsen said of this year’s rematch.
Kelseyville is the only Lake County school playing on what is referred to as zero week, which is the first weekend teams are allowed to play games. Most schools defer until the following weekend and such is the case for the remainder of Lake County’s schools. The only other action Friday has Middletown visiting Clear Lake for a scrimmage – what used to be the Lake County Scrimmage.
All five county schools will be in action the weekend of Aug. 24-25. Clear Lake hosts Colusa, Kelseyville returns home to play Berean Christian (Walnut Creek), Lower Lake travels to Carson City, Nevada, to play Carson High School, and Middletown visits Hercules on Aug. 24. On Aug. 25, Upper Lake opens its eight-man season at Virginia City, Nevada.
