KELSEYVILLE — In a game Kelseyville led from beginning to end, the Knights improved to 5-0 in the North Central League I varsity football standings on Friday night with a 48-14 rout of the Lower Lake Trojans at Gordon Sadler Field.
Kelseyville (5-0, 7-1) built a 14-0 lead before Lower Lake (0-5, 2-6) scored. The Knight then reeled off 28 unanswered points to go up 42-6.
The game ended with a running clock.
Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen said the Knights’ seventh straight victory was a team effort as both the offensive and defensive units did their job with few mistakes.
“I’d give the defense and eight out of 10 and the offense an eight out of 10,” Larsen said. “The defensive line did a nice job and the offensive line improved greatly getting on backers and maintaining their blocks.”
Larsen also gave high marks to the play of quarterback Alex Garcia and to running back/linebacker Robert Chavez.
“Robert played really well tonight. Alex did a nice job managing the game,” Larsen said.
Garcia’s younger brother, Brandon, a cornerback, also impressed.
“He locked down his side of the field. They tried to pick on the sophomore and he wasn’t having that,” Larsen said.
The Knights’ big night on offense came without star running back Jordi Lopez in the lineup. Diagnosed with a broken bone in his hand late Thursday, Lopez is likely out until the start of the North Coast Section playoffs the weekend of Nov. 2-3, according to Larsen.
While a loss like that would devastate many teams, the Knights have depth in the offensive backfield, especially with Adrian Villalobos back on the field after missing six weeks with a collar bone injury.
“I thought (Dylan) McAdon stepped up and did really well with that,” Larsen said of McAdon’s 155-yard night that featured 16 carries and a 52-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to cap the Knights’ scoring.
Only three Knights ran the ball and all of them were effective as they combined for 347 yards. Chavez finished with 134 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown while quarterback Garcia scored on three short runs while compiling 58 yards on seven carries.
Alex Garcia also had one of his better passing nights of the season, going 7-for-9 for 139 yards and two touchdowns – a 10-yarder to tight end Chase Larsen in the second quarter and a 33-yarder to Bryan Carrillo in the third quarter.
“Alex Garcia was on,” said Lower Lake assistant coach Ed Fuchs, who was filling in for head coach Justin Gaddy after his ejection from last week’s game against Willits. “He didn’t throw much, but when he did he found an open receiver. It was an excellent job by Alex Garcia.”
On a night when the Trojans retired the late Sean Barnett’s No. 60 jersey at halftime, Lower Lake quarterback Elijah Hernandez broke the Lake County single-season record for passing yardage. He needed 208 yards entering play to become the county’s all-time leader and he finished the game with 250 yards on 21-for-35 passing, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Darian James in the second quarter. Hernandez now has 2,239 yards, moving him past Clear Lake’s Alex Adams, who threw for 2,196 yards a year ago. With at least two more games remaining, the senior could approach 3,000 yards before the Trojans’ year is over.
Hernandez set the record without one of his favorite receivers in the Lower Lake lineup as Diego Gonzalez, along with teammate Cole Doud, were serving one-game suspensions for being ejected in the Willits loss.
Mistakes and bad luck continued to plague the Trojans, who had one touchdown called back on a penalty and another taken out of their arms in the end zone when Kelseyville’s Lukaz Molinero plucked a pass out of the hands of a Lower Lake receiver.
“They took away the deep ball and made us throw it underneath,” Fuchs said of the Kelseyville defense.
Lower Lake also scored on a 3-yard run by Jesus Betancourt in the fourth quarter.
The Trojans, now losers of five straight, return to action next Friday in Lakeport against Clear Lake (1-4, 1-6). Kelseyville also hits the road to play Willits (1-4, 1-6).
