KELSEYVILLE — With Halloween just four days away, here’s something that should scare the hell out of any team that comes up against Kelseyville in the North Coast Section Division V playoffs.
On Friday night in Bass Bowl IX, the annual rivalry game between the Clear Lake Cardinals and the Knights, Kelseyville prevailed 44-0 even though a couple of its key players were missing. The Knights put the final touches on their North Central League I championship season by going undefeated — 7-0 — and they’ll take a nine-game winning streak and 9-1 overall record into the postseason, most likely as the No. 1 seed.
Running back Jordi Lopez and his backup, Dylan McAdon, both solid contributors to the team’s success this season, missed Friday’s game with injuries, but the Knights still dominated the Cardinals from late in the first quarter on.
“Once we get Jordi back, it brings back a whole new threat,” said Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen, who is 4-0 in Bass Bowl games since taking over the program in 2015.
Kelseyville’s winning streak in the Bass Bowl reached six games with their latest blowout win, which ended with a running clock for the first time in series history.
“This team is going to be hard to defend once we’re completely healthy,” Larsen said. “Teams are going to have to play us sideline to sideline. The potential is there for us to do real well, but we’ll have to work at it in practice. We need to keep working hard.”
Scarier yet is what Robert Chavez, junior running back and linebacker, did to the Cardinals on a shirt-sleeve Friday night. On offense, he rushed for 231 yards and four touchdowns, three of those scores coming in the second quarter on electric runs of 44, 60 and 31 yards that moved Kelseyville out to a 22-0 halftime lead.
While any number of complimentary adjectives would accurately describe the kind of night Chavez had, Larsen summed it up succinctly.
“He’s amazing.”
Added Larsen, “He’s a fighter in the middle and when he breaks into the clear he has a second gear.”
Chavez added a 21-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter as Kelseyville went up 36-0.
On defense, he was every bit as impressive, racking up a team-best 12 unassisted tackles, including two for losses, two assists, and two tipped passes.
The Cardinals (2-5, 2-8) made a little bit of noise early. After forcing Kelseyville to punt on its first possession of the game, they marched from their own 3-yard line to the Kelseyville 21 before the drive stalled on downs. When Kelseyville threatened on its next possession, the Clear Lake defense came up with a big stop of its own, Agustin Vega sacking Kelseyville quarterback Alex Garcia on a fourth-and-12 play from the Clear Lake 38. But that would be the end of any type warm and fuzzy feeling for the Cardinals.
Kelseyville forced another punt and was on the move when the first quarter ended. Two plays into the second quarter Chavez broke through the line virtually touched, put on a burst of speed and raced into the end zone. He then added the conversion run to make it 8-0.
Kelseyville’s defense forced punts on each of Clear Lake’s next two possessions and the Knights answered with touchdowns both times. The first was a 60-yard Chavez run as he shot through the middle and angled his way toward the Clear Lake sideline before reaching the end zone. The second, a Chavez 31-yard run, capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive that also included a Chavez 6-yard run on a fourth-and-six play to keep the ball in Kelseyville’s hands.
Clear Lake had an opportunity to score right before halftime thanks to a long kickoff return by Rodrigo Lupercio, but a short drive stalled on downs at the 7-yard line.
“We needed to be able to run the ball tonight but they handled us up front,” Clear Lake coach Mark Cory said. “Tonight they made us into a one-dimensional team and we’re not the type of team that is geared to pass the ball.”
Kelseyville’s defense limited Clear Lake to 64 yards on the ground and 146 yards overall.
“My guys on the defensive line really did a good job,” Larsen said of Liam Terrell, Bryan Carrillo, Javante Gregoire and Roman Aceves. “They were able to get some heat on their quarterback and the best pass defense is a good pass rush.”
Whatever the defensive line didn’t take care of, Kelseyville’s linebackers cleaned up. The secondary also got in its licks as both Adrian Villalobos and Zack Watkins intercepted passes.
Kelseyville followed up a 22-point second quarter with a 22-point third quarter that included a 5-yard touchdown run from quarterback Alex Garcia and a 60-yard TD run from Alex’s younger brother, Brandon.
Alex Garcia missed Kelseyville’s league-clinching 32-22 win over Willits the previous week because of a college visit, and his return to the lineup against Clear Lake gave the Knights one more weapon to work with, both as a runner (he had 28 yards on four carries) and as a passer (he was an efficient 10-for-13 for 62 yards throwing the football).
“We just weren’t good enough,” Cory said in summing up his team’s lopsided defeat, which marked the first time in league play this season the Cardinals have been blown out. “As a program right now we’re not at their level.”
Following the game Clear Lake’s coaches and underclassmen players took time to honor the team’s seniors.
“Those guys have had a good journey,” Cory said of his seniors. “This year it just didn’t happen, but they got to be there last year when we went 7-4 and turned the program around.”
Kelseyville’s seniors will have plenty to say about how many games they have remaining in their high school careers. Selected as the No. 1 seed Sunday in the North Coast Section Division V playoffs, the Knights will be at home as long as they keep on winning. They have a first-round bye on Nov. 2 and return to action Nov. 9-10 in the quarterfinals against an opponent to be determined. Kelseyville is chasing its first section title since 1982.
“It’s an exciting time to be a Kelseyville Knight,” Larsen said.
