KELSEYVILLE — Barring an eruption of Mount Konocti or some other natural disaster of Biblical proportions, the long-awaited Kelseyville vs. Cloverdale quarterfinal-round Division V football playoff game takes place Saturday night at Kelseyville High School. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
You remember the North Coast Section football playoffs, right?
The Kelseyville-Cloverdale game was originally scheduled for Nov. 9, one day after the Camp Fire broke out near Paradise and poured thick smoke throughout the north state and Bay Area. Air Quality Indexes (AQI) soared and fall sports playoffs were postponed or outright canceled. Kelseyville-Cloverdale was originally postponed until Nov. 12, then pushed back to Nov. 17, and then finally moved to Saturday. The first significant rainfall of the 2018-19 winter season began falling on Wednesday and continued into Friday, finally clearing areas of unhealthy smoke levels. Kelseyville’s AQI on Friday was 34 (good) compared to well over 151 (unhealthy) for the better part of two weeks.
“The kids are champing at the bit,” Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen said. “They’re like caged animals. They can’t wait to get out and play.”
Kelseyville hasn’t played in nearly a month, its last action being Oct. 26 at home against Clear Lake. The Knights (9-1), the No. 1 seed in Division V, originally received a first-round bye as did the No. 2 (Salesian) and No. 3 (Stellar Prep) seeds, who have quarterfinal-round games on Saturday as well. Waiting in the wings is No. 5 seed Middletown (9-3), which has already reached the semifinals with victories over St. Vincent in the opening round and Fort Bragg in the quarterfinals. Middletown’s win over St. Vincent took place on Nov. 3, before the Camp Fire broke out, and its semifinal win on Nov. 12 came in Fort Bragg where the air quality on the Mendocino County coast was in the moderate range.
Middletown plays the winner of Saturday’s Kelseyville-Cloverdale game in the semifinals the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at a site and time to be determined — at Kelseyville if Kelseyville beats Cloverdale, at Middletown if Cloverdale beats Kelseyville.
Cloverdale (7-4) has been off since a 31-12 first-round win over Arcata on Nov. 2 at Arcata, not quite as long as Kelseyville but a significant layoff in itself.
Larsen said whatever misfortune the Knights have suffered because of their long layoff is nothing compared to the absolute tragedy that has befallen the people of Paradise since the Nov. 8 firestorm leveled their town, killed 83 residents to date, and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, most of them homes.
“It’s a minor inconvenience compared to what those poor people are going through,” he said. “But I am looking forward to playing football and getting into some sort of rhythm again,” hed added.
The rainfall that greatly improved air quality around the state has also dampened the Kelseyville High School football field, but not to anything approaching a critical degree, according to Larsen.
“It’ll be fine,” he said. “Our maintenance people saw the rain coming and stopped watering the field a couple of days ahead of time. It’s in good shape.”
With no rain in the forecast for Saturday night, expect a slick field but otherwise dry conditions.
“Ball control and big plays on special teams are two things that always concern you in wet conditions,” Larsen said.
Kelseyville is healthy but will be without one of its significant weapons on both offense and defense. Junior running back/linebacker Robert Chavez is away on a family trip to Hawaii that was scheduled long ago.
While the Knights are stacked in the offensive backfield with the likes of running backs Jordi Lopez, Dylan McAdon and quarterback Adam Garcia, the loss of Chavez has a bigger effect on the Kelseyville defense, where he is the team’s leading tackler.
“We’ve had to move some people around,” Larsen said. “McAdon will move to outside linebacker and Chase (Larsen) will move to middle linebacker. We’re expecting kids to step up.
“I feel good about how we’re doing,” Larsen said. “The kids were energetic in our practices this week. I feel good about where we’re at.”
How will a long layoff affect the two teams?
Larsen said he can’t wait to find out.
“Whoever is able to maintain focus better we’ll come out of this in the best shape,” he added.
Other games
Salesian (6-4) hosts St. Helena (7-4) while Berean Christian (5-4) hosts Stellar Prep (3-6) in Saturday’s other quarterfinals, both set to kick off at 1 p.m.
