LAKE COUNTY — When the Kelseyville Knights host the Middletown Mustangs on Friday night in the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division V football playoffs, a couple of thing are certain.
First, the loser is done for the season. Second, the winner might also be done for the season.
Because of several postponements in the Division V playoffs because of bad air quality caused by the Camp Fire in Butte County, there is no weekend remaining to play a championship game. The state playoffs begin on Dec. 7-8 and have already been pushed back a week.
What that means is the winner of the two Division V semifinals — either No. 1 seed Kelseyville (10-1) or No. 5 Middletown (9-3) on Friday night — and either No. 2 Salesian (7-4) or No. 3 Stellar Prep (4-6) on Saturday afternoon — will not square off for a final game as in past years. The team that moves on to the state playoffs will be determined by coin flip or head-to-head results, if applicable.
If Kelseyville and Salesian are the two semifinal winners, a coin flip will decide it. If its Kelseyville and Stellar Prep, Stellar Prep advances because of a 40-32 win over Kelseyville back in August. If its Middletown-Salesian or Middletown-Stellar Prep, a coin flip will decide it since those teams have not met this season.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights from Saturday’s quarterfinal-round action:
Statistics
Rushing — Adrian Villalobos ran for a team-best 183 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, of Kelseyville’s 40-21 victory over the Cloverdale Eagles. Teammate Jordi Lopez added 106 yards on only five carries after missing most of the game with a knee injury.
Passing — Kelseyville quarterback Adam Garcia completed only four passes against Cloverdale for 53 yards, but two of them were touchdowns.
Receiving — Kelseyville’s Zack Watkins had three catches for 30 yards, including TD receptions of 17 and 14 yards.
Defense
Feeling the heat — Kelseyville’s defensive line stepped up its game in the second half and began to pressure Cloverdale’s Shayne Turner, who was sacked four times.
Turnover battle — Kelseyville won that two to one. Both teams parlayed an opponent’s fumble into a touchdown.
This and that
Hard to stop ’em — Essentially minus their top two running backs, the Knights still amassed 442 yards of offense.
Out once, out twice — Kelseyville running back Jordi Lopez left the game with a knee injury in the first half, returned in the second half and aggravated the same injury and had to leave the game for good. Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen said following the game that the injury didn’t appear to be serious and Lopez would likely play against Middletown in the semifinals.
Rubber match — It’s the third straight season Kelseyville and Middletown have met in the Division V playoffs and the second consecutive year they’ve squared off in the semifinal round. Middletown prevailed 7-0 a year ago in Middletown after Kelseyville upset Middletown 14-12 in the quarterfinals in 2016, also at Middletown.
Here’s hoping they get new uniforms — Cloverdale’s numbers are hard to read at best, even up close.
Impressive to be sure — Facing a third-and-eight from the Kelseyville 19-yard line at a key point in the game, Kelseyville quarterback Alex Garcia gained 17 yards on a run up the middle, carrying half of Cloverdale’s defense on his back the final 15 yards.
The last time — The last time Kelseyville and Middletown played it was all Knights, 28-0, in a league game on Sept. 21 at Middletown.
