KELSEYVILLE — The Willits Wolverines kept the Kelseyville Knights at arm’s length, in this case Jacob Arms’ length, to post a 28-6 varsity football victory during a Saturday afternoon North Central League I matinee at Kelseyville High School.
The game between the two teams was moved back from Friday night because of a shortage of officials in Lake County and took place before a PG&E power shut-off went into effect later that night, meaning there was power aplenty for the scoreboard and announcer’s booth.
Arms, a standout running back/defensive back for the Wolverines (4-2 league, 6-3 overall), was on the receiving end of a 32-yard touchdown pass just 10 seconds into the second quarter that gave the Wolverines, who were already leading 7-6, a 13-6 advantage. The score remained unchanged until late in the third quarter when Arms broke off a 38-yard touchdown run. The Wolverines added the two-point conversion run to go up 21-6.
Willits’ final touchdown came on 1-yard run with just 20.4 seconds left in the game.
Two of the Wolverines’ first three touchdowns came virtually gift wrapped courtesy of Kelseyville special teams, which had a bad day. Willits recovered a fumbled punt try in the end zone for a touchdown go grab a 7-0 lead at the 8:01 mark of the first quarter.
A 10-yard punt later in the game set up another Willits score.
“We gave them a number of short fields because our special teams didn’t do too well,” Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen said as the Knights fell to 1-5 in the league standings and 2-7 overall. “We gave them a couple of TDs.”
The line play of the Wolverines served them well on both sides of the line of scrimmage, but especially on defense as they bottled an explosive Kelseyville running game like no other team has been able to do this season. The Knights finished with a season-low 98 yards on 31 carries.
“My hat’s off to Willits,” Larsen said. “They did a really good job of controlling the line of scrimmage. They used blitzes and stunting in the first half to throw us off.”
Kelseyville went to an I-formation on offense in the second half and had better success moving the ball but still couldn’t find the end zone, even though they were able to work receivers free down the field.
“We missed a number of deep passes where we got behind their coverage,” Larsen said.
Kelseyville quarterback Cory Holt went 7-for-18 for 135 yards, more than half of that yardage total coming on an 80-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Garcia midway through the first quarter that cut the Willits lead to 7-6. The Knights went for the lead on the conversion but the run failed.
“It was a good defensive battle,” Larsen said. “Willits took advantage of our mistakes.”
The Wolverines didn’t commit a turnover as they remained tied with St. Helena for third place in the league standings.
Robert Chavez led the Knights on the ground with 42 rushing yards on 14 carries. On defense, the senior middle linebacker also led the team with 13 unassisted tackles. Garcia finished with two receptions for 105 yards.
Kelseyville hits the road Friday night to play Clear Lake (2-4, 3-6) in the annual Bass Bowl game. It’s the league and regular-season finale for both teams. Willits also faces its archrival on Friday night as it hosts Fort Bragg.
Willits defeated Kelseyville 28-23 in the junior varsity game.
