Bass Bowl XII in spotlight Friday night

Bass Bowl XII takes place Friday night between archrivals Kelseyville and Clear Lake high schools at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport. The annual rivalry game picked up the Bass Bowl moniker in 2010 and has been held every year since except 2020 when it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelseyville leads the series 7-4 but Clear Lake has won the last two meetings and brings a 3-0 record into this year's North Central League I opener between the two schools to Kelseyville's 0-3. Clear Lake's 53-6 win a year ago was the most lopsided in the series' history, topping the 44-0 margin Kelseyville won by in 2018, which is the last time the Knights brought home the Bass Bowl trophy. Clear Lake quarterback Jake Soderquist hands off to Hank Ollenberger during last year's Bass Bowl game. Both players return this year. (Photo courtesy of Trett Bishop) — Bass Bowl XII takes place Friday night between archrivals Kelseyville and Clear Lake high schools at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport. The annual rivalry game picked up the Bass Bowl moniker in 2010 and has been held every year since except 2020 when it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelseyville leads the series 7-4 but Clear Lake has won the last two meetings and brings a 3-0 record into this year’s North Central League I opener between the two schools to Kelseyville’s 0-3. Clear Lake’s 53-6 win a year ago was the most lopsided in the series’ history, topping the 44-0 margin Kelseyville won by in 2018, which is the last time the Knights brought home the Bass Bowl trophy. Clear Lake quarterback Jake Soderquist hands off to Hank Ollenberger during last year’s Bass Bowl game. Both players return this year. (Photo courtesy of Trett Bishop)

By Brian Sumpter | Lake County Record Bee

PUBLISHED: September 21, 2022 at 2:48 PM PDT

LAKEPORT — When Kelseyville High School reeled off six straight wins against Clear Lake in the annual Bass Bowl varsity football game between 2013-2018, many fans of the annual showdown between the county’s two archrivals wondered if the rivaly was gone.

Well, it’s back.

With a 37-30 win in 2019 and a 53-6 blowout victory last season after the game was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bass Ball trophy has been in Clear Lake’s possession ever since and the Cardinals, off to a 3-0 start this season, are gunning for a third straight victory on Friday night when the game visits Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.

Kelseyville (0-3) just missed its first win of the season a week ago in a 27-26 road loss to Sonoma Valley while Clear Lake rolled past Rio Vista 33-0 in Rio Vista.

Both teams have played challenging preseason schedules leading up to Friday’s showdown, which is also the North Central League I opener for both teams, putting added emphasis on the game.

While the Bass Bowl has produced a a handful of close games to date, most have been pretty lopsided. Among the most exciting games were Clear Lake’s 37-30 win in 2019, Kelseyville’s 11-8 victory in 2014, and Clear Lake’s 7-3 win in 2011, which was also the lowest scoring Bass Bowl of all time. The highest scoring game in terms of combined points scored was Clear Lake’s 43-26 win in 2012. The most points scored by a single team in the Bass Bowl’s history was the 53 put on the board by the Cardinals a year ago. The only shutout during the series was a 44-0 win by Kelseyville in 2018.

At one time the Bass Bowl marked every score by the two teams with the firing of a Civil War-era cannon, but it drew too many complaints from residents near the Lakeport and Kelseyville fields.

Action Friday night kicks off with the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity game to follow.