LAKE COUNTY — If Clear Lake and Kelseyville win their first-round games Friday night at 7 p.m. in the North Coast Section Division 7 football playoffs, they’ll meet for a second time this season on Nov. 18 or 19 in the semifinal round.
Middletown (Division 7) and Upper Lake (eight-man) are also advancing to the sectional playoffs, both with first-round games Friday night at 7 p.m.
Division 7
North Central League I champion Clear Lake (9-1) pulled down the No. 2 in the Division 7 field behind No. 1 St. Vincent (10-0) of Petaluma. The Cardinals open at home against the seventh-seeded Cloverdale Eagles (6-4), the same team they beat 22-21 on Friday night to clinch the league title.
Kelseyville (5-5), a winner of four straight, drew the No. 6 seed and hits the road to play No. 3 St. Patrick-St. Vincent (9-1) of Vallejo, which is coming off a 28-20 loss to undefeated Saint Mary’s of Albany last weekend. Saint Mary’s (10-0) is the No. 1 seed in the Division 6 playoffs. Both St. Patrick-St. Vincent and Saint Mary’s beat Middletown early in the 2022 campaign. Saint Mary’s opened its season with a 7-0 win at Middletown on Aug. 26 while St. Patrick-St. Vincent defeated Middletown 26-20 on a last-second pass in Week 4.
The Clear Lake-Cloverdale and Kelseyville-St. Patrick-St. Vincent winners advance to the semifinals and will play at the home site of the highest surviving seed. Clear Lake beat Kelseyville 43-33 in the NCL I opener for both teams on Sept. 23 in Lakeport, the annual Bass Bowl game.
On the other half of the Division 7 bracket, St. Vincent is home Saturday afternoon to take on No. 8 seed Hoopa Valley (6-4) while No. 4 seed Willits (8-2) is home Friday to play No. 5 McKinleyville (6-4) in first-round action.
St. Vincent, Clear Lake, St. Patrick-St. Vincent, Cloverdale, McKinleyville and Hoopa Valley also participated in the Division 7 playoffs a year ago when St. Vincent went on to win the championship, including a come-from-behind 25-20 win over Clear Lake in the semifinals.
Semifinal winners on Nov. 18-19 advance to the Division 7 championship game Nov. 25-26. Section winners advance to the state regional playoffs Dec. 2-3. State championship games are Dec. 9-10.
Division 6
No. 6 seed Middletown hits the road Friday night to play No. 3 Justin-Siena (5-5), a familiar playoff foe for the Mustangs down through the years, in a first-round Division 6 game at Justin-Siena High School in Napa.
Middletown tied Willits and Kelseyville, both Division 7 playoff teams, for second place in the NCL I standings this season. The Mustangs won four of their final five after a 1-4 start.
Justin-Siena placed fifth in the seven-team Vine League this season. Both Middletown and Justin-Siena played one common opponent during the regular season, the St. Helena Saints. Justin-Siena fell 28-0 to St. Helena in the season opener for both teams while Middletown defeated St. Helena 20-7 last Friday night in Middletown to close out its regular season.
The Middletown-Justin-Siena winner advances to the semifinals Nov. 18-19 against the winner of a first-round game between No. 2 Moreau Catholic (7-3) and No. 7 Salesian (5-5). That game will be hosted by the highest surviving seed.
On the other half of the Division 6 bracket is No. 1 seed Saint Mary’s (10-0) of Albany, a 7-0 winner over Middletown in the season opener for both teams on Aug. 26 in Middletown. Saint Mary’s hosts Arcata (5-5) in first-round action. Another first-round game has No. 4 Pinole Valley (5-4) home against No. 5 Fortuna (4-6).
Semifinal winners Nov. 18-19 advance to the Division 6 championship game Nov. 25-26.
Eight-man playoffs
No. 4 seed Upper Lake (5-4) hosts No. 5 Calistoga (4-4-1) in a first-round game of the section’s eight-man football playoffs. It’s a rematch of an Oct. 8 NCL II game won 38-12 by Upper Lake at Upper Lake.
The Upper Lake-Calistoga winner draws the winner of another Friday first-round game between No. 1 seed Stuart Hall (6-2) of San Francisco and No. 8 Round Valley (6-3-1) of Covelo. Stuart Hall went undefeated in the NCL II standings this season, including a 32-16 win over Upper Lake.
The other half of the eight-man bracket has No. 7 seed Roseland University Prep (6-4) at No. 2 Branson (7-2) on Saturday, and No. 6 Tomales (6-4) at No. 3 South Fork (6-4) on Friday in first-round games.
Semifinal games are Nov. 18-19 at the home sites of the highest surviving seeds. The eight-man championship game is Nov. 25-26.
