VALLEJO —> Kelseyville High School senior fullback Sam Vanoven rushed for 209 yards and five touchdowns to power the Knights to a 48-30 upset of No. 3 seed St. Patrick-St. Vincent in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 7 football playoffs Friday night in Vallejo.
The victory moves the Knights, winners of five in a row, into the Division 7 semifinals next Friday against archrival Clear Lake, a 47-13 winner over Cloverdale in another first-round game. It’s a rematch of the Bass Bowl won 43-33 by Clear Lake back on Sept. 23 in Lakeport.
“If you set small goals you can achieve bigger goals,” Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen said of Kelseyville’s long road back from an 0-4 start to its season, including the loss to Clear Lake.
The Knights (6-5) have gone 6-1 since then and are looking forward to their rematch with the No. 2-seeded Cardinals (10-1) next Friday in Lakeport at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the Division 7 championship game either Nov. 25 or Nov. 26.
“It’s exciting for Lake County,” Larsen said. “We’re excited to have another opportunity to play Lakeport.”
Kelseyville, the No. 6 seed, watched a double-digit lead shrink to 34-30 late in the third quarter against St. Patrick-St. Vincent (8-2), largely because of turnovers that the host Bruins quickly turned into points.
But that’s as close as St. Patrick-St. Vincent would get. Kelseyville’s ball control offense dominated the game early and then again late as Vanoven and the offensive line played keep-away from the Bruins down the stretch.
“He took over the second half,” Larsen said of Vanoven. “He made our drives go. It was all him and the line.”
Vanoven scored twice in the fourth quarter on runs of 4 and 11 yards to seal the victory.
“We were able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Larsen said of one the big keys to the Knights’ victory. “Our offense controlled the ball and we were able to put a number of drives together.”
Sophomore running back Kyle Watkins added 153 rushing yards on 11 carries while quarterback Luke Watkins ran for one score and passed for another, throwing a touchdown to Joey Gentle. Overall the Knights rushed for 400 yards and had 515 yards of total offense.
Larsen said the Bruins battled to the end and never made it easy for the Knights.
“My hat’s off to them,” Larsen said. “They never gave up. It was clean, hard football on both sides.”
While Vanoven certainly was the star of the game for the Knights along with the member of the offensive line, the Knights received a critical, drive-sustaining 37-yard reception from tight end Jayden Teebo in the fourth quarter to set up their final touchdown, Vanoven scoring his fifth TD a few plays later to make it 48-30.
Anthony DeJohn’s 66-yard kickoff return in the third quarter set up another touchdown as Vanoven scored a short time later on a 3-yard run.
Vanoven’s first touchdown came on a 14-yard run midway through the first quarter. He also added the two-point conversion. Later in the quarter a 32-yard pass from Luke Watkins to Strong set up a 1-yard Watkins quarterback keeper for the score.
In the second quarter, Vanoven’s 4-yard touchdown run pushed Kelseyville’s lead to 20-12. The Knights scored again with only 3.5 seconds to go in the half on a 12-yard pass from Watkins to Gentle for a 28-12 halftime lead.
Among the defensive standouts for the Knights were Reme Strong (nine tackles), Vanoven (four tackles, three assists), and Ty Steely (four tackles, two assists).
McKinleyville, the No. 5 seed, upset No. 4 Willits 9-0 in another first-round game Friday night. McKinleyville draws the winner of Saturday’s first-round game between No. 1 St. Vincent and No. 8 Hoopa in the other semifinal game next weekend.
