Last two undefeated teams in NCL I square off Friday night in Lakeport
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKE COUNTY >> Two undefeated teams enter Don Owens Stadium on Friday night in Lakeport, but only one will leave.
The Kelseyville Knights (4-0 league, 5-1 overall) host the Willits Wolverines (5-0, 6-1 overall) at their surrogate home in 2024 as their own field undergoes renovations. Kelseyville won’t be at full strength for the third week in a row, but that hasn’t been a problem, at least not so far, for head coach Leo Flores’ squad.
Kelseyville, a winner of four straight to Willits’ five in a row, will be without wide receiver Reme Strong (shoulder) and running back Bryce Keener (hamstring) while running back Kyle Watkins (ankle) is doubtful. The less-than-desirable injury report didn’t stop the Knights from beating Cloverdale 41-8 on Sept. 27 in Cloverdale, then following a bye week Oct. 4 Kelseyville rolled past Upper Lake 27-6 last weekend in Upper Lake.
Kelseyville and Willits have plenty of recent history. They met twice a year ago, both times at Willits, the Wolverines winning a 20-18 regular-season thriller before blowing out the Knights 31-7 in the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division 7 playoffs. That’s probably enough motivation right there for the Knights to want to win Friday’s meeting, but another is possible homefield advantage should they meet in the playoffs again this year.
Willits has won the last five meetings with Kelseyville, the last Knights victory a 32-22 win at Willits in 2018. Kelseyville went undefeated in league play that year (7-0).
While the Knights have been hard hit by injury at running back this season – the projected starting backfield of Max Hommer (out for the season with a broken collar bone) and Watkins played just part of one game together – they’ve certainly found a diamond in the rough in the form of junior Michael DeJohn. He’s not only leading the Knights in rushing through six games with 687 yards and seven rushing TDs, but he’s second on the team in receiving with 17 catches for 244 yards and two TDs – and he’s just 10 yards behind team leader Strong.
Starting quarterback Brock Barrick is quietly having a big season as well with 902 passing yards and a 69-percent completion average. The senior is also playing a more active role in the Knights’ running game this season and his legs could make a difference Friday night against the Wolverines.
Kelseyville’s powerful offensive and defensive lines have played a huge role in the Knights’ success and they face perhaps their biggest test against the Wolverines, who dominated up front during last year’s playoff blowout at Willits.
A week ago against Upper Lake the Knights didn’t give up a first down in the second half while allowing the Cougars only one yard of total offense.
In other Week 8 games involving Lake County teams this week:
Clear Lake at St. Helena (Thursday night)
Coming off their first win of the season, a 29-27 thriller over Lower Lake last week in Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals (1-3 league, 1-5 overall) won’t be winning a third straight league title this season but can spoil St. Helena’s title chances with an upset victory at St. Helena High School.
The Saints (3-1 league, 3-3 overall) enter play just one game behind Willits and Kelseyville in the loss column. A fourth straight win by the Saints will allow them to keep pace with the Kelseyville-Willits winner. St. Helena will likely be pulling for Kelseyville since it still has a game remaining against the Knights – Nov. 8 in Lakeport. St. Helena nearly got Willits in the league opener for both teams, falling 20-14 at Willits where the game ended with the Saints just yards away from the end zone.
St. Helena has been involved in several close games this season, beating Middletown 9-7 last week in Middletown, and defeating Lower Lake 43-37 in overtime on Oct. 4 in Lower Lake (a game the Saints lead 34-0 early on). The Saints also lost 20-17 to Justin-Siena in their season opener at St. Helena.
Fort Bragg at Upper Lake (Friday night)
Fort Bragg (2-2 league, 3-3 overall) is coming off a bye week while the Upper Lake Cougars (3-2, 4-3) are coming off a 27-6 loss to Kelseyville. The Cougars can guarantee themselves no worse than a .500 record – both in league and overall – with a victory against the Timberwolves, which would make them playoff eligible. The last time the Cougars reached the postseason as a member of the NCL I was 1992 when they won the old Class A section title.
Upper Lake’s offense had almost no success moving the ball against Kelseyville’s defense a week ago and will have to do a much better job against Fort Bragg. However, there is plenty of reason for optimism as the Cougars, prior to running into the Knights, experienced a fair share of success both on the ground, led by Delaney Allison and Jon Barnes, and through the air, led by quarterback Jerod Rosales, while averaging 28 points in their previous five games.
Cloverdale at Middletown (Friday night)
Middletown (1-3, 2-4) has been limited to seven points in each of its last two league games – a 9-7 loss to St. Helena last week and a 14-7 setback at Willits the previous week. The Mustangs played both games minus starting quarterback Blake Costlow (broken foot) and backup quarterback/wide receiver Jon Hawkins (wrist).
Cloverdale (0-5, 1-6) may be just the tonic Middletown needs to get back into the win column. The Mustangs own an eight-game winning streak against the Eagles, including a 36-29 win at Cloverdale in 2022, the 300th win of head coach Bill Foltmer’s career.
Last year’s meeting was all Middletown, 42-0.
Cloverdale is the second-to-last regular-season home game for the Mustangs this year, Foltmer’s 40th and final season with the Mustangs. Middletown hits the road the next two weeks to play Fort Bragg (Oct. 25) and Lower Lake (Nov. 1) before returning home Nov. 8 against Upper Lake.
The Mustangs are going to need a strong finish to qualify for the postseason and extend Foltmer’s stay on the sidelines by at least another week.
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