Kelseyville can secure league title with wins in final two games
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LAKE COUNTY >> Three teams remain in play for the North Central League I varsity football title with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Kelseyville (6-0 league, 7-1 overall), Willits (6-1, 7-2) and St. Helena (5-1, 5-3) are those three teams following Week 9 games. While Kelseyville routed Lower Lake 42-8 and St. Helena won by forfeit over St. Helena, Willits had a major fight on its hands to get past Clear Lake (1-5, 1-7) in a 46-39, final-second win at Lakeport.
The title picture should be a lot clearer after Week 10. Kelseyville travels to Lakeport to play Clear Lake in Bass Bowl XIV, Willits returns home to take on Upper Lake (3-3, 4-4), and Fort Bragg (4-2, 5-3) plays at St. Helena. Willits has a bye in Week 11, so the Wolverines close out their regular season this Friday against the Cougars. If Kelseyville, Willits and St. Helena all win, the Nov. 8 games of Week 11 will decide it, with the potential for a three-way tie if St. Helena can upset Kelseyville at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport. If the Knights beat Clear Lake and St. Helena in their final two games, they’ll be the undisputed champions.
Week 9 produced one of the more interesting games of the 2024 NCL I season as Clear Lake and Willits combined for 880 passing yards and 1,062 yards of total offense in their shootout in Lakeport. Willits senior splitback Kolbe Bufardeci caught 19 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns. Clear Lake’s Jace Beard had himself a game, too, with 10 catches for 181 yards and two TDs.
As for the quarterbacks, Corey Rockey of Willits and AJ Bruch of Clear Lake passed for 464 and 335 yards, respectively. They weren’t the only two players to throw touchdown passes as Clear Lake running back Zane McAuely completed a halfback option pass for a score.
Here’s a look back at the Week 9 games:
Statistics
Rushing – Middletown’s Tyler Galamay rushed for 161 yards and a touchdown while backfield mate Trenton Griffith added 120 yards and three scores in a 37-26 loss to Fort Bragg. Kelseyville’s Michael DeJohn finished with 107 yards and a TD against Lower Lake. Clear Lake’s Zane McAuley had a busy night on offense for the Cardinals, including 19 carries for 62 yards and a TD against Willits.
Passing – Clear Lake’s AJ Bruch completed 25 of 43 passes for 335 yards and four TDs, but also threw three interceptions that led to 10 Willits points. Kelseyville’s Brock Barrick was 9-for-12 for 121 yards and one touchdown. Middletown’s Kolton Costlow was 3-for-5 for 53 yards at Fort Bragg.
Receiving – Clear Lake’s Jace Beard and Adrian Truby combined for 14 catches for 276 yards and five touchdowns. Kelseyville’s Kyle Watkins had six catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Middletown’s Trenton Griffith had two catches for 40 yards.
Special teams
All the way back – Lower Lake’s Zakai Vilmenay returned the opening kickoff against Kelseyville 85 yards for a touchdown as the Trojans had an 8-0 lead just 13 seconds into their game with the Knights.
Kicking – Kelseyville’s Jose Juarez was 4-for-5 on extra-point tries against Lower Lake. Clear Lake kicker Nolan Ewing made his first three extra points against Willits but had the next two blocked. Willits kicker Damien Reiter went 5-for-5 on PATs and also made a 25-yard field goal against Clear Lake.
Defense
Pick 6 – Kelseyville’s Michael DeJohn snapped an 8-8 in the first quarter against Lower Lake with a pick-six interception that went 40 yards. It was one of four interceptions by the Knights – Adrian Garcia, River Calhoun and Hugh O’Boyle had the others.
Even dozen – Middletown junior varsity player Brody Costlow was in on 12 tackles and also recovered a fumble as the Mustangs remained perfect (8-0) on the season by rallying for a 28-24 win at Fort Bragg.
Tackle leaders – Middletown’s Jacob Pullman and Saul Garcia were in on nine and eight tackles, respectively, in the varsity’s loss at Fort Bragg. Michael DeJohn and Adrian Garcia led the Knights with nine total tackles against Lower Lake.
Unofficial shutout – While Lower Lake did score eight points against Kelseyville on Friday night in Lower Lake, the Kelseyville defense still shut out the Lower Lake offense.
Single digits – Kelseyville has held three of its league opponents to eight or fewer points this season.
Miscellaneous
Streaks – Kelseyville has won six straight and Fort Bragg three in a row. Trending in the other direction is Lower Lake with five straight losses.
JV title situation – If Middletown, 6-0 in league play, wins at Lower Lake this coming Friday, the Mustangs clinch no worse than a league championship. If Kelseyville (5-1) also loses this weekend, Middletown would secure the undisputed league crown.
Filling the stat sheet – Clear Lake’s Zane McAuley rushed for 62 yards and a TD, passed for 31 and a TD, and had six receptions for 25 yards.
Congrats – To the Kelseyville and Middletown varsity volleyball teams for qualifying for the North Coast Section playoffs. Kelseyville is home Tuesday against San Lorenzo in the opening round of the Division 3 playoffs while Middletown is on the road Wednesday against Urban (San Francisco) in the Division 4 playoffs.
It’s a big one – Middletown’s boys soccer team needs a win at home against Lower Lake in the league finale for both teams to guarantee itself no worse than a tie for the NCL I championship. Middletown is 7-1-1 and Lower Lake 7-2. Fort Bragg (7-1-1) enters Tuesday’s action tied with Middletown for first place. Fort Bragg plays at Willits on Tuesday.
Youth football – Lower Lake plays Westshore for the pee wee championship, Middletown and Sonoma square off for the junior varsity championship, and Middletown and Lower Lake collide in the varsity championship game next Saturday at Upper Lake High School as the Mendo-Lake Empire Youth Football League season wraps up. Kickoff times are 3:30 p.m. (pee wee), 5:30 p.m. (JV) and 7:30 p.m. (varsity).
Starting up – Lake County basketball, wrestling and winter soccer squads officially open their season Monday with the first day of practice.
Send us those photos – Got a great photo of Middletown High School varsity football coach Bill Foltmer? If you do, please email it to briansumptermail@gmail.com so that we can use it in a project we are working on. The older the better.
Bass Bowl – Kelseyville visits Clear Lake in Lakeport for Bass Bowl XIV on Friday night. Both teams are using Don Owens Stadium as their homefield this season. Just as a sidenote, the Kelseyville-Clear Lake series has been around long before the artificial creation that is the Bass Bowl started up in 2010. In fact, many of the best games between the two schools happened well before the Bass Bowl was born.
Milestone – Kelseyville’s Brock Barrick topped 1,000 passing yards for the season against Lower Lake. He has 1,053 yards, eight touchdowns and only three interceptions. Kelseyville running back Michael DeJohn is closing in on 1,000 yards rushing with a team-leading 917. He also leads the team in receiving yards with 263.
Yep, didn’t get any – Lower Lake rushing, passing or receiving stats. Maybe next week.
Predictions – Lake County Sports will have a full set of can’t-miss predictions for the 2024 election on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Sponsors – Glowing Smiles Dental Hygiene of Lakeport is sponsoring the All-County volleyball team for the second year in a row. The team will be announced in December. Also returning as an All-County sponsor is the Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, which will once against sponsor the All-County football team, also coming in December. Your sponsorship is greatly appreciated and makes possible the awards the All-County team members will receive.
