Longtime football, basketball coach joining school’s new Hall of Fame
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKE COUNTY >> It’s a good bet that if you polled Upper Lake High School students and asked them to identify Craig Kinser, you would get more blank stares than anything else. How times have changed.
Kinser, who coached many of these same students’ parents and was a fixture at the school from the mid-1970s until just after the turn of the century, is being inducted into Upper Lake’s new Hall of Fame, its first and only inductee this year. No Upper Lake coach has experienced more regular-season or postseason success than Kinser, who led the Cougars to their last section title in football (1992) and was the head coach of a girls basketball team that is responsible for those three jerseys under glass high up on the gym wall – the retired numbers of Laura Wilder, Jennifer Bryant and Annie Pivniska (Petrie), the school’s current principal.
Whenever Upper Lake gets around to naming its football/soccer field, this Is the guy it should be named after, and to debate that would be a pointless exercise. Kinser was part of the golden era of football in Lake County when he battled the likes of Gordon Sadler (Lower Lake), Stan Weiper (Kelseyville) and a bit later on, Bill Foltmer (Middletown).
Upper Lake hasn’t come close to approaching the success Kinser enjoyed on the gridiron since his departure. There have been a few good years since then, but you could count them on one hand.
Kinser returns to the spotlight this weekend when he will be introduced Friday night at halftime of Upper Lake’s home game against Lower Lake. A day later he will be formally inducted during a special dinner/celebration at the Twin Fir Ranch outside of Upper Lake. It would be a nice touch if this year’s Cougars (0-5 league, 0-7 overall) could get their first win in honor of their former coach, but that’s a big if.
Although Kinser was coaching a full decade before this reporter arrived on the Lake County sports scene – I was still in junior high when he started at Upper Lake – some of my favorite memories of working the Lake County Record-Bee sports beat (1984-2023) involve Kinser-coached teams. For starters, he is the only coach in all that time to win two section titles in the same sports season. In 1992-93, he guided the football team to a Class A championship and the girls basketball team to a Division 5 title.
In football, he guided the Cougars to three section titles – 1980 (Class B), 1987 (Class A) and 1992 (Class A). During a four-season run with Lady Cougars basketball between1990-94, the Wilder-Bryant-Pivniska teams won three league titles, three section crowns and made two appearances in the NorCal championship game, which is just one game shy of the state championship game. No team in any Lake County sport has come close to achieving something like that kind of success since.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights from Week 7:
Statistics
Rushing – Middletown sophomore Tyler Galamay rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns in a 52-6 win over Kelseyville while backfield mate Trenton Griffith added 74 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. Michael DeJohn led the Knights with 72 yards and a touchdown, followed by teammate Andrew Souza with 50 yards on nine carries.
Passing – Middletown senior quarterback Blake Costlow had another big outing, going 8-for-9 for 151 yards and three touchdowns.
Receiving – Middletown senior wide receiver Jon Hawkins caught three passes – all of them touchdowns – for 74 total yards against Kelseyville. His teammate, Hayden Xavier, had two catcher for 47 yards. Kelseyville’s Brayton Thomas had three receptions for 27 yards.
Special teams
Not the Knights’ night – Middletown partially blocked a 35-yard field goal by Kelseyville placekicker Jose Juarez in a scoreless game late in the first quarter. The Knights also launched the snap from center over the punter’s head in the third quarter, setting up a quick Middletown score.
Defense
Blackjack – Middletown linebacker Ryan Halverson was in on 21 tackles against Kelseyville. Yeah, 21.
Three takeaways – Middletown intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble against Kelseyville, the first two of those takeaways setting up touchdowns.
Additional help – EJ Rose, new to the Middletown roster, was in on 14 tackles against Kelseyville. Other Middletown leaders were Tyler Galamay (10) and Trenton Griffith (eight).
Miscellaneous
If you’ve noticed … — That only Kelseyville and Middletown players have been mentioned so far, it’s because no statistics from Clear Lake (36-7 loss at Willits) and Upper Lake (9-6 loss at Cloverdale) were received. Lower Lake had a bye.
6-6-6 – Upper Lake’s point output the last three games. It beats zero such as in the Cougars’ first four games.
Streaks – Upper Lake has lost 11 in a row dating back to last season. Jesse Hayes, Clear Lake’s senior running back, was held out of the end zone for the first time this season against Willits.
Undefeated – Middletown’s junior varsity club, led by three rushing touchdowns from Estaban Muniz, beat Kelseyville 20-7 to improve to 5-0 in league play and 7-0 overall. The Mustangs travel to Fort Bragg this Friday for a first-place showdown with the 4-0-1 Timberwolves.
Undefeated Part 2 – Kelseyville’s varsity and JV volleyball teams begin the second-to-last week of the regular season with 10-0 league records.
Undefeated Part 3 – Kelseyville’s girls soccer team is 8-0 in league with four games remaining. The Knights, 18-1 overall, could hit 20 wins later this week.
Looking ahead – Week 8 games have Lower Lake at Upper Lake, Clear Lake at Cloverdale, Willits at Kelseyville, and Middletown at Fort Bragg. League-leading St. Helena has the bye.
Thanks – To the Middletown coaching staff for inviting me out to their postgame get-together Friday at Twin Pines Casino where I was able to watch the Kelseyville-Middletown game on HUDL, which helped me pick up on a few things I missed watching the game from the sidelines. The food and beverages were nice, too.
A work in progress – Middletown’s defense allowed St. Helena 408 rushing yards two weeks ago in a 41-34 loss. Kelseyville tried to exploit that same run-defense weakness and had some success while amassing more than 200 yards on the ground. Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard said the team’s inexperience up front is the primary reason it is struggling right now, but that all the tools are there for the development of a solid line going forward.
Fort Bragg football onboard – Lake County Sports has extended an invitation to out-of-county North Central League I teams who are not covered by a local newspaper or other online entity to report their results. Fort Bragg has done so two weeks in a row now. In Fort Bragg’s 41-7 loss at St. Helena Erik Kamstra rushed for 51 yards on two carries while Beau Hebden added 43 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown. Fort Bragg quarterback Dane Salo completed 10 of 19 passes for 85 yards with one interception. Ross Knapp caught five of those passes for 52 yards. The loss snapped Fort Bragg’s three-game winning streak.
May have to change the name soon – Lake County Regional Sports. Will certainly change how Lake County Sport approaches the next fall sport season. The days of begging for results are over, especially with teams from outside the area wanting the coverage others in Lake County apparently do not. That’s an easy fix.
Sponsor shoutout – Thanks to Lake County Sports sponsors Will Peterson Well Drilling, LLC, Shannon Ranches, Lyndall’s Sports Stop Grill, Jeri-Co Garage Doors, Sun First Solar, Malley’s Rallys, Training Wheels Preschool, Griffin’s Furniture, The Brick Tavern, Clear Lake High School Boosters, The Shoe Box, and Strong Financial Network, LLC, for keeping high school and community sports coverage going in Lake County. Please patronize our sponsors if you value local sport coverage.
