Mathis comes up big on back-to-back plays as Knights erase 26-14 deficit
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LOWER LAKE >> Kelseyville High School Roman Mathis came up with back-to-back game-changing plays as the Knights, trailing 26-14 entering the fourth quarter, rallied to beat the Lower Lake Trojans 28-26 in North Central League I varsity football action Friday night at Gordon Sadler Field.
While it was senior night for the host Trojans, it was the senior Mathis who had the best night of all. First, he returned the second of his two interceptions in the game for a touchdown with 10:24 remaining in the fourth quarter, which combined with a successful two-point conversion cut Lower Lake’s lead to 26-22.
Kelseyville’s ensuing onside kick ended up in Mathis’ hands as well as the Knights (3-4 league, 3-5 overall) took over with great field position. The Knights then marched for what turned out to be the game-winning score, a 13-yard Max Lee run.
Lower Lake (1-6, 3-6) had time enough to mount a comeback but ended up turning the ball over on downs. Kelseyville ran out the remaining clock to secure a second straight league victory and keep alive its bid for a .500 record in league play.
Kelseyville and Lower Lake traded touchdowns to start the game as the Knights took a 7-6 lead. Michael DeJohn scored on a run for the Knights as Jose Juarez kicked the extra point. Lower Lake countered with a 46-yard pass from Ashton Hartmann to Jordan Rohrbacker, but the two-point conversion failed.
The Knights went up 14-6 early in the second quarter on Andrew Souza’s run. Lower Lake then scored 20 unanswered points. Roy Percoats, a freshman, scored on a 19-yard run and Anthony Russell’s two-point conversion run knotted the score at 14-14. The Trojans pushed ahead 20-14 before halftime on a Hartmann 5-yard run.
Jason Gandeza’s 5-yard run in the third quarter gave the Trojans their biggest lead of the game at 26-14.
While Lower Lake’s defense did a good job bottling up the Knights on offense for the better part of three quarters, according to Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski, Mathis’ pick-six interception return flip-flopped game momentum in one fell swoop.
“And then they recovered the onside kick,” Jakubowski said.
Kelseyville’s special teams were certainly a factor in the victory as the Knights not only recovered the onside kick in the fourth quarter, but an onside kick to open the game as Jayden Fabisch fell on the ball, leading to Kelseyville’s first touchdown.
A handful of dropped passes didn’t help Lower Lake’s cause as the Trojans let another close league game get away from them, the loss clinching a fifth straight losing season for the Southshore team.
“The offense was able to move the ball, we just made too many mistakes,” Jakubowski said. “And they (Knights) are very good at running the ball.”
Individual game statistics were not available for either team.
Both teams finish up their seasons next week on the road. Kelseyville visits Clear Lake on Friday for Bass Bowl XV while Lower Lake heads to Cloverdale.
