Kelseyville rotates quarterbacks while Upper Lake loses its starting quarterback to injury
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UPPER LAKE >> Losing their quarterback and center early in the game didn’t help Upper Lake’s chances against Kelseyville on Friday night in Upper Lake, but the banged-up Knights have been fighting through their own assortment of injuries of late and were more than happy to come away with a 21-6 North Central League I North win
Kelseyville (1-0 league, 3-4 overall) won its North opener by using two different quarterbacks, and by design. Senior Kimo Brown, still nursing a knee injury, was the surprise starter and was effective passing the ball, going 7-for-15 for 78 yards. Junior backup quarterback Deake Lyndall Jr. did his part as well, throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Gordon Astrup, who made a one-handed catch on the play, and also running for 46 yards, including a long run in the fourth quarter that helped set up Kelseyville’s final touchdown.
“We started Kimo and he took us right down the field on our first possession,” Kelseyville head coach Logan Barrick said. “I think he hit like three of four passes. We used Deake near the goal line and he ran the ball effectively. Both guys did their job.
While the original gameplan was to give Brown at least one more game to rest his ankle, Barrick said the decision to go with his senior was not a difficult one.
“He’s a senior who’s got three or four more games left (in his high school career), and he told me he wanted to play. As a former quarterback, I didn’t have a problem with that.”
While Barrick has his choice of quarterbacks, Upper Lake head coach John Toohey said the loss of starting quarterback Corbyn Woolley (ankle) and center Jaden Garcia-Green (calf) in the first quarter left the Cougars (0-2, 1-6) scrambling. Gage Faalelea replaced Woolley and did as well as he could.
“He led some good drives, but we didn’t have the consistency tonight to get into the end zone until the fourth quarter when Faalelea got in on a 20-yard run,” Toohey said.
Kelseyville has been without several key players in recent weeks – running backs Bryce Keener and Andrew Souza among them – and has had to rely on its depth to plug those holes.
Kelseyville jumped ahead 8-0 in the first quarter on a Case Pivniska run followed by a Jayden Fabisch conversion run. The Knights pushed their advantage to 14-0 in the second quarter on a Brayton Thomas run. Lyndall’s touchdown pass in the fourth quarter gave the Knights some additional breathing room.
Astrup, in addition to catching a touchdown pass, figured prominently in Kelseyville’s win as the Cougars had a difficult time stopping the junior defensive end.
“They couldn’t block him,” Barrick said. “He forced a lot of holding calls on them that wiped out some good gains. He was causing havoc in the middle all night.”
Minus Woolley, the Cougars relieved on Faalelea, running back Jacob Weldon and wide receiver Antario Wyman to carry the load on offense.
“Wyman and Weldon both played well and Rudy Nava-Hack stepped in as our third center option and battled hard to give us a chance,” Toohey said. “We suffered some procedure penalties as we were adjusting the offense, which got us off track, and we committed some holding penalties on some third-down plays that really hurt our momentum.”
Upper Lake’s defense kept the game close, according to Toohey.
“We played pretty tough on defense most of the night, made some adjustments as the game went on, and had some big stops,” Toohey said. “Despite the really tough roll of the dice tonight for both teams, they remained competitive and played through the adversity. I am really proud of them for doing so.”
Upper Lake defensive leaders were Faalelea with seven solo tackles and three assists and Caiden Sneed with six solo tackles, three assists and one sack, Brody Blancas with five solo tackles, two assists and one sack, and Weldon with five solo tackles and one assist.
The Knights were led by Fabisch with 12 total tackles, six solo, Lyndall with 11 total tackles and Astrup with nine and a half total tackles, including a tackle for loss and one-half sack. Fabisch recovered a fumble, JD Smart intercepted a pass, and Aurelius Santos recovered an onside kick and had half a sack.
“We played really well on defense,” Barrick said. “We mixed it up pretty well. A lot of guys got in there and made plays.”
On offense, Pivniska rushed for 62 yards to lead the Knights while Fabisch added 52 yards. Wyman had a team-best 72 rushing yards for Upper Lake, Faalelea added 59 more and Weldon had 43.
“Offensively we had some weird stuff going on up front, there was some confusion,” Barrick said.
Kelseyville plays Dougherty Valley in a non-league game next Friday at 6 p.m. in San Ramon. There is no junior varsity game. Dougherty Valley replaces Clear Lake on the Knights’ schedule. Upper Lake remains home next Friday to play Fort Bragg in a North game.
GAME NOTES: Toohey said that the Cougars also lost Shaun Way, who starts at wide receiver and cornerback, to a hand injury … Barrick said both teams were plagued by early penalties. “It got a little chippy out there early on,” Barrick said.