Cloverdale drops into second place; visits Clear Lake on Friday
Heartbreak is the only way to describe the feeling as the varsity football Eagles left the field at Kelseyville following Friday’s much anticipated battle for first place, as the Knights erased a late deficit with a late touchdown to escape with a 22-15 win.
Cloverdale gave Kelseyville everything they wanted and more in a bruising 48-minute skirmish, but came up just short in the fight.
“Our guys fought hard against Kelseyville and their extraordinary long grass,” Cloverdale head coach Greg Alexander said. “We made some mistakes early that cost us some points, but up front we battled and did a good job of holding down their rushing attack.”
The Eagles (3-1, 5-2) will quickly turn their focus to the next obstacle — a Friday, Oct. 12 visit to Clear Lake. The Cardinals (1-3, 1-6) are coming off a 21-6 setback to Fort Bragg for their third straight loss and will no doubt be hungry for a win this week against Cloverdale.
“Clear Lake is much better than their record, so our focus is going to be executing and playing to our level,” Alexander noted. “We need to treat this as a business trip and have a solid week of practice.”
Eagles’ gritty effort
The Oct. 5 trip to Kelseyville pitted two 3-0 teams and lived up to all advanced billing, with both defenses digging in for a great high school football game. The Knights drew first blood in the opening period when a drive led to a one-yard scoring plunge, followed by a successful two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
The Eagles mounted a strong march on their next series that would come up agonizingly short on a Knight’s goal-line-stand to keep them off the board.
Trailing 8-0 in the second quarter, Cloverdale cashed in on defense when Kelseyville was called for intentional grounding in their end zone for a safety, cutting the deficit to 8-2 at the half.
The Eagles found pay dirt early in the third period on a one-yard scoring plunge from fullback Chaz Mrkvicka to knot the game at 8-8, with the failed extra point try hitting the crossbar to keep the score tied.
Down 14-8 in the fourth quarter, Cloverdale mounted a drive culminating in a 17-yard touchdown burst from all-purpose back Cesar Buenrostro. The versatile Buenrostro converted the point after kick to give the Eagles a 15-14 lead with just under four minutes to play.
But a Cloverdale win was not in the cards this time around, as Kelseyville answered 17 seconds later with a 73-yard scoring pass, and then stopped a late Eagle’s drive in the waning minutes to escape with a 22-15 victory.
“I’m proud of our guys for their effort. Ultimately we did not make a enough plays and it cost us some points with poor play calling. I believe we are two even teams and I’m hopeful we’ll see them later in the year.”
Quarterback Shayne Turner led the Eagle’s offense with 10 completions on 21 pass attempts for 105 yards, adding 15 yards on the ground. Top rushers included Jone Wesele (21-56 yards), Buenrostro (2-43 yards, TD) and Mrkvicka (1-1 yard, TD). Leading pass catchers were Buenrostro (3-37 yards), Jesus Maciel (3-30 yards), Garrett Robertson (2-27 yards), Drew Edens (1-6 yards) and Leo Acevedo (1-5 yards).
