KELSEYVILLE — Sophomore running back Kyle Watkins returned from an injury and provided the Kelseyville Knights with a huge boost Friday night as they scored the game's final 28 points to beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 42-16 in North Central League I varsity football action at Kelseyville.
Kelseyville's Kyle Watkins scores on a 14-yard pass play in the final seconds of the first half to give the Knights a 28-16 lead. Watkins had a pair of touchdowns in Kelseyville's 42-16 league victory over Fort Bragg. (Photos by Brian Sumpter)
Kelseyville (1-1 league, 1-4 overall) picked up its first win of the season at the expense of the Timberwolves (0-2, 1-4), who twice led in the game — 8-6 in the first quarter and 16-14 in the second quarter — but couldn't sustain that early momentum.
The Watkins brothers, both senior quarterback Luke and his younger brother Kyle, had a lot to do with that. Luke Watkins passed for two touchdowns — one of them to Kyle — and also ran for a touchdown. In addition to his 14-yard touchdown catch late in the second quarter that gave the Knights a 28-16 halftime lead, Kyle Watkins scored on a 15-yard run late in the third quarter to boost the Knights' lead to 42-16.
That Kyle Watkins was able to play at all against Fort Bragg wasn't assured until he received medial clearance late in the week.
"Strangest doctor's note I've ever seen," Kelseyville head coach Erick Larsen said. "It said he could play, but only offense until Oct. 24."
He ended up as the Knights' leading rusher with 73 yards on 10 carries and he also had three catches for 42 yards.
"He makes a huge difference and helps us balance out our offense," Larsen said. "He opens up more of our offense."
The first game this season for junior Demetrio Boyd, a transfer student from Oklahoma who was ineligible for the Knights' first four games, also gave Kelseyville's offense and defense a boost. Boyd had three rushes for 36 yards and he also intercepted a pass while starting in Kelseyville's secondary.
Kelseyville's Jon Dougherty (28) and Ty Steely break down the pass protection as Fort Bragg quarterback Chance Tager scrambles away from the pressure.
Led by a strong effort from its offensive line, Kelseyville amassed 221 rushing yards.
"I'm really proud of my offensive line for creating all those holes," Larsen said. "They keep improving every week."
While Fort Bragg dropped its fourth straight, the Timberwolves made things exciting early on. In fact, if you were late in arriving to the game, you missed two touchdowns in the first 108 seconds.
Kelseyville's special teams came up huge on a Luke Watkins punt block as lineman Nacho Pille-Montero scooped up the ball and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead.
Fort Bragg scored on its very next offensive play, quarterback Chance Tager and wide receiver Brady Pyorre connecting on a 67-yard touchdown. Trevon Mehtlan's conversion run put the Timberwolves in front 8-6, but for not very long.
Kelseyville took the ensuing kickoff and drove 63 yards on seven plays to push in front 14-8 on Luke Watkins' seven-yard run and a Watkins-to-Watkins hookup on the conversion pass.
Fort Bragg then answered with a 63-yard drive of its own, Mehtlan scoring on a 9-yard run with 8:28 left in the second quarter. Tager's pass to Alex Nicholson on the conversion made it 16-14 in the Timberwolves' favor.
Sophomore running back Kyle Watkins rushed for 73 yards on 10 carries to lead Kelseyville's ground attack against the Fort Bragg Timberwolves on Friday night in Kelseyville.
That lead lasted only seconds as Kelseyville's Reme Strong fielded a short kickoff by Fort Bragg and motored 60 yards for the touchdown. Sam Vanoven punched in the conversion run for a 22-16 Knights lead.
And it looked as though that would be the halftime score until a high punt snap by the Timberwolves gave Kelseyville a first-and-10 at the Fort Bragg 14 with only 50 seconds remaining.
After throwing an incomplete pass on first down, Watkins found brother Kyle all alone for a 14-yard touchdown and a 28-16 lead with only 36.7 seconds left.
"It was nice going into halftime with a little bit of breathing room," Larsen said of the last-second score, which pushed the Knights' lead into double digits.
Even better for Kelseyville, the Knights took the second-half kickoff and marched 65 yards in nine plays, mixing up six runs with three passes, to score a touchdown for a 35-16 lead.
"We've had a tough time coming out in the second half and moving the ball," Larsen said. "That was a statement drive right there. We showed that we can go out there and do it."
Kelseyville's final two plays of the drive were pass completions, the first one an 11-yarder from Luke Watkins to Reme Strong on third-and-10, then a 14-yard strike over the middle from Watkins to Joey Gentle for the score.
After stopping a long and time consuming Fort Bragg drive on downs at the Kelseyville 19, the Knights went 81 yards on seven straight running plays to go up 42-16 as Kyle Watkins tight-roped his way along the Kelseyville sideline and into the end zone.
"We're 1-1 in league and our goal is to make the playoffs," Larsen said. "We need to just keep improving and taking them one game at a time."
Kelseyville visits Willits (1-1, 4-1) next Friday. The Wolverines lost 35-29 in double-overtime to Cloverdale (2-0, 4-1) on Friday night.
In junior varsity action earlier Friday night, Kelseyville beat Fort Bragg 35-7.
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