Sometimes you remember a team and community being convinced that a particular season was their time to win a championship, only to have their hearts broken.
In 2000, I made a one and a half hour drive to Kelseyville, CA, (Northern California community with population of about 3,000) two days after Thanksgiving. The No. 5 seeded Justin-Siena High football team was in its first season competing in the CIF North Coast Section after moving from the Sac Joaquin Section. The Kelseyville Indians entered the NCS Class A semifinals as the No. 1 seed.
The Braves, however, stunned Kelseyville 34-21 and one week later completed their journey by beating Ferndale 16-14 for the NCS Class A title, marking their first Section crown in football since 1983.
Setting the stage: Kelseyville finished the season with an 8-2 record and as North Central League I champions. The Indians defeated St. Vincent (Petaluma) 31-0 one week earlier. Kelseyville appeared to have a well-balanced team poised to win its first section title since winning the NCS Class B crown in 1982. The Indians came into the game with a stout defense and a balanced offense led by running back Nate Kinsey and quarterback Brian Hanson.
Justin’s season had peaks and valleys. The season started with a 40-9 win over St. Helena but it was a costly one in losing starting quarterback Steve Andres, who also starred on the baseball team, with a broken femur. The Braves turned to Mike McNamara to run the Houston split-back veer.
Rich Cotruvo was in his fourth season as Justin’s head coach. He had an accomplished head coaching career at Monte Vista (Danville) before coming to Justin shortly before the 1997 season. From 1997-1999, the Braves went 14-17 with one postseason appearance. Through the program was not what most people know it as now, one could tell that a new era had dawned at Justin. Before 2000, Cotruvo strengthened his coaching staff by adding Steve Vargus, Steve Hatton and Jim Costan. All three joined the Braves staff after resigning (or getting pushed out, depending on who one believes) from Vintage High.
That season would also be the dawning of a new era because the Braves would be changing sections. The Superior California Athletic League disbanded and Justin would join the Marin County Athletic League. The MCAL consists of schools twice Justin’s size in enrollment.
Despite Andres’ injury, the Braves were 5-1 but sustained three consecutive losses to drop to 5-4. Justin earned a playoff spot one week later with a 38-0 win at Tamalpais and defeated John Swett 28-7 in the first-round of the NCS Class A playoffs.
Thumbnail sketch of the game: Though high school football in California is a 48 minute game, the complexion of the contest turned early in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 21-21. Kelseyville had fourth-and-goal at the 1. The Indians balked at a field goal attempt. Kinsey tried to run through the middle but Braves’ linebacker Chris Hay stopped Kinsey in his tracks and the Braves took over on downs. Two plays later, Steve English ran around the right side thanks to blocks from Ron Duvall and Isaac Herrera and went 96-yards to paydirt to give Justin a 28-21 lead.
The Braves iced the game with 4:38 remaining when Duvall picked off a Hanson pass that George Tracy tipped at the line of scrimmage. Duvall went 48-yards to paydirt on the Pick Six as a stunned silence beckoned the home Kelseyville crowd.
Justin took the game’s opening drive seven plays for 72 yards capped by McNamara’s 2-yard run. Kelseyville answered with a workman-like 75-yard drive on 14 plays that culminated with Kinsey’s 12-yard run. The Braves took just three plays to answer that score as Ryan Harrison took the ball on a reverse and threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to English, making it 14-6 Justin. The Braves’ offense, however, had three straight possessions with nary a first down.
Kelseyville tied the game at 14-apiece with 7:14 left in the second quarter on Kinsey’s 1-yard touchdown run. Hanson followed by connecting with tight end James Nelson for the two-point conversion. The Indians took a 21-14 lead with 2:49 left in the first half on Kinsey’s 3-yard yard before Justin tied the contest at 21-21 late in the third quarter as McNamara connected with Harrison on a 55-yard catch and run.
What it meant: Though the win over Ferndale one week later was the final step on the journey of winning what was the first of six section titles the program has won under Cotruvo, the road win over Kelseyville was a watershed moment for Justin.
This game has also changed the course for both programs. At the time, it was Kelseyville that had the postseason pedigree while the Braves were still in the process of establishing one. While Justin has gone on to experience annual postseason success, Kelseyville has yet to win a playoff game and has only made the postseason four times since 2000.
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