Small-school NCS football playoffs roundup: Fort Bragg outlasts St. Helena 28-21

The Fort Bragg football team continued its undefeated season and advanced to the second round of the North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs on Friday night, defeated visiting St. Helena 28-21.

The No. 8 Timberwolves (10-0) move on the second round to face powerhouse No. 1 seed Marin Catholic (9-1), which had a first-round bye. No. 9 St. Helena's season is over.

'For us, there is no pressure,' Fort Bragg coach Ray Perkins said. 'We will be heavy underdogs, but we are going to line up and play.'

Fort Bragg went on the road and defeated St. Helena (9-2) two weeks ago in NCL I play, 27-14.

'St. Helena is a heck of a team; their only two losses were to us,' Perkins said. 'Tonight was a good battle. St. Helena did a good job on us defensively.'

Fort Bragg quarterback Kaylor Sullivan was 20-37 passing for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Brett Jacamella had receiving touchdowns of 10 and 20 yards and a 7-yard scoring run.

Fort Bragg led 14-0 at halftime but St. Helena tied it 14-14 early in the third quarter. Fort Bragg scored two more touchdowns to lead 28-14 with four minutes to play before St. Helena pulled to within seven points.

'Fort Bragg is a good team. They didn't make any mistakes today and that was the difference,' St. Helena coach Brandon Farrell said. 'We started out slowly but then stepped it up in the second half. We just don't have the athletes to compete with Fort Bragg.'

Receiver Alfio Basile caught two long touchdown passes in the losing effort for St. Helena.

'Tonight basically was the small school championship in Division 4,' Perkins said.

MIDDLETOWN 47, WILLITS 0

The host No. 7 Mustangs (6-4) used a power run game to dispatch No. 10 Willits (5-6) to advance in the Division 5 playoffs.

Middletown moves on in the second round to play at No. 2 St. Bernard Academy (9-1) of Eureka on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. The season is over for Willits.

Middletown won 43-8 at Willits on Oct. 2 during the NCL I regular season.

'Our offensive line did a real good job opening up holes. We had a lot of long runs,' Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. 'We have shut out our last four opponents (three on the field, one by forfeit).'

Middletown played without five starters but it didn't seem to make a difference. The Mustangs had 510 yards of total offense, compared to 160 yards for Willits.

It was the Middletown ground game that was the theme of the night. The Mustangs had 449 yards rushing and six touchdowns on 44 carries. Middletown completed 1-2 in the air including a 61-yard score.

'Middletown just pounded the ball. Our defense just couldn't stop them,' Willits coach Sean Leslie said. 'It was a great season for the Wolverines.'

Middletown was led on the ground by Noah Holguin (9 rushes, 174 yards, two touchdowns) and John Kelley (4 rushes, 56 yards, three touchdowns).

Willits had 48 yards on the ground on 14 rushes and was stuffed by the Mustangs' front line. Willits quarterback Blake Leslie was 12 of 24 passing for 112 yards.

STELLAR PREP 35, CLOVERDALE 0

The host Eagles (7-4) had a tepid night on both sides of the ball and it cost them, losing in the first round of the Division 5 playoffs to No. 9 Stellar Prep of Oakland. No. 8 Cloverdale's season is over.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, they didn't have much fight on Friday night in a lopsided game. It didn't help that star running back Luke Bernardi only saw action for one play and couldn't go on due to a previous shoulder injury.

'It was a rough game,' Cloverdale coach Chad Prieskorn said. 'We were outsized, got pushed around and came out flat.'

Stellar Prep (7-3) led 28-0 at halftime and Cloverdale never mounted a comeback.

'We had a lot of dropped passes when we tried to throw,' Prieskorn said. 'Stellar kept gashing us up on the middle on runs. They were big and physical.'

Cloverdale was led offensively by Mason Meier with 110 yards rushing on 28 carries.

'We tailed off a little bit at the end of this season, so that is frustrating,' said Prieskorn. 'But, we have a lot of depth coming up the next few years, so our future is bright.'