Empire football roundup: Fort Bragg rolls into next round

Fort Bragg steamrolled over California School for the Deaf Friday night in the first round of the North Coast Section high school football playoffs, racking up a 49-8 win with nearly 500 yards of offense.

The Timberwolves, seeded 4 to the Eagles' 13 in Division 5, scored three quick times in the first quarter to set the tone, taking a 20-0 lead and extending that to 28-0 by the half.

With the win, Fort Bragg faces the winner of tonight's Middletown (5) matchup with St. Vincent (12) next week.

“Our offense played our best game of the year,” Timberwolves coach Roy Perkins said. “We were balanced. We ran very well, but we also were able to pass the ball effectively. When we do that, it's very difficult to defend us.”

Fort Bragg gained 387 yards rushing and had 109 in the air for 496 total yards of offense.

“We're playing a different style of football but it's effective,” he said. “We run the ball more than we ever used to.”

Running back William Robertson had 12 carries for 156 yards, including runs of 53 and 30 yards.

Quarterback Jullian Clavelle connected on 5 of 10 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns, all to receiver Wyatt Curti. Curti also had a 48-yard run.

Perkins said the Eagles battled, but were far smaller than his team.

“They had some damned good players, but they were lacking some size and physicality,” he said. “We're pretty big and aggressive up front. We had an advantage in the offensive and defensive lines. They battled to the end and didn't give up.”

CLOVERDALE 31, ARCATA 12

In another Division 5 game, No. 8 Cloverdale locked down a win over No. 9 Arcata with a strong second quarter and late scores.

The Eagles will now face No. 1 Kelseyville, which had a bye, next week in the quarterfinals.

After a slow start for both teams, Cloverdale scored three times against Arcata in the second quarter, taking a 21-6 lead into half.

Though the Tigers threatened, Cloverdale hung on, adding 10 points in the fourth quarter to assure the victory.

Jone Wesele scored twice on the ground with short run-ins, while Shane Turner had a 3-yard touchdown and David Alvarez added a 22-yard field goal.

Cesar Buenrostro scored on a 46-yard touchdown with about 5 minutes left to ice the game.

“Our defense did a good job. We held them and got some good stops,” Cloverdale coach Greg Alexander said. “About midway through the fourth, once David had the field goal, that gave us some cushion and let us breathe.”

The Eagles must now face top-seeded Kelseyville next week, to whom Cloverdale lost, 22-15, during the North Central League I regular season.

FORTUNA 55, EL MOLINO 14

El Molino's season came to an end with a hard loss to Fortuna in Division 4, losing to the higher-seeded team.

The No. 6 Huskies leapt out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter with scores on three successive drives.

Zac Claus hit Bruce Sancho for a 15-yard touchdown, then completed a 60-yard scoring pass to Daeden Taylor, while Joey Ponts pushed in a one-yard score.

El Molino, seeded 11th, got on the board just once in the first half, when Wyatt Stringfellow connected with Jalen Hall on a 60-yard touchdown.

Fortuna continued its roll in the second quarter, adding another 28 points to lead 49-7 at the half.

Sam Wilson-Mietz scored on a 30-yard interception return with just over a minute to go in the game.

El Molino coach Randy Parmeter said his team of just 18 players gutted it out against much deeper teams.

“They battled all season and never gave up,” he said. “I'm happy with their effort.”

The Lions end their season 3-7 overall and 2-2 in the North Bay League-Redwood Division. Fortuna is 6-5, 1-3 and advances to face No. 3 Kennedy next week.

TOMALES 44, UPPER LAKE 19

In the new eight-player playoff bracket, No. 4 Tomales downed 5-seed Upper Lake at Tomales.

Chris Bernal scored four rushing touchdowns to lead the Braves' attack. Brady Woodward and Andy Azevedo added touchdowns as well.

Tomales jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

Upper Lake's Ray Moran threw for three touchdowns, to Armando Sanchez (30 yards) and Hank Nevarez (25 and 15 yards).

The game was halted for more than a half hour as Upper Lake's Russell Gordan, a sophomore defensive end, was injured during kickoff coverage.

Upper Lake Athletic Director Mike Smith, whose own son, Kellen, is still recovering from a serious car crash, said Gordan had pain in his back and down his right leg but was moving all his extremities when he was loaded into an ambulance to a Santa Rosa hospital.

“His dad, a coach, was able to ride down with him,” Smith said.

Tomales will face No. 1 Branson next week.

You can reach staff writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.