MIDDLETOWN — Half-way through the 2006 high school football season, Middletown High School varsity coach Bill Foltmer is still looking forward to the day when the Mustangs all of them healthy and on the same field together — line up against the opposition.
It might never happen. If it doesn”t, the Middletown team will most likely continue to produce efforts like the one it had Saturday in Petaluma, where the Mustangs were not spectacular but certainly solid in beating St. Vincent 21-6 in North Central League I interlock action.
Since having their heads handed to them in a 32-6 season-opening loss to defending North Coast Section Class A champion Salesian, the Mustangs, without a full compliment of players on the field in the four games since, have gone 4-0 and outscored the competition 99-13, including shutouts of Cloverdale and Clear Lake.
The team was approaching full strength Saturday against St. Vincent (1-4), with senior Zack Davis returning to the lineup on defense (but not offense) for the first time this season. Recovering from an achilles heel injury sustained last season in a non-football accident, Davis made an immediate impact at middle linebacker as he was in on several tackles and also intercepted a pass in the third quarter, stopping St. Vincent”s deepest second-half penetration into Middletown territory.
“It was just nice to see Zack out there,” Foltmer said of the senior, a two-way All-NCL I North first-team selection a year ago. “He”s intelligent, he”s athletic and he”s tough … he”s a great addition to what we already have out there.”
Davis will likely see his first action at running back — where he gained more than 900 yards last season — on Friday night when the Mustangs travel to Lower Lake for their NCL I North opener.
“I”m thinking he”ll get a few carries,” Foltmer said.
While Davis” return was a welcome sight for the Mustangs, injuries continue to plague the team. Middle linebacker and offensive lineman Victor Cole was knocked out of the game with an apparent concussion, and Kody Rylance, a two-way line starter, had to leave with a shoulder separation. Wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hays also re-aggravated a knee injury.
“We were training a tight end to be a guard in the second half,” Foltmer said of the patchwork unit the Mustangs used over the final two quarters against St. Vincent, which was overmatched up front but still managed to hang in there against the Mustangs.
“We always play a good game against Middletown,” St. Vincent coach Gary Galloway said. “And we always have one of our better weeks of practice leading up to the game.”
Middletown”s defense couldn”t stop St. Vincent on the game”s first possession. After receiving the opening kickoff, St. Vincent moved 72 yards in 11 plays, all but six of those through the air as scrambling St. Vincent quarterback Rich Farinha hooked up with four different receivers while completing five of eight passes on the drive, the final one a 3-yard score to wide receiver Jarred Pengel, who was left wide open over the middle.
“We spread the ball around pretty well,” Galloway said. “He (Farinha) hit wideouts, a tight end and a running back. He kept them off balance and the pass blocking was exceptional.”
“In all honesty we got out of the defense we were in after that and just went back to a base defense and played them straight up,” Foltmer said of the game-opening drive. “We made a lot of mistakes. We broke down on our containment, our linebackers left the flat area open and another time a linebacker didn”t pick up the running back coming out of the backfield.”
On the play Foltmer was referring to, a third-and-10 from the Middletown 45, Farinha and running back Sean Keaney hooked up on a 25-yard gain to the 20 and St. Vincent had the ball in the end zone three plays later.
The long drive turned out to be St. Vincent”s only real threat of the day. In fact, the team had only 70 yards of total offense the rest of the afternoon.
“Our defense has been playing pretty well,” Foltmer said. “We”ve bent some but we haven”t been breaking. We”re doing what we need to do.”
The offense is a different story. While the Mustangs have had success moving the ball through the air and on the ground against everyone but Salesian, something is lacking and Foltmer says he knows exactly what it is.
“Defensively I”m happy but we need more consistency in our offense,” Foltmer said. “We”re moving the ball but not completing drives. We”re not finishing enough drives.”
The Mustangs went three-and-out on their first effort against St. Vincent but their second possession was a different story — three-and-in-the-end zone.
After quarterback Jake Strickler hit running back Tommy Sheffer with an 8-yard pass and Ryan Peterson rushed for a yard on second down, Strickler lobbed a short pass to wide receiver Jackie Crachiola, who busted loose down the Middletown sideline for a 60-yard touchdown. Along the way, he picked up some nice downfield blocking. Travis Taylor”s extra-point kick split the uprights for a 7-6 lead.
Middletown spent nearly the entire second quarter on offense but came away with only seven points to show for it, that on a Peterson 2-yard run that capped a nine-play, all-rushing 45-yard drive late in the period. Earlier in the quarter, the Mustangs went from their own 36 to the St. Vincent 5, but Pengel intercepted a third-and-goal in the end zone.
Middletown drove 64 yards for a touchdown after taking the second-half kickoff, pushing its lead to a more comfortable 21-6. Mixing six runs with three Strickler completions a 21-yarder to Peterson, a 20-yarder to Sheffer and a 12-yarder to Hays — Peterson capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone.
The Mustangs let their defense take it from there as each of St. Vincent”s next two possessions ended with interceptions — Davis picked off the first and Hays had the second. St. Vincent had only one first down over the final two quarters.
Middletown”s offense, its offensive line now a patchwork after injuries to Cole and Ryalnce, was content just to use up the clock in the fourth quarter and that”s exactly what the Mustangs did on their final two drives, chipping out a handful of first downs with a series of blasts up the middle.
Peterson finished with an even 100 yards on 24 carries for a Middletown ground game that chiseled out 170 yards against a fairly determined St. Vincent defense that didn”t yield a run longer than 10 yards. Strickler also did his part to move the Mustangs through the air, completing 7 of 18 passes for 158 yards. Farinha was 12-for-28 for 120 yards and he also was St. Vincent”s top rusher with 30 yards.
“We played a complete game,” Foltmer said.
“I”m proud of my guys,” countered Galloway. “Even though we”re not the team we were last year (when they won the NCL I South title and Class B championship), we”re still trying hard and having fun. That means a lot to me.”
While the Mustangs open their NCL I North schedule next week, St. Vincent, a member of the NCL I South, plays its final interlock game on Friday in Kelseyville (2-3). Looking ahead to the South race, Galloway said he couldn”t pick a favorite among St. Helena (3-2), Clear Lake (2-3), Upper Lake (2-3) and his St. Vincent squad (1-4).
“I don”t see it,” Galloway said.
