MIDDLETOWN — A king did, indeed, go forth on Friday night at Middletown. And a guy named Goforth — William Goforth, to be exact, a power running back who was counted on to lead unbeaten Willits against Middletown”s Mustangs, didn”t go too well at all.
The Middletown king was running back Tommy Sheffer, who achieved the rare double of scoring the winning touchdown in the Mustangs” grueling 13-7 victory after being elected homecoming king at halftime.
Sheffer”s 47-yard gallop on a counter play to the left side, coming with 6:09 remaining, put the first blot in seven games on the Wolverines” record, overcoming a 7-6 lead that Willits had held since the half. More importantly, the win — the Mustangs” sixth straight — gave them a leg up in the North Central League I North division, where they are 2-0. Willits fell to 1-1 in the division.
“We needed that game,” said Middletown coach Bill Foltmer. “We couldn”t leave it up to someone else to beat them. It was up to us. We had them at home. I don”t think down the road they”re going to lose to anybody else.”
Sheffer”s run capped a drive in which Middletown moved 63 yards in five plays. It also dispelled a scoring whammy that haunted the Mustangs on two earlier occasions. The first time was in the first quarter after they went down 7-0 as a result of 62-yard, 10 play Wolverine drive capped by a six-yard scoring run by quarterback Charles Wright with 6:09 remaining.
Middletown answered back with a 17-play drive from its 32. Problem was, the Mustangs came up empty when Jake Strickler threw only his second interception of the season on fourth-and-two from the Willits 9.
They eventually did score in the first quarter when Foltmer finally worked fullback Zack Davis into the game on offense for the first time this season and then worked him. On a drive that began on the Willits 40, Davis” number was called five straight times.
He responded with 35 yards, including his blast over right tackle from the two for M”town”s first points. But when he failed to score on the conversion run, Middletown still trailed.
The Mustangs came up empty again on a 14-play drive from their 30 in the third quarter. Travis Taylor”s 27-yard field goal effort, which would have put the Mustangs in front, was wide left and ended the drive.
“I was getting a little worried. We were moving the ball, but we weren”t getting in the end zone,” said Foltmer.”It was great, a hard-fought game,” he added. “I couldn”t be happier, man. Those kids played their asses off. It was a good week of practice. They prepared well.”
It was clear from the tension on the Middletown bench and the subdued grandstands, the largest crowd of the season, that this was the most emotional contest of the season. As well it should be. The Mustangs hadn”t played a team with Willits” degree of talent since their opening loss to Salesian.
They responded to the homecoming game challenge with a good defensive effort in which they held Goforth, who had 695 yards coming into the game, to 46 yards in 14 carries. In the second half Goforth gained only seven yards on four carries and fumbled. Wright, meanwhile, completed only three of nine passes for 26 yards.
Stricker did not have much success passing either, although he certainly had the opportunities. Uncharacteristically, though, after his receivers got behind Willits” defensive backs, he overthrew them. In the first half, he was 0-for-3. In the second, he completed five of 13 attempts for 50 yards.
That left it up to the Mustangs” multifaceted running attack, culminated by Sheffer”s game-breaker.
“I don”t make any big plays without other people coming back and making a block for me,” he said, adding that blocks by “my buddy Zack Davis” and Sammy Weatherwax had sprung him on the 47-yard run. “It”s not my night, it”s my team”s night,” he added.
Foltmer said it was the running of go-to back Ryan Peterson that set up the run. Peterson had 105 yards on 2 carries to lead the Mustangs.”
“What sets Tommy”s run up is Peterson”s run. You run Peterson off-tackle to the right and come back with Tommy to the left,” said Foltmer.
The Mustangs are in the catbird seat in their division after beating Willits, but Foltmer remains cautious.
“We still have a ways to go,” he said. “We have Fort Bragg at Fort Bragg and Kelseyville (at Middletown).”
