MIDDLETOWN — In an age of sports specialization, there are still a handful of athletes who can do it all. One of them is Jake Strickler, a member of Middletown High School”s graduating Class of 2007.
Strickler, a standout quarterback, shooting guard and pitcher for the Mustangs, is the Lake County Record-Bee Athlete of the Year for boys” sports during the recently concluded 2006-07 high school sports season.
Strickler started in three sports, starred in three sports and earned All-League honors in three sports while wrapping up a successful prep career at Middletown. Headed to Mendocino College where he plans to play football and baseball for the Eagles, the 18-year-old Strickler is the fifth Middletown athlete to earn Athlete of the Year honors, but the first since Mike McDermott (2001-02).
While he enjoyed playing all three sports, Strickler”s favorite one should be no surprise to anyone who has following Middletown athletics since the mid-1980s.
It”s football.
The Mustangs earned North Central League I North championships in Strickler”s junior and senior seasons, going undefeated both years in league play as Strickler called the signals behind center.
“Everybody knows the players in Middletown,” Strickler said of the football hungry town that has produced numerous league championship teams and three section winners in the last decade.
“Playing football under the lights on Friday night is one of the best feelings in the world,” said Strickler, who passed for 1,175 yards and 10 touchdowns while throwing only two interceptions during the Mustangs” 9-2 campaign in 2006. “It gives me chills just thinking about it.
“One of the best things was the long walk (from the locker room) to the football field (before the start of a game),” Strickler said. “Everyone in town is at the game … and people know who you are.”
Especially that quarterback guy, which Strickler happened to be.
But if you think Strickler ran the show for the Mustangs, think again. That would be longtime head coach Bill Foltmer.
“He”s in charge,” Strickler said. “There is no doubt about that.”
Foltmer”s best quality, according to Strickler, is his passion for the game.
“He makes you want to play well,” Strickler said. “He pushes you and he”ll get on you a lot more when you”re a veteran. The one thing you don”t want to do is make a mistake and have to stand beside him and hear about it.”
Taking apart Kelseyville 41-6 to clinch the NCL I North title was among Strickler”s favorite games of 2007. Beating Willits 13-7 during homecoming was another because the Wolverines entered that game ranked No. 1 in the Redwood Empire among small-school teams.
Strickler said his best game was a 20-7 win at Upper Lake, where he threw for 174 yards and two TDs.
“That was my best game,” Strickler said. “That was a lot of fun.”
The success enjoyed by Middletown last season is no surprise to Strickler, who said he and many of his teammates have been playing together since the fourth grade.
A quarterback since the sixth grade, Strickler went undefeated as a member of the Middletown Colts in fifth grade and 8-1-1 the following season before sinking to .500 in seventh grade. But a year later, as an eighth-grader, Strickler led the varsity Colts to their first undefeated season.
The son of Steve and Michaela Strickler of Cobb and the older brother of another talented Middletown High athlete, 15-year-old Zack, Jake Strickler moved from a top reserve on Middletown”s 23-6 basketball team in 2005-06 (the most successful team in school history) to starting guard on the 2006-07 squad. He certainly held up his end, averaging 14.2 points a game for the Mustangs, the second best boys” average in the county behind only teammate Tyler Hunt 15.7.
“I was the eighth guy on last year”s team, so I was just happy to get off the bench,” Strickler said.
The 2006-07 Mustangs were a team in transition, with only a handful of players returning from the ultra-successful 2005-06 squad. After losing four of its first five games, Middletown appeared to hit its stride, winning five in a row, including four straight in the 13th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic to claim a second straight Hoop Classic title. Strickler was named MVP after scoring a team-high 26 in the Mustangs” 61-43 title-clinching win over Clear Lake.
But the Mustangs struggled the remainder of the season and mustered only a 10-17 record.
“We played our best basketball during the (Hoop Classic) tournament,” Strickler said. “That was really fun.”
The spring sports season found Strickler in familiar territory as the varsity baseball team, led by new coach Mitch Tucker, was in pretty much the same condition as the basketball team, rebuilding after a title-winning season the year before. Strickler, one of a handful of returning seniors on the team, developed into the team”s staff ace with a 4-2 record and a bunch of no-decisions as the team dropped a handful of games in the late innings. He struck out 68 batters in 74 1/3 innings. He also was among the team”s more productive hitters at the plate, swatting a team-best nine doubles out of his 30 hits overall. Even so, Middletown struggled while breaking in several first-year varsity players and finished 10-13 overall and 3-5 in the North Central League I North.
“It was tough at times,” Strickler said of the team”s struggles, “but Mitch did a really good job with all those sophomores.”
Strickler also enjoyed a field trip the team took while competing in a tournament this spring. Tucker treated the team to a trip to a Sacramento River Cats game (the River Cats are the Triple A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics) and to a Golden State Warriors game against the Sacramento Kings.
Strickler”s harshest critic was himself during the baseball season.
“I get down on myself sometimes and I”ve been like that in every sport since I can remember,” he said. “I think it”s good … it pushes me more.”
During the Mustangs” championship football season, Strickler said his best qualities as quarterback were his ability to read the defense, think on the run, adjust and not make foolish mistakes. And his two interceptions out of 170 passes attempted are a testament to that.
Strickler also didn”t shirk any leadership responsibilities.
“I like being the leader, I have no problem with that,” Strickler said. “If it”s the end of a game, I want the ball.”
If he has a weakness, at least on the football field, it”s his lack of mobility.
“I”m not very quick,” he added.
Strickler will be one of three quarterbacks vying for two positions at Mendocino College this fall. And since the Eagles run a spread offense, he”s hoping to see plenty of action.
One of his fondest memories of the 2006-07 sports season is being a teammate with his brother on the varsity baseball squad.
“That was a lot of fun,” Strickler said.
Though he hasn”t settled on a major yet, Jake said his best subject at Middletown was “math” and his worst English. “It was boring,” he said.”
In his free time, Jake enjoys hunting on family-owned property.
