KELSEYVILLE — Kelseyville won the time-of-possession battle but the Middletown Mustangs still rolled up 424 yards in offense while beating the Kelseyville Knights 28-16 in a North Central League I North varsity football game that wasn”t decided until the final minutes on Friday night in Kelseyville.
Eric Tomko”s 3-yard run with 3:19 remaining helped turn a tight 21-16 game into a fifth straight Middletown victory.
Kelseyville (0-4 North, 1-8 overall) made a late push into Middletown territory but lost a fumble at the Mustang 29 with a little over a minute to play and Middletown ran out the clock.
“Kelseyville played us tough,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. “I thought their best defense was their offense because it kept our offense off the field,” Foltmer said.
While Kelseyville did roll up nearly 300 yards in offense and use up a lot of clock in the process, Middletown certainly took advantage of its time on the field, striking quickly on a handful of occasions, most notably a three-play, 65-yard drive that used up only 32 seconds late in the first half and led to a Tony Zagajowski touchdown run that gave the Mustangs a 13-3 lead instead of a 7-3 lead going into halftime.
Another lightning-quick strike came in the third quarter on Tyler Owen”s 86-yard touchdown run. Owen also added the two-point conversion run to make it 21-3.
Owen finished with 229 yards on only 12 carries, while backfield mate Eric Tomko added 133 yards on 17 carries, including the game-clinching 3-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
“Kelseyville packed it in to stop Tomko and that left things open for Owen,” Foltmer said. “He made the most of it.”
Kelseyville”s defense did shut down Middletown”s top receiver, Dylan Galusha, who caught just one pass for minus-two yards.
“(Mike) Duman did a real good job on Galusha,” Foltmer said of Kelseyville”s cornerback. “He shut him down completely.”
Middletown quarterback Matt Outen did locate a wide-open Ryan Bower for a 41-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter as the Mustangs moved up 7-0.
Kelseyville snapped Middletown”s scoreless streak — the Mustangs had blanked their last four opponents — with 1:16 left in the first half when Matt Jones kicked a 25-yard field goal.
If the Knights were feeling pretty good about themselves at that point, the feeling didn”t last. Middletown took over at its own 35 with 1:12 left and Tomko busted loose for a 42-yard gain on a trap play. Owen then rambled for a 13-yard gain to the Kelseyville 10, and Zagajowski barreled into the end zone on the next play.
After Owen”s long run in the third quarter made it 21-3, the Knights battled back, moving 64 yards in eight plays to close to 21-10 on a Josh Huston 10-yard run. Huston finished with 161 yards on 34 carries to climb over the 1,000-yard mark (1,032) for the season.
Kelseyville moved 49 yards in 10 plays midway through the fourth quarter to make it 21-16 on a Duman 10-yard run.
But the Mustangs came right back to put the game out of reach. Zagajowski”s 28-yard kickoff return to near midfield set the stage for a four-play, 55-yard drive capped by Tomko”s TD run.
Despite absorbing a fifth-straight loss, Kelseyville coach Thad Owens had nothing but praise for his club.
“That”s the best we”ve played,” he said. “We played two good quarters (last week) against Lower Lake and four quarters tonight. I”m proud of these guys.”
While big plays continue to plague the Kelseyville defense, the Knights” offense was on the field long enough to run 70 plays.
“We do what we”re good at doing and that”s moving the ball about four yards a pop,” Owens said.
“There”s nothing fancy about it, but we get the job done.”
“We didn”t take them lightly,” Foltmer said. “They come right at you ? everyone in the place knew that Huston was going to run the ball and we still had trouble stopping him. He”s one tough kid.”
