PETALUMA — Middletown turnovers and a huge goal-line stand by St. Vincent were only part of the story Saturday as the Mustangs — the ones from Petaluma — beat those other Mustangs — the ones from Middletown — 21-14 in a North Central League I interlock varsity football thriller at Petaluma.
St. Vincent (2-0) also drove 80 yards on its final possession, completing a big third-down pass and converting two fourth-down plays to beat Middletown for the first time since 1998.
“But if you look at the scores, it”s almost always a touchdown (spread),” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said of the head-to-head series between the two schools dating back to their days in the old NCL II. “St. Vincent had to go 80 yards and they were able to do it against us, so you tip your hat to them,” Foltmer added.
Quarterback Josh Wheless” 1-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal with 1:34 remaining wiped out Middletown”s 14-13 lead. He also ran in the conversion to give St. Vincent a seven-point cushion.
Middletown (1-1) threw four incomplete passes in the final seconds.
“If we would have had a couple more minutes I probably would have just run the ball, but there wasn”t enough time,” Foltmer said in pointing out the success of Middletown”s running game.
The Mustangs gained all 286 of their yards on the ground — quarterback Matt Outen went 0-for-6 with an interception — and scored both of their touchdowns on 1-yard runs by Eric Tomko, one of two Middletown running backs to gain in excess of 100 yards (he had 122 on 23 carries). Tyler Owen led the Mustangs with 128 yards, but one costly fumble by Owen and four turnovers in all by Middletown — compared to none for St. Vincent — had a lot to do with the outcome of the game.
“When was the last time you”ve seen that?” Foltmer said of a losing team with two 100-yard rushers. “We were gaining 5, 6 yards a clip most of the day. I went away from it (passing game) because we were so successful running the ball.”
St. Vincent”s running game wasn”t so shabby, either.
“They ran the ball a lot more out of that (spread) formation than I figured they would,” Foltmer said.
St. Vincent scored twice in the second quarter, capitalizing on Middletown turnovers each time, to take a 13-0 lead. Middletown rallied in the second half for a 14-13 lead, scoring on two long possessions — one in the third quarter and the other in the fourth — to go up 14-13.
On St. Vincent”s game-winning drive, Wheless completed a key 35-yard pass to Nick McCarthy to get the Mustangs out of a hole, but the big play in the possession was a fourth-and-8 from inside Middletown territory.
With time running out, St. Vincent lined up in a punt formation that Middletown wasn”t buying.
“We had our regular defense on the field and were hoping they would punt it, we weren”t going to cover it,” Foltmer said. “Everybody in the stadium knew it was going to be a fake and I don”t even know why they lined up that way. I thought it was a bad call.”
The snap on the play went directly to the upback who ran straight up the middle for a nine-yard gain and a drive-sustaining first down.
“That was the key to the game,” Foltmer said.
St. Vincent chipped away after that and scored a short time later on Wheless” sneak.
Middletown”s best scoring opportunity in the first half was a drive that went from the Middletown 20 to the St. Vincent 2, where the Mustangs faced third-and-goal. Back-to-back runs by Owen and Tomko netted just one yard and St. Vincent took over on downs.
Middletown scored on its first possession of the second half, got the ball right back and was marching toward another score when a lost fumble ended the possession. After St. Vincent failed to move the ball, a punt return by Dylan Galusha advanced the ball to near midfield and Middletown scored again to take the lead.
“I never like to lose,” Foltmer said, “but I”m proud of the kids for coming back in the second half.”
While his team”s mistakes and missed opportunities certainly played a substantial role in the defeat, Foltmer said it was a case of St. Vincent winning the game more than it was of Middletown losing it.
“They did the things they needed to win,” Foltmer said.
Middletown hosts the 2-0 Cloverdale Eagles on Friday.
