MIDDLETOWN – Picking up where they left off in a rout of Salesian on their home field two weeks ago, Middletown”s Mustangs rode roughshod over the visiting Cloverdale Eagles on Friday night, 35-14.
Using the same offensive weapons for the most part and smothering the Eagles (2-1) defensively, the Mustangs were once again indomitable.
It was as if they”d never been away. Unfortunately, however, they were. And they came back home with a disappointing loss to St. Vincent in Petaluma in between their two convincing home wins.
Even so, Middletown (2-1) re-emerged as a force to be reckoned with by handing Cloverdale its first loss in three games and making it look easy.
“We had two turnovers in the first half (a first-down fumble at the Cloverdale 37 in the first quarter and an interception of an Outen pass in the second) and we”re going to have to take care of that,” said the ever-insatiable Mustang coach Bill Foltmer. “We gotta get better down the road.
“But, yeah, I was pretty pleased with the effort. We had a little more balance offensively. We could have played better defensively.”
It would be hard to understand how. The Mustangs held Cloverdale to 50 yards in the first half while surmounting a 14-0 lead.
Even with the interception, Mustang quarterback Matt Outen was brilliant, throwing for 193 yards and a touchdown on 6-for-8 accuracy.
Fullback Eric Tomko and tailback Owen Tyler, Middletown”s inside-outside running attack, meshed for 109 yards and each scored a touchdown. Wingback Tony Zagajowski picked up his share of the load, scoring on a pass from Outen and also on a run.
But it was left for unheralded back-up tailback Matt Dixon to provide the most electrifying run of the night. Brought into the fray when Foltmer pulled his offensive starters for the last quarter, Dixon made his first varsity TD a memorable one by breaking loose on a 73-yard sweep for Middletown”s final TD with 4:39 left in the game,
Given that the Mustangs held a 28-7 lead at the time, it may not appear important. But in a way it was. It broke the back of a frenzied Eagles effort to mount a fourth-quarter rally. Cloverdale had scored its first touchdown with its longest drive of the game of 51 yards with 8:40 remaining and had driven to the Middletown 14 before a holding penalty set them back and caused them to give up the ball on downs.
Foltmer was amused by a question about the play that sprung Dixon.
“You want it honestly?” he said. “It was a cluster. I mean the guys didn”t block the right guys. That kid just bounced into the seam and was gone. He”s a pretty quick little kid. But if you watch it on film, it wasn”t pretty.”
The Middletown coach also found amusing a question about whether he was satisfied with where the Mustangs are relative to his expectations.
“I would kind of like to be 3-0,” he quipped. “Wouldn”t you?”
Contact Sports Editor Brian Sumpter at rbsports@aol.com, or call him direct at 263-5636 ext. 35 after 3:30 PM daily.
