MIDDLETOWN — Middletown”s Mustangs, who played with a blaze of fury in their eyes and fire in their bellies all season long, saw their bid to advance to the North Coast Section Division IV championship game go down in flames on Friday night against the Pride of Salesian by the narrowest of margins.
The Mustangs” one-point, 22-21 loss resulted from a 37-yard-field goal by junior varsity call-up Steve Castaneda with 2:59 left to play.
The kick came in a classic game in which the Pride (formerly the Chieftains) scored nine fourth-quarter points after trailing 21-13 going into the period. A 24-yard TD run by senior tailback Matt Ching preceded the winning field goal. Ching, a thorn in the side of Middletown, all night scored all three of Salesian”s TDs. His 30-yard scoring run in the opening period capped an eight-play, 84-yard drive that gave Salesian an early 7-0 lead and his dash from the 3 put the Chieftans up 13-7 midway through the third quarter.
For the night, he had 260 yards on 29 carries, that after gaining 260 yards a week earlier in Salesian”s 42-7 first-round win over Fort Bragg.
That the Mustangs were ahead going into the final three minutes was a remarkable feat, given that their own vaunted ground game was all but muted by Salesian”s tenacious play at the line of scrimmage. With Salesian”s use of an eight-man front, fullback Eric Tomko, Middletown”s offensive leader, was limited to 15 yards, only three in the second half. A week earlier he had 186 yards and four TDs in a first-round 34-7 win over Clear Lake.
“They won the battle in the trenches,” said a disappointed Middletown coach Bill Foltmer.
With their own running game rendered ineffective, what kept Middletown in the game until the end were its play on special teams and clutch passes by quarterback Matt Outen.
Under some intense pressure by Salesian”s change-up defense, Outen hooked up with Dylan Galusha on a touchdown that covered 60 yards to tie it at 7 in the second quarter and enabled Middletown to go into halftime tied.
The pass was a work of art in which Galusha outsprinted two defensive backs to haul in the scoring strike at the 25 and ramble the rest of the way to the end zone. It was a play that went straight up the middle. Outen also laid the ball into the hands of Tony Zagajowski on a 10-yard scoring play midway through the third quarter, that in response to Salesian TD only two mintues earlier. Danny Beckwith added the PAT to give the Mustangs their first lead of the game at 14-13. The touchdown was set up by a 62-yard kickoff return by Tyler Owen.
The recovery of a Ching fumble by Trevor Finley at the Salesian 22 enabled Middletown to go up 21-13 near the end of the third quarter. Owen, who had slightly better success running against the Pride, scored from the 12.
And for at least that moment it looked promising for Middletown. But a 76-yard drive climaxed by Ching”s 24-yard scoring run and a clock-eating 16-play, 54-yard march to the Mustang 17 — the key play being a 31-yard pass from quarterback Ikaika Woolsey to wideout Nicholas Marchini — set up Castaneda”s field goal and left that promise unfulfilled.
To their credit, the Pride made good on the winning field-goal drive despite a sack of Woolsey by Nick Pion and a holding penalty against Salesian (9-2) at the Middlerown 9-yard-line.
“It was a tough loss,” Foltmer said as the Mustangs (10-2) had a nine-game winning streak snapped.
But to the Mustangs” credit, for Salesian it was a difficult win.
