Week 12 games
North Coast Section Division IV playoffs
Semifinals
Friday
Salesian 22, Middletown 21
Saturday
Justin-Siena 22, Ferndale 15
Statistical leaders
Rushing — Tyler Owen”s 51 yards on 16 carries led Middletown in its playoff loss to Salesian. Owen also had the Mustangs” lone rushing touchdown. He finishes the season with 988 yards and 14 TDs. Eric Tomko was held to just 15 yards on seven carries. He wins the Lake County rushing title in 2008 with 1,207 yards and his 16 TDs also were tops in the county as were his 96 points scored.
Passing — Middletown quarterback Matt Outen closed out his career by completing 7 of 16 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yard TD bomb to Dylan Galusha. Outen wins the Lake County passing title with 1,195 yards and 15 TDs.
Receiving — Dylan Galusha had four catches for 100 yards, including a 60-yard TD reception for Middletown”s first points of the game. He closes out the season with 32 catches for a county-best 792 yards and 10 TDs.
Highlights
Special teams — Sophomore kicker Steve Castaneda, a junior varsity call-up for the playoffs, booted a 37-yard field goal with 2:39 left in the game to send Salesian to the Division IV championship game.
Defense — Trevor Finley”s fumble recovery led to a 23-yard Middletown drive for a touchdown late in the third quarter as the Mustangs built a 21-13 lead that wouldn”t hold up. George Garcia added another sack, bringing his season total to 7 ?.
Where the game was won/loss — Middletown”s defense couldn”t stop Salesian from converting three critical fourth-down plays in the fourth quarter. The first one, a fourth-and-two, prolonged a drive that led to a touchdown and cut Middletown”s lead to 21-19. The other two fourth-down conversions — fourth-and-one both times — occurred on the drive that led to the game-winning field goal by Castaneda. If the Mustangs stop any one of those three plays, they most likely win the game.
On Castaneda — According to Salesian coach Chad Nightingale, Castaneda is “one hell of a kid who we brought up just in case we ran into this kind of situation. He”s got range from 45 (yards).”
11 weeks later — Middletown beat Salesian 49-20 in the first game of the season, also at Middletown. Eleven weeks later it was Salesian winning a nail-biter, again at Middletown. Said Nightingale when asked to compare the two games: “In the first game Middletown handed us our lunch. They beat us on offense, defense, special teams, everything. This might sound strange but the one thing we felt we needed to stop was their passing game this time and other than the one play (a 60-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter) I thought we did that.”
Other difference between week one and week 12 — “We turned the ball over only once and the first time we turned it over five (actually four) times,” Nightingale said.
Fourth-down strategy — On the three fourth downs Salesian converted in the fourth quarter, Nightingale said there wasn”t any question in his mind about going for it. “None, it was not even an issue. The kids were confident they could make it and I was confident they could make it.”
If only ? — Castaneda”s kick had strayed a little more to the left, the Mustangs might be playing No. 4 seed Justin-Siena for the Division IV championship game this weekend at St. Helena High School because Justin-Siena upset No. 1 seed Ferndale 22-15 on Saturday in Ferndale. Instead, Justin-Siena and Salesian meet for the title Friday night at Alhambra High School. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Nightingale on Middletown — “You won”t find a better high school venue to play a game in,” Nightingale said. “Bill Foltmer and his coaching staff have put together a great program.”
Penalties — Middletown committed a single one for five yards to Salesian”s 11 for 90 yards.
Given his march-Ching order — Running back Matthew Ching rushed for 260 yards on 29 carries and three touchdowns to lead Salesian. So where was this guy when the teams met way back in September? “We”ve used four different quarterbacks this season and he was playing quarterback in that game,” Nightingale said.
You win some, you lose some — When Middletown beat Clear Lake in the opening round of the playoffs and the story appeared on the front page of the Record-Bee, the good fans of Middletown loved it ? and told us so. When the Mustangs lost to Salesian on Friday night and the story appeared on the front page again ? well, you can guess the rest. The Record-Bee was the bad guy. Go figure. You know folks, it”s sports and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. If you can”t accept that, join the stamp club.
That was one heck of a semifinal — It was one of the most if not the most exciting game this season.
Final play — Middletown quarterback Matt Outen completed a 27-yard pass to Dylan Galusha as time expired. For the record, Galusha was ruled down inbounds at the Salesian 25. The sideline official motioned for the stop to clock because it was a first down ? but time had already expired, so that was it.
More Ching — The Salesian running back not only rushed for 260 yards and scored all three of his team”s touchdowns, but he caught two passes for 36 yards and was the holder on Castaneda”s winning field goal.
And that”s that — The 2008 football season is over. Middletown and Clear Lake won league titles and advanced to the playoffs. The Mustangs just missed advancing to their fifth section title game. Upper Lake and Kelseyville both improved from a year earlier. Lower Lake struggled but the program appears to be moving in the right direction. All in all it was a season to be proud of for the majority of the county”s players and coaches. So take a bow because you deserve it.
25 seasons — That”s 25 years of covering Lake County football for me and I”ve pretty much enjoyed every minute of it. Hopefully I”ll get a 26th year but with the newspaper industry in a tremendous state of flux, there is absolutely no guarantee. If that was my last football game, well, it”s not a bad way to go out. Of course, a Middletown win would have been better, but those are indeed the breaks in the fast-moving sporting life.
