MIDDLETOWN — You would not call Middletown”s homecoming game against St. Helena a “game of chance,” because, frankly, from the outset the Saints had no chance. It was over before the homecoming queen put the tiara in her hair.
Once again, Middletown built an insurmountable lead by halftime, scoring 33 of the 40 points it rolled up while shutting out St. Helena 40-0 in a North Central League I interlock varsity football game.
The win for Middletown was Foltmer”s 180th as the Mustangs” coach and the 199th of his career.
The Mustangs” fifth straight victory, which improved their record to 5-1, was a tune-up for their showdown with equally formidable Fort Bragg (6-0) on their home turf next Friday in which the stakes will be command of the top rung in the NCL I North standings.
Fort Bragg beat Lower Lake 49-0 in its league opener on Friday night in Fort Bragg.
And Foltmer pronounced the Mustangs finely tuned. The difference between a lackluster 28-14 victory over Clear Lake and this week, he said whimsically, was “they caught the passes.”
Boy, did they! Quarterback Kyle Harmyk teamed with his receivers to complete seven of 11 passes — three for touchdowns — before retiring to the sidelines with the rest of the first string with three minutes left in the third quarter. The TDs included a 16-yarder to John Wesley Davis, a 60-yard strike up the middle to Chris Oatman, who needed to shake off one tackler en route to the goal stripe, and another for 19 yards to Ryan Johnson.
But passing was only part of the onslaught, as indicated by six plays that gained 20 or more yards and three that were more than 50. One of these was a 55-yard fumble recovery with 44 seconds left in the half. Jake Davis, who seemed to be everywhere on both sides of the ball, rambled 59 yards with a screen pass to set up the Mustangs” last TD, a 4-yard run by Jereomy Hoefer.
Jake Davis also scored his 10th rushing touchdown and 12th TD overall from the 8, caused a Saint fumble and recovered it at the St. Helena 7, and blocked a punt that gave the Mustangs possession on the Saints” 16. And that was just in the first quarter.
The home boys were awarded field position inside the Saint 30 thrice. You have to give St. Helena coach Brandon Farrell credit in one of those instances. Apparently of a mind to pull out all the stops against the favored Mustangs, Farrell called for a fake punt on third-and-12 from his own 22-yard line. This backfired when Jake Davis caught the punter attempting to throw a pass and stripped him of the ball.
But you can”t blame the Saints coach for being a little desperate after catching Fort Bragg (44-7) and Middletown in consecutive weeks.
