MIDDLETOWN — It didn”t have to be Bill Foltmer”s 200th career victory to be a memorable game for Middletown. Or, for that matter archrival Fort Bragg. And it didn”t need all the rest of the fa-do-rah embellishments — Fort Bragg”s unbeaten 6-0 record going in, the Mustangs” quest for a sixth straight victory, and a battle for a grip on the upper rung in a battle for home advantage in the postseason.
The titanic battle that played out on the Middletown field Friday night could strand on its own merits. Before claiming a 49-41 triumph, it was an unforgettable slugging match in which the Mustangs rallied from a 28-14 deficit only to withstand a late-game Timberwolf rally that all but erased a three-touchdown, 49-28 Middletown advantage with 9:49 remaining.
“I don”t think it gets any more exciting and nerve-wracking for me,” Foltmer agreed. “We get a three-touchdown lead with less than 10 minutes left to go and it goes down to the wire.”
The turning point was an arm injury to Fort Bragg”s leading rusher and all-round dynamo, Jake Cimolino, with six seconds left in the first half. The injury incapacitated him for the remainder of the game and hurt the Timberwolves on both sides of the football. No one would argue that.
“Of course it was (a big blow),” said Fort Bragg coach Jack Moyer. “He”s a a good defensive player. You saw what happened at the beginning and what happened afterward.”
Foltmer acknowledged the effect Cimolino”s injury had.
“I got a lot of respect for them,” he said of the Timberwolves. “Their No. 1 player gets hurt and it changes the game.”
When Cimolino left the game he had 88 yards in 12 carries.
Cimolino is to Fort Bragg what Jake Davis is to the Mustangs. And once again the senior fullback and linebacker played spectacularly for Middletown, rushing for three touchdowns and scoring four overall.
“Jacob Davis — what can you say about that kid, returning a kickoff and he made key tackles throughout the game,” said Foltmer. “He was our engine tonight, but everybody played well.”
Davis” kickoff return was a 93-yard response to Fort Bragg”s first TD on a 12-play drive and it kept the Mustangs in a quarter in which the T”wolves actually drove to two touchdowns.
Middletown was able to even the score at 28 by scoring the last two touchdowns of the first half — the final one on a 13-yard pass from Kyle Harmyk to Jereomy Hoefer with just a little over a minute remaining.
With Max Dixon doing some spectacular running to score on a 46-yard run and later on an 8-yard run, the Mustangs seemingly had the game well in hand.
But then quarterback Brent Moyer led the T”wolves on a desperate comeback effort, completing 16 of 17 passes. The Mustang” lead was trimmed to 49-35 by a fourth-quarter 66-yard Fort Bragg drive and then to 49-41 on a second touchdown that followed an onside kick which the Timberwolves recovered.
The game ended with Fort Bragg feverishly trying to mount yet another drive. The Mustangs had adjusted at half in efforts to defense against the poised Moyer”s long aerials that accounted for four touchdowns on the night.
“We went to a ?cover-two” to stop the long passes they were killing us with,” said Foltmer, “but we just couldn”t get enough pressure on him. He had too much time to throw.”
Moyer completed 23 of 32 passes for 342 yards and was intercepted once.
The two teams combined for 898 yards of offense.
In the end the Mustangs prevailed and all the rewards were theirs.
“How big is this?” quipped Foltmer.
