KELSEYVILLE — As the Middletown Mustangs blew yet one more team away in the first half on Friday night, the challenge becomes how to stay playoff sharp in a dull environment.
The latest addition to a trend that has seen Middletown lead games by 50-0 and 40-0 halftime scores was the 28-0 advantage the Mustangs mounted against outmanned Kelseyville. It was the M”towners” seventh straight victory, elevating them to 2-0 in North Central League I North play. And Bill Foltmer acknowledged Friday night that their final two regular-season contests — at home against Lower Lake and at Willits –“are games that on paper we should win.”
The Mustangs made it look easy, driving for touchdowns on their first four offensive series. They followed with two more TDs in the third quarter, smothering the Knights with a clock-consuming 12-play, 79-yard drive for their final score.
The fireworks in the Middletown offense were provided by tailback Max Dixon, who scored on runs of 35 and 32 yards and rolled up 101 yards rushing in 12 caries. Lake County”s leading scorer, Jake Davis, added two more TDs — his 16th and 17th overall and 14th and 15th rushing — before retiring to the bench at the half with a pulled groin muscle.
“It”s not as exciting as last week,” Foltmer said in reference to Middletown”s showdown with previously unbeaten For Bragg sometime after the Mustangs scored their sixth unanswered touchdown against the Knights.
Unfortunately, he was right. By then the Mustangs had removed their starters, the crowd had all but dispersed and, in terms of suspense, the game was up there with watching treadmills. Since the Knights have no viable passing game, their offense deteriorated into a scrimmage-like system of trying to advance the ball with a variety of four or five running different running backs. None of them did with any sustained effectiveness.
Foltmer, meantime, worked on one component of the Mustangs” offense at a time. Example: On a 45-yard-drive for the Mustangs” fourth TD, he called for four straight Kyle Harmyk-to-John Davis passes. On a 58-yard drive for the first M”town TD in the second half, he called Dixon”s No. 31 on all four plays.
The goal for the next two weeks against weaker opponents is to “try to keep everybody healthy, and we can”t have any letdowns ? we need to stay sharp,” Foltmer said.
Although Harmyk, the county-leading passer, connected for his 14th and 15th scoring passes to John Davis and Ryan Johnson, the Mustang coach indicated he was not content with the passing game and pass blocking against Kelseyville. “But we”re going to take care of that,” he said.
Jake Davis expressed a wish that the Fort Bragg clash was still ahead. “It would have been good to have a tough test in our final game,” he said.
