MIDDLETOWN — Six in a row visits six in a row tonight at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown.
That would be the number of consecutive wins for both the Middletown Mustangs and Kelseyville Knights, who collide in a key North Central League I North varsity football contest that should be the best-attended game of the season in Lake County — unless the two teams meet again down the line in the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs, which isn”t out of the question.
Middletown, 1-0 in the North standings, is coming off a thoroughly dominant performance a week ago in Fort Bragg, where the Mustangs opened league play with a 38-14 win over the previously undefeated Timberwolves (1-1, 6-1), the defending NCS Division IV champions.
Kelseyville is also coming off a big win — and an emotional one as well — after laying waste to the Lower Lake Trojans, 60-18, last week in Kelseyville. The game paired new Kelseyville coach Rob Ishihara against his former high school coach, Stan Weiper, who coached Kelseyville for many seasons before moving on to Lower Lake — his alma mater.
Middletown and Kelseyville sport balanced offenses with multiple weapons.
? The Mustangs are led by running back David Pike, who is 18 yards shy of 1,000. His 18 touchdowns — all of the rushing variety — are eight more than any other county player has through the first seven weeks of the season.
— Fullback Jake Davis is playing only his third game of the season because of injury. Against Fort Bragg, he rushed for 70 yards and also caught an 83-yard screen pass for a touchdown. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior could become an even bigger factor if rainy conditions limit both teams” passing games.
— Quarterback Kyle Brown topped 1,000 yards passing in the win over Fort Bragg (1,005) and his 10 touchdowns lead the county.
— Backup fullback Jereomy Hoefer has rushed for 316 yards and five TDs and is also a receiving threat.
The Knights also sports a multi-pronged attack out of their Wing-T offense.
— Quarterback Chris Aguon is a running and passing threat, with 254 yards and four TDs on the ground and 615 yards and six TDs through the air.
— Running back Nick Rodrigues is second to Middletown”s Pike among county rushing leaders with 882 yards, including eight TDs.
— Running back Geno Poloni has 683 yards and 10 TDs, second only to Pike”s 18.
— Wide receiver Mike Davis is the county”s top pass-catcher with 26 receptions for 475 yards and six TDs and is among the county”s most versatile players. He can also run or throw the ball if called upon.
If both offenses are loaded, the question then becomes who can stop the other?
“I think there are two things,” Kelseyville coach Rob Ishihara said. “Whoever wins the turnover battle and whoever plays the best defense is probably going to win the game.
“Middletown”s defense is probably the best defense in our league by far, there”s no way around it, so we have our work cut out,” Ishihara added. “But the kids are excited about the game. It”s the first year in a while that our kids are really believing we”ve a got shot to beat them. I think we do have a shot.”
“We”ve gone from the biggest game of the year to the BIGGEST game of the year,” said Middletown coach Bill Foltmer, who is impressed with what Ishihara has accomplished in his first season at Kelseyville.
“I think Ish is doing a great job with that team,” Foltmer said. “They”re averaging over 30 points a game, so I can tell you we”re not taking them lightly.”
Foltmer said Middletown and Kelseyville have played several common opponents but the scores in those games really don”t mean much.
“They”re winning and they”re believing,” Foltmer said. “They are a confident team now. It”s a big game and you can throw out all that stuff about what happened in other games.”
From scouting and game video, Foltmer said the Knights are more than capable of attacking his defense in a variety of ways.
“They can attack all aspects of your formation,” he said. “And I think their defense played one of its better games last week (against Lower Lake).”
Foltmer”s bottom line about his Mustangs is pretty simple.
“I think we play our game and do what we”ve been doing and we”ll be fine,” Foltmer said. “If they can come down here and beat us on our own field, they deserve the title. But we”ve been pretty tough on our field.”
In other games involving county teams this weekend, the bruised and battered Lower Lake Trojans (0-2, 4-3) visit the Willits Wolverines (0-1, 5-2) tonight in a North game at Maize Field, while the Upper Lake Cougars (0-1, 1-6) host the Clear Lake Cardinals (2-0, 2-5) in a NCL I South battle on Saturday in Upper Lake.
Lower Lake at Willits
Between losses to grades and injuries, the Lower Lake Trojans are in a world of hurt heading into tonight”s game against a physical Wolverines squad.
Lower Lake lost four players to injuries — three of them sustaining concussions — in the loss to Kelseyville. Running back E.J. Jermany, lineman/linebacker Antonio Hines and tight end Justin Simms won”t be in the lineup tonight, according to Weiper. Wide receiver/defensive back Aaron James (ankle) might not be back at all.
“We”re going to be a little thin,” Weiper said. “I don”t know how we”re going to slow them down. We may have to outscore them.”
To do that, the Trojans will likely have to throw the ball and that”s where weather becomes an issue, according to Weiper.
“I”m hoping the weather will hold and not be too bad because we”re going to need to throw it a little,” he said of quarterback Devante Scott, who is also among the Trojans” top rushers with 473 yards.
Coming off back-to-back North losses to Fort Bragg and Kelseyville, the Trojans are pretty much out of the title picture unless an unlikely chain of events occurs. Finishing strong is more on Weiper”s mind these days.
“We”re up against it and we”re really going to have to pull it together,” Weiper said.
Clear Lake at Upper Lake
While the Cardinals and Cougars have a combined three wins between them, two of Clear Lake”s victories have come in NCL I South competition and that”s pretty much all that counts at this time of season. The South winner will get an automatic berth into the Division IV playoffs regardless of its overall record.
And while it”s not Clear Lake-Kelseyville in terms of a rivalry game, Upper Lake coach Airic Guerrero said the Cardinals seem to bring out the best in the Cougars from a mental standpoint.
“The kids are pretty pumped up because it”s Clear Lake,” he said. “They talk about it and it”s fun playing kids you know.”
“There is a rivalry there,” Clear Lake coach Schad Schweitzer added. “If it”s Upper Lake-Clear Lake, there is going to be a lot of hard hits.”
Upper Lake is coming off a 36-8 loss to the Willits Wolverines while Clear Lake beat St. Vincent 26-21 a week ago to improve to 2-0 in the South standings. A victory by the Cardinals would most likely set up a league title showdown Nov. 5 in St. Helena.
Upper Lake is led by running back Jason Harlan, who is among the county”s rushing leaders with 761 yards. He”s been a real bright spot for a team that has lost its last six.
“He”s a good runner who is getting better and better,” Guerrero said. “He keeps his head up, finds the lane, can sidestep well and has decent size.”
To beat the Cardinals, Guerrero believes the Cougars will need to prevent Clear Lake wide receiver Tanner Mansell (12 catches for 304 yards) from burning them deep. They”ll also have to contain quarterback Steve Edwards in the pocket.
“We need to make sure we do not let him scramble and break something,” Guerrero said. “Making them drive is our best chance. We want them to make the mistakes.”
A key for the Cardinals will be the play of their defensive line, according to Schweitzer.
“If the defensive line can do its job, that will give the linebackers a chance to read the misdirection they like to run,” Schweitzer said.
Taking care of the football, especially if the field conditions are poor, is another must, according to Schweitzer.
“We practiced at the muddier end or our field to address those things,” Schweitzer said.
With two league games remaining — Upper Lake and St. Helena — Schweitzer said the Cardinals most likely need to win both to guarantee themselves an automatic playoff berth because of tiebreakers. The other South game this weekend has St. Helena (1-0) home tonight to play St. Vincent (1-1).
