MIDDLETOWN — Rolling into the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs with nine straight wins, the Middletown Mustangs polished off the final team standing between them and the postseason Friday night by thoroughly trouncing the Willits Wolverines 49-0 in the North Central League I North finale for both of these varsity football teams.
Middletown (4-0, 9-1) clinched the undisputed North championship for the third straight season and has now won 12 consecutive league games dating back to its last loss (to Lower Lake) in 2007. Next up for the Mustangs is the opening round of the playoffs against a team to be determined. The section will seed the Division IV field — which can have as many as 16 teams — on Sunday. Middletown is most likely looking at a seeding in the vicinity of 3-5.
“I don”t know how it”s going to work out and it really doesn”t matter,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. “Only Salesian is up there ahead of us as a league champion, so as long as we don”t play them in the quarterfinals (second round), the other teams are going to have to come to us (at Middletown).”
League champions, even if they are lower seeds, host at-large teams in most NCS playoffs games.
While the Mustangs were adding more team glory to their football program on Friday night — as well as another league pennant — senior running back David Pike added a few more lines to his ultra-impressive 2010 resum? by rushing for 131 yards and four touchdowns on runs of 7, 7 28 and 8 yards, making him Lake County”s all-time single-season rushing TD leader with 29. Kelseyville”s Jared Holley held the old record with 28 in 1998.
“It was something we kind of went after, I can”t deny that,” Foltmer said of the county TD record. “But it”s not like were handing him the ball at the 1-yard line every time.”
Pike played less than a half before retiring to the bench. He has 1,373 yards on the season and his 182 points scored are just six shy of the county-record 188 logged by Holley in 1998.
“He had some great runs,” Foltmer said. “His last one (TD) was a very nice run. He made two defenders miss him at the goal line. He went one way and they went the other.”
Chris Oatman made a one-handed catch on a 40-yard pass play to set up Pike”s record-setting 29th TD of the season.
There are several reasons for Pike”s success this season. For starters, he”s fast and elusive, but he also has plenty of help.
“No. 1 he has a pretty gosh darn good line in front of him,” Foltmer said. “And he has a big back (fullback Jake Davis) blocking for him. People are not just keying on him. They have to keep an eye on Davis, too, and Jereomy Hoefer.”
Middletown”s defense logged its sixth shutout of the season, holding the Wolverines (1-3, 6-4) in check all night. Willits never moved the ball across midfield against the Mustangs” first-string defense. One drive in the second half against the Middletown reserves did get inside the 20, but that was it.
Middletown has allowed just 85 points this season and 57 of those came in a week-one loss to Salesian. Overall the Mustangs have outscored the competition 462-85.
“We were ready for their toss offense but they threw the spread at us,” Foltmer said of the Wolverines. “We adjusted.”
All of Middletown”s scoring came in the first two quarters. Pike sandwiched 7-yard runs around a Kyle Brown 18-yard touchdown pass to Connor Chick in the opening period to open up a 21-0 lead. The Mustangs added another 28 points in the second quarter on Pike 28- and 8-yard runs, a Hoefer 4-yard run, and a 25-yard interception return by Andre Fernandez, his second interception return for a touchdown this season. Fernandez had two picks on the night.
Notes: The Mustangs are 4-0 at home since the Middletown High field was renamed Bill Foltmer Field on Oct. 1 … Foltmer is now 213-98-1 lifetime, including a 194-76-1 record since first season at Middletown in 1985. He should record his 200th Middletown win next season … Pike is closing in on the school”s single-season rushing mark of 1,539 yards by Thomas Schmitz (2001). He needs 167 more yards to break that record … The NCL I North could have four teams in the Division IV playoff field (Middletown, Fort Bragg, Kelseyville and Willits) ? Luke Parker had two more sacks, giving him a county-leading 12, two more than teammate Hoefer and Kelseyville”s Mike Allen.
