LAKE COUNTY — Middletown draws a familiar foe tonight in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division IV football playoffs while Upper Lake meets a foe that will become all too familiar in the years to come in a quarterfinal-round game tonight in Division V action.
A second night of football under the lights takes place Saturday when Kelseyville travels to Forestville in Sonoma County to take on El Molino in a first-round Division IV game at 7 p.m.
Winners advance to the next round of playoffs the weekend of Nov. 26-27 — quarterfinal round in the 16-team Division IV bracket and semifinal round in the eight-team Division V bracket.
Middletown
Middletown (9-1) plays St. Helena (5-5) in an all-NCL I showdown tonight at 7 p.m. at Bill Foltmer Field. The host Mustangs, winners of nine straight, are the NCL I North champions for a third year in a row and this year”s No. 4 seed. St. Helena won the NCL I South and is the lowest seed in the Division IV field at No. 13 (the 16-team bracket includes byes for the top three seeds).
Middletown and St. Helena are meeting for the second time this season. They last squared off Oct. 15 in NCL I interlock action at St. Helena and the Mustangs cruised to a 40-7 win, one of only four regular-season games in which they did not shut out their opponent. Even so, it was a dominating victory as Middletown”s first-string defense held St. Helena without a first down in the first half and had a 40-0 lead before the Saints finally scored in the fourth quarter, a touchdown set up by a mishandled punt snap.
Middletown”s offense threw a balanced attack at the St. Helena defense, rushing for 228 yards and five TDs and passing for 190 yards and another TD, but also had one of its worst games in terms of penalties.
Running back David Pike rushed for 89 yards on 16 carries with three touchdowns and enters the postseason with 1,373 yards and a Lake County-record 29 rushing TDs.
The Oct. 15 game also marked the return of fullback/middle linebacker Jake Davis to the lineup and his 6-foot-2, 220-pound presence was felt immediately, according to Middletown coach Bill Foltmer, who said the intensity of the defensive unit”s play increased a couple of notches right away.
It”s now five weeks later and Davis is an even bigger force for the Mustangs, not only on defense but also on offense although his late start because of a broken jaw hasn”t allowed him to approach the kinds of numbers he put up last season — 909 rushing yards and a then-school record 23 rushing touchdowns since eclipsed by Pike.
“He”s going to be a bigger factor,” Foltmer said. “His confidence and conditioning are better. The first couple of games back he was getting tired late in games, but not now. He”s also getting some of his agility back ? he was kind of tight his first two games.”
While the Mustangs are known best for their ground game, the passing game has been productive. Junior quarterback Kyle Brown has completed 67 of 115 passes (58 percent) for 1,190 yards, 12 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
“The last two weeks we”ve put plenty of time into the passing game,” Foltmer said. “I feel it”s there if we need it. When we had to open it up against Salesian (in week one) Kyle had a real good game. We just haven”t had to open it up much.”
Foltmer said he isn”t sure what approach the Saints will take against his defense tonight after watching recent game films of their wins over Clear Lake and Upper Lake.
“They went after Clear Lake more with their running game but against Upper Lake they went after them with their passing game,” Foltmer said. “We”re prepared for both.”
St. Helena didn”t have wide receiver Peter Del Bondio when the teams first met on Oct. 15 and he definitely makes a difference in the Saints” offense and defense. A week ago in a 63-18 rout of Upper Lake Del Bondio scored five touchdowns — three receiving, one rushing and another on an interception return.
“They”ve routed three of their last four opponents, they won their league and they”re feeling confident,” Foltmer said of the Saints. “And to tell you the truth, when we played them (on Oct. 15) it was one of our more flatter games. You tend to look at the things you don”t well in games like that but maybe you have to give credit to the other team.”
The Middletown-St. Helena winner draws the winner of Saturday”s first-round game between Kelseyville and El Molino.
Middletown is 3-1 against other teams in the Division IV field (wins over St. Helena, Kelseyville and Fort Bragg and a loss to No. 3 seed Salesian), while St. Helens is 0-3 (losses to Middletown, Kelseyville and Fort Bragg).
Kelseyville
The 12th-seeded Kelseyville Knights (7-3) have moved the football in every game but one this season (a 56-0 loss to Middletown being the exception) and will try and keep that streak alive Saturday night against the fifth-seeded El Molino Lions (6-4) of the Sonoma County League.
Rather than moving the ball, a bigger concern for the Knights is defending El Molino”s passing attack, which boasts one of the top quarterbacks in the Redwood Empire in Mike Pierson, who has thrown for 1,554 yards and 16 TDs.
Kelseyville counters with a solid running attack led by Nick Rodrigues (1,133 yards, 11 TDs) and Geno Poloni (920 yards, 12 TDs).
Kelseyville is 1-2 against other teams in the Division IV field (win over St. Helena, losses to Middletown and Fort Bragg), while El Molino is 1-1 (win over No. 6 seed Fortuna and loss to No. 1 seed Healdsburg).
Upper Lake
Say what you want about the Cougars” 1-9 record, they”re in the Division V playoffs with a chance to rinse away the bad taste the regular season left in their mouths. Step one is tonight in Tomales (8-2) against the Braves, champions of the NCL II South. While Upper Lake got run over by the big boys in the NCL I North during interlock action, it fared considerably better in the South despite an 0-4 record. The only South team that completed outclassed the Cougars was St. Helena.
Tomales lost to the best two teams it faced this year — McKinleyville and St.Vincent — and both of those opponents won only three games. The Braves” record also includes two forfeit victories (over Round Valley and Mendocino) and a 52-6 win over Calistoga, the same team that Upper Lake beat for its only win to date (by a 27-0 final score).
St. Vincent (3-7), the No. 2 seed in Division V, beat No. 3 Tomales 35-8 back on Sept. 11. A little more than a month later St. Vincent defeated Upper Lake 27-6 in NCL I South action.
So while the game may look like a mismatch if you only compare overall records, it”s definitely a winnable contest for the Cougars, who will be seeing a lot of Tomales and St. Vincent in the years to come because of league realignment. Starting next year Upper Lake will join Tomales, St.Vincent and Calistoga in the newest version of the NCL II, and tonight”s playoff game could serve as the Cougars” calling card into their new league.
There”s definitely some pressure for Upper Lake to win now given how dominant the Cougar JVs have been the last two seasons, including this year”s 10-0 club.
The Tomales-Upper Lake winner moves on to next weekend”s semifinals against the St. Vincent-Calistoga first-round winner.
