MIDDLETOWN — Bring your thumb and index finger together as close as possible without letting them touch and that miniscule sliver of daylight you see is all that separated the Middletown Mustangs from a berth in the CIF State Division IV Championship game in 2010.
Middletown fell 28-21 in overtime to Salesian in the North Coast Section Division IV finals, a loss that cost the Mustangs what would have been the first appearance by a Lake County team in the state finals.
Middletown”s only two setbacks in 2010 both came to Salesian ? in a 57-52 shootout in week one and again in the sectional championship game in week 14. The second meeting ? and loss ? was certainly the most painful as the Mustangs held a 21-7 lead with less than eight minutes to play in regulation.
“I”ve relived it,” said Middletown coach Bill Foltmer, who is the Record-Bee”s Coach of the Year in boys” sports for the 2010-11 season. “I”ve analyzed that game, the things I might have done different and several things could have changed the whole complexion of that game. But in the end that”s all you can do … and you move on.”
Carrying a senior-laden roster loaded with talent and experience, the Mustangs posted a 12-2 record in 2010, including sectional playoff wins over St. Helena, El Molino and Healdsburg. In addition to winning another North Central League I North title, the Mustangs played their way into a fifth NCS title game (they won the old Class A crown in 1997, 1999 and 2001 and lost in the Class A finals in 1991), tied a school and county record for most wins in a season (12, matching the number of wins by the Mustangs” 12-0 team in 2001), and posted eight shutouts in 14 games.
While the cast of standouts was a long one, two who stood out were NCL I North MVP on offense David Pike, a running back, and NCL I North MVP on defense Jake Davis, a middle linebacker who missed the first half of the season with an injury. Pike rushed for 1,810 yards and 33 touchdowns, both school records, and scored 36 TDs overall during the season.
Foltmer, who was the guest of honor on Oct. 1 as Middletown High School honored its longtime coach by naming the field after him, is 216-99-1 (.685) in 30 seasons of high school coaching, the last 26 at Middletown. He has won 17 league championships at Middletown, 14 of them undisputed, and is among the Redwood Empire”s all-time winningest coaches. He is just three wins shy of 200 career victories at Middletown (he went 19-22 in four seasons at Princeton High School in Glenn County).
“You don”t get to this point without having talented kids and without a talented group of hard working assistant coaches,” Foltmer said. “I”ve been lucky to have both.”
In the true spirit of what makes a coach like Foltmer tick, the last thing on his mind these days is what his team achieved last season. With so many seniors (18) on his 2010 roster, Foltmer”s only concern in the here and now is how he”ll replace all those players, most of them starters, for the upcoming 2011 campaign.
“We”re going to be OK,” he said.
