WILLITS — Kailer Collicott”s 35-yard touchdown pass to running back Wyatt Sanderson with 6:38 left in the game erased a 7-6 Middletown lead and lifted the Willits Wolverines to a hard-fought 12-7 victory over the Mustangs in North Central League I varsity football action Friday night in Willits.
Middletown (1-1 league, 2-3 overall) drove to midfield in the final minutes but lost possession on downs when Willits stuffed a fourth-and-two run. The Wolverines (2-0, 4-1) took over and converted one key first down to keep the clock running. While the Mustangs did get the ball back with 40 seconds remaining, they couldn”t do anything with it.
“Willits is a good football team and they made the plays they needed to make and we weren”t able to ? and that”s what it comes down to,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. “That”s two games we”ve had against toss (offense) teams and we”ve come up a little bit short each time,” Foltmer said of Friday”s loss as well as an 18-14 setback to Upper Lake three weeks ago.
Foltmer said he was expecting a higher scoring game but credited his defense for holding the Wolverines to their lowest point total of the season.
“The offense is what let us down tonight,” Foltmer said. “We were sloppy with penalties, missed blocks. It was a sloppy offensive effort for us.”
Willits opened up a 6-0 lead in the second quarter on a Sanderson 2-yard run. Middletown answered a few minutes later with a DJ Brookshire 2-yard run and Tyler Drew”s extra-point kick gave the Mustangs a 7-6 lead.
While Willits” first touchdown came out of its toss offense set, the game-winning score in the fourth quarter was out of the Wolverines” spread formation.
“Sanderson broke two tackles,” Foltmer said of the winning touchdown pass.
Drew”s 69 yards on 14 carries led Middletown”s running attack. Quarterback Kyle Brown completed 4 of 11 passes for 70 yards.
