MIDDLETOWN — It has been a season of patchwork purple for the Middletown Mustangs.
Example: At 2:30 p.m. on Friday, the Mustangs learned who their starting tight end would be for a battle for survival later than night with Fort Bragg in a North Central League I game at Bill Foltmer Stadium. It would be senior co-captain and erstwhile interior lineman Dylan Finley — who confided he had never caught a pass in competition — because the regular operative at that position, Nick Dellia, was handed a one-game suspension for an academic infraction. And Dellia just happens to be, in coach Bill Foltmer”s estimation, his best player.
“That”s kind of how the season”s been going,” Foltmer said. “We”ve been banged up and we had a lot of kids playing out of position.”
It”s no secret that while contending with more than their share of injuries and mishaps, the Mustangs have also played with more than their usual share of mistakes. Friday night was no exception. Middletown had three turnovers and a key penalty that negated a perfect scoring opportunity but still prevailed 7-0 over the Timberwolves.
That Fort Bragg committed more mistakes was a contributing factor. With their second loss in NCL I competition, the Timberwolves (1-2 league, 3-3 overall) were essentially eliminated from the title chase while Middletown stayed alive — barely — with a 2-1 league record. How realistic Mustang chances are rests on next Friday”s hosting of St. Helena (6-0), which shares the front-runner position with Willits. Both teams are 3-0 in league play.
“With all the injuries and everything we”ve got it would take a heck of an effort to beat those guys, but that”s not to say that these kids don”t have it,” Foltmer asserted. “But you know what ? we”re 2-1 and we”re going to be playing St. Helena. But even if we get by St. Helena nothing”s a given for us.”
For sure. Friday night the verdict was not sealed until the final 90 seconds with Fort Bragg driving from its own 3 to the M”town 43 after an interception of a Kyle Brown pass by defensive back Jared Mehtian. But with 1:33 remaining, Finley ran quarterback Norman Bradley out of the pocket and forced him to throw out of bounds on a third-and-six play. Bradley was pressured again by the Mustang pass rush on fourth down and threw the ball away.
The game”s only touchdown came on a 25-yard run by Austin Benson to cap a 67-yard, seven-play drive on Middletown”s first possession of the third quarter. Benson finished with 66 yards on 10 carries while Tyler Drew led the team with 90 on 12 carries.
Other than the early second-half drive, the Mustangs habitually stopped themselves, i.e. on a fourth-and-1 just before the half when a center-to-quarterback snap was fumbled and recovered by the Timberwolves; a holding penalty that negated a first-down run to the Fort Bragg 27 by Benson; and a late-game interception.
But the Timberwolves had their own set of miseries, the most telling a sack of Bradley after Fort Bragg reached the Mustang 10 in the second quarter.
“We played a lot cleaner this week than last week when we had 19 penalties,” said Fort Bragg first-year coach Kevin Costello.
“Thank God, they make more mistakes than us. The last two games we lost (against Upper Lake and Willits) were becasue we made more than the other team,” said Foltmer.
