MIDDLETOWN — Middletown High School junior varsity football head coach Tony Hart said he would have been happy with a 20-13 halftime lead Friday night against the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
That his players provided him with considerably more than that — 35-13 — paved the way to a 41-20 victory in the North Central League I game at Bill Foltmer Field.
“It was fun,” Hart said of the Mustangs” four-touchdown scoring spree in the second quarter, the final two of which came in the last two minutes.
Middletown, now 3-0 in the NCL I standings and 6-0 overall, trailed 13-7 before its offense came on line — and Fort Bragg began to unravel. Josiah Amos” 15-yard pass to Nate Snodgrass and Allman Lichtendahl”s extra-point kick put the Mustangs in front to stay at 14-13. Middletown added to its lead a short time later as Brad Beckwith broke loose on a 35-yard touchdown run to make it 20-13.
And that”s where it looked like the half would end.
Turnovers by the Timberwolves, who lost five fumbles in the game, turned things around in a hurry as the Mustangs got the ball back with good field position and quickly scored on a 34-yard pass from Amos to Anthony Guzman. Snodgrass caught the conversion pass from Amos to make it 28-13.
On the ensuing kickoff, Fort Bragg tried a bit of trickery with a reverse handoff only to fumble the ball away. The Mustangs took over and scored on a 22-yard pass from Amos to Guzman, Lichetendahl added the PAT to make it 35-13.
Middletown scored again in the fourth quarter on a Victor Montanez 68-yard run to push its lead to 41-13.
Montanez finished with 155 yards on 11 carries and Beckwith, who opened Middletown”s scoring with a 38-yard run in the first quarter, had 96 yards on only five carries. Amos completed all 11 of his passes for 143 yards. Guzman caught six passes for 89 yards and Snodgrass had 54 yards on five catches.
The Mustangs” leaders on defense were Cody Chorjel with eight total tackles and Beckwith, Guzman and Montanez with seven tackles apiece.
Middletown hosts another 6-0 team Friday night as the St. Helena Saints visit for a first place showdown in the NCL I standings. Action kicks off at 5:30 p.m. The varsity game follows.
Willits Wolverines 26,
Clear Lake Cardinals 0
LAKEPORT — The Clear Lake Cardinals made some noise early before falling to the Willits Wolverines 26-0 in a North Central League I junior varsity football game Friday night at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
Clear Lake mounted a long drive on its initial possession and had a second-and-three from the Willits 12-yard line when things began to unravel. Quarterback Adrian Adams, who completed passes of 20 and nine yards to wide receiver Damian Lopez on the drive, was sacked for a 12-yard loss. Adams got seven of those yards back with a scramble on third down, but he was sacked again on fourth-and-long as the Wolverines took over on downs.
Willits had the lead four plays later, the final one a 47-yard touchdown run. The Wolverines added the two-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead.
“It was the exact play we prepared for all week, but we didn”t do a good job of recognizing it and they blocked it well,” Clear Lake coach Tom O”Rourke said of the touchdown run by Willits” wingback.
Clear Lake moved the ball back into Willits territory on its next possession but again lost the ball on downs.
Willits added to its lead late in the second quarter on a 43-yard pass to go up 14-0.
Just as in the first half, the Cardinals opened the second half with a drive into Willits territory only to come away empty as the Wolverines picked off a Clear Lake pass. Two plays later Willits scored on a 49-yard run up the middle for a 20-0 lead.
Clear Lake”s best scoring opportunity occurred early in the fourth quarter as running back Garrett Harwood was stopped just short of the goal line on a fourth-and-goal run.
Willits scored on a long pass with 2:45 remaining to open up a 26-0 lead.
“We were shifting some players around at that point and just had a breakdown on assignments,” O”Rourke said.
Adams finished the game 5-for-9 passing for 82 yards and Lopez caught all five passes. Harwood ran for 46 yards on nine carries.
Clear Lake”s leader on defense was Lindsay Williams with five solo tackles and four assists.
“We moved the ball really well, we just couldn”t finish the drives, which was frustrating for us,” O”Rourke said. “We did do some things well and Lindsay Williams probably had his best game of the year on both sides of the ball. So it gives us something to build on for next week.”
Clear Lake hosts Lower Lake on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. It”s the Cardinals” homecoming. The varsity game follows.
