MIDDLETOWN — St. Helena kept blitzing as the Middletown Mustangs were attempting to generate a passing game Friday in a battle of undefeated junior varsity football teams at Bill Foltmer Field.
Middletown coach Tony Hart finally gave in.
“We just kept giving the ball to Victor,” Hart said of running back Victor Montanez.
Good move.
Montanez rushed for 249 yards on 24 carries and scored all three of Middletown”s touchdowns in a 19-7 North Central League I victory that moves the Mustangs to 4-0 in league play and 7-0 on the season. St. Helena falls to 3-1 and 6-1.
“They were blitzing every time,” Hart said. “Josiah didn”t have any time back there.”
Josiah Amos, the Middletown quarterback, was just 2-for-8 for minus-six yards and he completed as many passes to his teammates as he did to the Saints, who had two interceptions.
“We kept handing the ball off to Victor and it kept working,” Hart said. “He averaged 10 yards a carry.”
Montanez scored on a 5-yard run early in the second quarter as the Mustangs went up 7-0 and he had a 10-yard run later in the quarter to make it 13-0.
St. Helena scored on 28-yard run late in the first half to close the gap to 13-7.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Mustangs put the game away in the final period on a 40-yard Montanez run.
Brad Beckwith added 88 yards on the ground for the Mustangs and he also led the defense with 13 total tackles.
Other defensive leaders were Wyatt Hall with nine total tackles and Montanez with eight. Cody Chorjel, Barrett Southern and Anthony Guzman had interceptions.
Middletown returns to action Friday night in Kelseyville.
In other JV football action Friday:
Lower Lake 22, Clear Lake 6
At Lakeport, Johnny Egger scored on runs of 22, 6 and 3 yards as the Lower Lake Trojans spoiled the Clear Lake Cardinals” homecoming at Don Owens Stadium.
Egger”s 22-yard run came in the first quarter after he returned a punt to the Clear Lake 45-yard line.
The Trojans added to their 6-0 lead in the second quarter as Egger and Jon Deakins alternated carries while driving their team down the field. Egger scored on a 6-yard off-tackle play and Lower Lake added the two-point conversion run to go up 14-0.
Lower Lake was threatening again right before halftime and the half ended when a fourth-and-eight pass from Egger to James Clark fell incomplete in the end zone.
The Trojans pushed their lead to 22-0 as time expired in the third quarter on Egger”s 3-yard TD run and his ensuing conversion run
Clear Lake”s Garrett Harwood returned the kickoff to the Lower Lake 43 as the fourth quarter opened. The Cardinals drove the ball to the 6, getting a key 12-yard pass from Adrian Adams to Harwood on a third-and-five play to keep the drive alive, and Gabe Wolfin capped the series when he scored on a third-and-goal run to make it 22-6.
Wolfin finished with 62 yards on 10 carries for Clear Lake while Harwood added 41 yards on seven carries.
On defense, Marty Sugimoto led the Cardinals with six solo tackles and two assists.
“Sugimoto stepped up and played a great game for us on defense,” Clear Lake coach Tom O”Rourke said. “We moved the ball well again and I was really happy with the way Harwood and Wolfin were running, but we just couldn”t convert the drives into points.”
Clear Lake travels to St. Helena on Friday.
