MIDDLETOWN — There is no cure for snakebite. Not, at any rate, for the kind of snakebite the Middletown Mustangs experience every time they play Salesian. The Mustangs lost yet another close encounter to Salesian in their Friday night opener. This time it was 7-3 at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown.
But then again maybe no one can beat the Pride (2-0). No one has for its last 23 straight games, a streak dating back to early in the 2010 season.
The Mustangs (0-1) certainly had a shot at ending Salesian”s remarkable streak on Friday night when they took a 3-0 lead into the halftime intermission. And in addition it looked like the Pride itself was a little snake bit. For the night they were inside the Middletown 10-yard-line on four occasions but came away with only one touchdown, scored by senior Micahel Page on a 1-yard run with 6:44 left in the third quarter.
The Pride TD capped a 77-yard, nine-play drive and overcame the 3-0 lead that Middletown established on Tyler Drew”s 22-yard field goal with 5:22 left in the first half. The 3-pointer came at the end of an 11-play, 91-yard drive, which was the only drive in which Middletown produced points.
By the same token, Salesian had a 13-play drive from its own 37 to the Mustang 9 and came away empty.
The game produced an oddity when the 5-foot-9, 165-pound Page, in the style of the Pride”s Jahvid Best of a few years ago, piled up astronomical rushing numbers — 252 yards in 21 carries — but scored only one TD.
Coach Bill Foltmer, who schedules Salesian as an opening game just to see how his Mustangs stack up against a good team, didn”t know how to read Friday night”s game.
“Salesian has a tough defense,” he said, “but we moved he ball at times. We got a couple of turnovers and we were doing the things to win the game. We had a good defense, but offensively we had a few times when guys were there and we didn”t get the ball to them. We also missed a few blocks .”
Could Middletown quarterback Ben Pike”s 5-foot-8 height be a reason for missing receivers in that he couldn”t see them?
“A little bit,” Foltmer replied. “Being a short quatertback is always a disadvantage, but Ben also threw some nice balls and he was able to keep our one drive going. We only got three points out of the (expletive) thing, but it was a nice drive. He hit the tight end over the middle.”
Foltmer said the next two or three games that Middletown and Salesian play will provide a reading on what the near miss on Friday night means. Considering Middletown”s next game is at Upper Lake, which walloped Kelseyville 52-6 on Friday night, it should provide a barometer.
