MIDDLETOWN — Heartbreak has marked the Middletown-Salesian football playoff rivalry down through the years … and all of that heartbreak has been at the Mustangs” expense.
Middletown (10-1) gets another shot at the Richmond team tonight when it hosts the Pride (6-5) in the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division V playoffs at Bill Foltmer Field. Kickoff is 7 p.m. The winner advances to the sectional championship game the weekend of Nov. 29-30 and will face the winner of tonight”s other semifinal between Valley Christian (8-3) and Ferndale (8-3).
Tonight marks the third playoff meeting between the two teams since 2008. In 2008, Salesian upset Middletown 22-21 in the quarterfinal round at Middletown High School where Steve Castaneda kicked a 37-yard field goal with 2:39 left. Two years later the teams met in the Division IV championship game in Martinez and the Pride, trailing 21-14 late in the fourth quarter, went on to win 28-21 in overtime.
Now, three years later, the teams meet again and the stakes, while not quite as high in 2010, are considerable. One team will continue on in the postseason and play for a section title — Middletown would be gunning for its fourth overall NCS championship but first since 2001 — and the loser will be done for the year.
“We”ve had a lot of close games and always seem to come out on the short end of the stick,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. “We”re hoping to turn that around.”
Eleven weeks after they first opened the season against each other — Middletown winning 21-14 on Sept. 7 in Richmond only to later forfeit that victory for using an ineligible player — the two teams find their playoff destinies intertwined yet again.
One interesting note going into tonight”s game is that Salesian, 5-5 during the regular season, wouldn”t have qualified for the playoffs without receiving that forfeit victory from Middletown, a win Salesian coach Chad Nightingale didn”t want. He actually wrote a letter to the North Coast Section office asking that Middletown be allowed to keep the win since the ineligible player in question, Middletown kicker Almon Lichtendahl, didn”t influence the outcome of the game.
“As nice a gesture as it was, Chad”s a real smart guy,” Foltmer said of Nightingale, who is a good friend. “He probably knew that we weren”t going to win that appeal.”
While the Mustangs ultimately had to forfeit that game, the only loss on their 2013 ledger to date, Foltmer said it was a game Middletown won and as such a game the Mustangs count as a victory, not a forfeit loss.
“In Middletown it”s a win,” Foltmer said. “In Middletown we”re 11-0.”
In fact, if the Mustangs go on to win the Division V championship, the team banner that will hang from the Middletown gym will reflect that — 13-0 instead of 12-1. “I already told the kids that,” Foltmer said.
A few things have changed in the almost three months since Middletown and Salesian last played. For one, Middletown has senior running back Austin Benson in the lineup this time around. He missed the Sept. 7 game with a concussion that he sustained during the Lake County Scrimmage a week earlier. Benson has played in all 10 of Middletown”s games since then and has rushed for at least 126 yards in all of them. He enters play tonight second in Lake County with 1,544 yards rushing, needing 72 yards to take over the lead from Kelseyville”s Kevin Duty. A threat in all aspects, Benson has 22 TDs rushing and two more receiving.
“Our first game we didn”t have a tailback,” Foltmer said. “We tried to transform (Brad) Bologna. Having Benson back makes a big difference. He”s a quality running back.”
Middletown also was without defensive lineman Travis Titus in week one.
In addition, Middletown”s younger players now are basically veterans with a full year of experience under their belts, according to Foltmer.
As for Salesian, the Pride remain a solid team, well-coached and with plenty of speed, according to Foltmer, but not as much size as in the past.
“Not as big as the past Salesian teams that have been dominating,” Foltmer said. “They”ve made some adjustments (since week one) and are playing their best football of the season.”
The same is true of Middletown, according to Foltmer, who said the Mustangs are at the top of their game right now and hope to remain there for a few more weeks.
“We just need to continue what we”ve been doing,” Foltmer said of the team”s balanced run-pass attack, solid play on defense and mistake-free execution for the most part — few penalties and turnovers.
A moderate amount of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday shouldn”t affect field conditions, according to Foltmer.
“Most of it just soaked in and made the field a little softer,” Foltmer said. “The field is in great shape.”
Preparing for their rematch with the Pride has been a little easier because of the team”s ability to simulate Salesian”s offense in practice, which is largely due to the promotion of several junior varsity players to the varsity squad, namely running back Coleman Drew.
“He”s a quick kid and he has simulated Salesian”s speed pretty well in practice,” Foltmer said. “We have a more quality scout squad with the JV players up.”
As a result, the intensity of this week”s practices has picked up, according to Foltmer.
Middletown”s current crop of seniors, Benson, Bologna, Brad Beckwith and Josiah Amos included, were freshmen back in 2010 when these teams last met in the playoffs. They couldn”t do anything about what happened three years ago but they have everything to do with what happens tonight at Bill Foltmer Field.
“Let”s hope we get a win this time,” Foltmer said.
