FORT BRAGG >> There”s just no substitute for a ball-hawking defense.
Say all you will about Fort Bragg quarterback Kailor Sullivan and the Timberwolf passing attack, but the Middletown Mustangs and their head coach, Bill Foltmer, know how to win games, big ones and otherwise. They did it again on Friday by beating the Timberwolves 28-19, a victory that included a pair of interception returns for touchdowns and six quarterback sacks.
Sullivan still had a big night, completing 30 of 54 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns, but Middletown (2-0 league, 4-1 overall) was able to overcome an early 13-0 deficit after adjusting its pass coverage.
“We went to more safety help and it kept them from gaining big yards,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said.
Fort Bragg (1-1, 3-2) scored on its first two possessions to go up 13-0 in the first quarter. Middletown closed to 13-7 by quarter”s end on Anthonie Guzman”s 60-yard run. Guzman scored again in the second quarter, intercepting a Sullivan pass and returning it 30 yards, as the Mustangs went in front to stay 14-13, the halftime score.
Middletown pushed out to a 28-13 lead in the third quarter on a Guzman 5-yard run and Wyatt Hall”s 63-yard interception return. Fort Bragg scored on a 6-yard run later in the quarter to make it 28-19.
Standouts for the Mustangs were the aforementioned Guzman, who finished with 185 yards rushing and two TDs and four catches for 43 yards, and defensive end/tacke Stephen Amos, who came off the bench to record two sacks.
“He played well I thought and really stepped it up,” Foltmer said of Amos.
Hall had 70 yards rushing on 15 carries for the Mustangs, who face St. Helena (2-0, 5-0) in a first-place showdown next Friday in St. Helena.
