LAKE COUNTY >> Looking ahead in the playoffs is taboo with most coaches, but if you”re Middletown”s Bill Foltmer, you can”t help but see No. 1 seed Salesian lurking in the shadows as the North Coast Section Division V football playoffs approach.
Middletown-Salesian, nearly a yearly occurrence in the playoffs, could happen in the semifinal round the weekend of Nov. 28-29. Before that, Middletown (7-3) will have to win two games and No. 1 seed Salesian (8-2) one — the Pride has a first-round bye this coming weekend.
While Middletown was the only Lake County team to earn an at-large berth in the 15-team Division V field on Sunday during the section”s at-large and seeding meeting, two other county schools — Lower Lake (5-5) and Kelseyville (5-5) — qualified as at-large teams in the 15-team Division IV field.
Division V
Middletown, the third-place team in the NCL I this season behind co-champs Fort Bragg and St. Helena, drew the No. 4 seed on Sunday. Salesian of Richmond is No. 1, St. Bernard (9-1) of Eureka is No. 2, and NCL I co-champ St. Helena is No. 3.
Middletown hosts NCL II runner-up and No. 13 seed Tomales (7-3) in a first-round game on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bill Foltmer Field. If the Mustangs win, they”ll remain home for the quarterfinals the weekend of Nov. 21 and 22 and play the winner of a first-round game between No. 5 Stellar Prep (7-3) and No. 12 Valley Christian (4-6).
After its first-round bye, Salesian will be home Nov. 22 to take on the winner of a first-round game between Cloverdale (6-4) and St. Vincent (6-4), the Nos. 8-9 seeds, respectively.
Other first-round games this weekend have St. Bernard hosting No. 15 Ferndale (4-6), No. 7 Berean Christian hosting No. 10 California School for the Deaf, St. Helena hosting No. 14 South Fork, and No. 8 Swett hosting No. 11 St. Patrick/St. Vincent (3-7).
All quarterfinal-round games are the weekend of Nov. 21-22 followed by the semifinals the weekend of Nov. 28-29. The championship game is the weekend of Dec. 5-6.
Salesian ended Middletown”s season a year ago with a 21-13 quarterfinal-round victory at Middletown. Their most memorable postseason meeting occurred in 2010 when Middletown, ahead 21-14 late in the fourth quarter, ended up losing 28-21 in overtime to the Pride in the Division IV championship game, costing the Mustangs a berth in the state championship game. In another playoff thriller, Salesian kicked a field goal in the final seconds to beat Middletown 22-21 in the 2008 semifinal round at Middletown.
Division IV
Lower Lake”s quick rebuild under second-year coach Justin Gaddy has produced the Trojans” first playoff appearance since 2007. And if the Trojans can find a way to pull off an upset Friday night when they head north to play Del Norte (8-2) in Crescent City (7 p.m. kickoff), it will mark their first playoff victory since 1992.
Lower Lake is the No. 12 seed. Del Norte, the Humboldt-Del Norte champion, is the No. 5 seed.
If the Trojans get past Del Norte, they”ll return to action the weekend of Nov. 21-22 against either No. 4 San Marin (7-3) or No. 13 Terra Linda (4-6) in the quarterfinals.
Kelseyville, a first-round playoff loser to St. Helena a year ago, draws another Napa County team this time around — No. 3 seed Justin-Siena (7-3) — on Friday night in Napa (7 p.m. kickoff).
The Kelseyville-Justin-Siena winner advances to the quarterfinals the following weekend against the winner of a first-round game between No. 6 Fortuna (7-3) and No. 11 Piner (5-5).
As in Division V, all semifinal games takes place the weekend of Nov. 28-29 with the championship round set for the weekend of Dec. 5-6.
