MIDDLETOWN >> Trying to find the good in the bad is something Middletown High School varsity football coach Bill Foltmer has spent the last few months doing in the wake of the destructive Valley Fire. And he’s pretty good at it.
So it should come as no surprise that a little thing like losing Middletown’s homecoming game — for a second time this season — isn’t about to slow Foltmer or his players one bit as they prepare for another trip to the North Coast Section playoffs.
Clear Lake forfeited its scheduled game with Middletown tonight because it no longer has enough healthy players to field a team. The win gives the Mustangs a final league record of 5-2 and an overall mark of 5-4. All of those losses were to teams also headed to the postseason — Fort Bragg, St. Helena, Berean Christian and Salesian.
The Division V field will be selected and seeded on Sunday, so the Mustangs don’t know who they’ll be playing, when or where.
The Mustangs do know that they are 0-for-2 this season when it comes to holding a homecoming. They originally scheduled the game for Sept. 18 against El Molino, but it was canceled because of the Valley Fire, which broke out on Sept. 12 and heavily damaged the communities of Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake and Cobb, the areas where the majority of Middletown’s players live.
Clear Lake’s forfeit was strike two for homecoming.
“We didn’t lose just one homecoming but two,” Foltmer said.
If ever a school could use a homecoming game, which is more a community event than a sporting one, it would be Middletown this year.
“School and football take their minds off things,” Foltmer said of his players most impacted by the Valley Fire. “School and all the things associated with it, that’s big for the kids. It’s what they talk about. When they’re talking about that, it’s a first step to recovery.”
While the Clear Lake and Middletown junior varsity teams are playing tonight at 7 p.m., providing a truncated version of homecoming, it won’t be quite the same.
It also won’t stop Foltmer from having his Mustangs as prepared as possible for the opening round of the playoffs.
In fact, the extra week off may be a blessing in disguise given that the Mustangs are breaking in a new starting quarterback, Rob Carey, who replaces senior Connor Armstrong.
In other action tonight, Kelseyville (1-5 league, 2-7 overall) hosts Lower Lake (1-5, 4-5) in the league finale for both teams. On Saturday, Upper Lake and Anderson Valley, the NCL III co-champions, square off in the Redwood Bowl at Upper Lake.
Lower Lake at K’ville
Two teams long removed from the league title race close out the regular season and each has a chance to finish the 2015 campaign with a victory — or in the Knights’ case, with two wins in a row following their 26-6 Bass Bowl triumph over Clear Lake last weekend.
Tied at 1-5 in the NCL I standings, the winner tonight also moves out of the league cellar while the loser will share last place with Clear Lake (1-6).
Lower Lake has additional incentive as a win will elevate the Trojans to .500 for the season.
Anderson Valley at Upper Lake
Both the Upper Lake and Anderson Valley eight-man squads went 7-1 in the NCL III standings this season while Anderson Valley finished 8-1 overall. The only black mark on the Panthers’ record is a 34-22 loss at Upper Lake on Oct. 10. The Cougars’ lone setback was a 54-16 loss to Calistoga way back on Sept. 12.
While the Redwood Bowl is merely for show and won’t break the tie between the teams in the league standings – they’ll both receive co-championship pennants – it is an unofficial tiebreaker of sorts given that these schools finished on top of the NCL III standings.
How do you find motivation in a game that is mostly for show?
That’s no problem, according to Upper Lake coach Frank Gudmundson.
“We’ve heard comments from them (Anderson Valley ) that we won by a fluke,” Gudmundson said. “They didn’t have two players the first time we played.”
It’s also true the Upper Lake Cougars weren’t at full strength in that game. Fullback Jacob Kalawaia was out injured as was one of Upper Lake’s top linemen, Francisco Flores. Another key starter, Isaac Nevarez, left at halftime with an injury.
“We’re just gonna play a football game and we’re looking to win by one,” Gudmundson said.
Win or lose, Gudmundson said the Cougars have not only accomplished all of their goals this season, but exceeded them.
After back-to-back winless seasons in 2013 and 2014, the original goal last summer was to win at least one game this year. By the end of the summer practice, Upper Lake had upped its expectations to a .500 record, and after beating Rincon Valley Christian 36-20 in their season opener, the bar was again raised, according to Gudmundson.
“Right after RVC is where the kids started to think they could win this thing,” Gudmundson said.
Calistoga overpowered Upper Lake in week two, but the Cougars’ response was to reel off six wins in a row, including key victories against Anderson Valley and Point Arena.
M’town notes
The Middletown Mustangs are 3-0 since NFL coaching great Bill Cowher, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, visited them last month to deliver an inspirational speech, parts of which aired on the NFL Today broadcast on CBS last Sunday.
In fact, the Mustangs are working on a string of three straight shutouts.
Carey, the team’s new starting quarterback, is getting all the snaps in practice this week after not taking one in quite some time, according to Foltmer.
“There were weeks where he didn’t take a single snap,” Foltmer said.
Carey has all of Foltmer’s confidence.
“He’s a sharp kid, he played there last year and he did a good job when he was in there against Cloverdale (although he didn’t attempt a pass against the Eagles),” Foltmer said. “Right now we’re just getting him on the fast track throwing from the pocket.”
The Mustangs can’t afford to be a one-dimensional offense in the playoffs, according to Foltmer.
“You can’t muscle up on some of these teams in the playoffs. You have to be able to throw the ball a little bit,” Foltmer said.
