MIDDLETOWN >> Thanks but no thanks. That was Middletown High School’s response to St. Bernard Academy, the team the Mustangs (6-4) are heading north to play on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division V football playoffs.
It’s not that Middletown head coach Bill Foltmer didn’t appreciate the Crusaders’ generous offer to give up their homefield advantage on Saturday out of respect for what the Mustangs have endured this season because of the Valley Fire on Sept. 12-13. Foltmer did appreciate it, very much so. However, the 31-year coaching veteran also realizes how hard it is to earn a high seed and believes the Crusaders, the No. 2 seed with a 9-1 record, are entitled to play at home, something they’ve earned for both themselves and their fans.
“We don’t want to take away from what their kids have earned. We appreciate the gesture, but they deserve that homefield, and we’re not going to take it away from them,” Foltmer said after Middletown punched its quarterfinal-round ticket with a 47-0 win over Willits on Friday night in a first-round game at Bill Foltmer Field.
Middletown vs. St. Bernard is one of four Division V quarterfinal-round games taking place on Saturday. Also playing at 1 p.m. is No. 9 Stellar Prep (7-3) at No. 1 Berean Christian (9-1). Two 7 p.m. starts feature No. 5 Salesian (4-6) at No. 4 Valley Prep (8-2), and No. 6 Ferndale (7-4) at No. 3 John Swett (9-1).
The Middletown-St. Bernard and Ferndale-John Swett winners meet in the semifinals the weekend of Nov. 28-29.
Following are some of the highlights and a few of the lowlights from Week 11 of the high school football season:
Statistics
Rushing — Middletown’s Noah Holguin rushed for a season-best 186 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns in a first-round win over Willits. Gabe Guzman added 89 yards on three carries with a TD, Ty Chorjel finished with 87 yards on 14 carries, and John Kelley had 65 yards on four carries with three TDs (scoring on his first three runs of the night).
Passing — Middletown starting quarterback Rob Carey completed only one pass, but it was for a touchdown. His 61-yard bomb to tight end Stephen Amos late in the first quarter gave the Mustangs a 27-0 lead.
Special teams
Kicking — Rob Carey converted four of his six extra-point tries against Willits.
Returns — Ty Chorjel returned the opening kickoff 31 yards to give Middletown solid field position on its first possession.
Didn’t fool anyone — Trailing 47-0 early in the third quarter, Willits’ Justin Thom thought he might catch the Mustangs napping as the Wolverines set up to punt the ball, but Thom’s pass was intercepted by Gabe Guzman.
Highlights
Rout from the word go — Middletown accumulated 216 rushing yards in the first quarter against Willits.
Say what? — Middletown outgained Willits 467-32 on the ground.
Three touches, three TDs — John Kelley’s first three carries of the night against Willits resulted in TD runs of 20, 12 and 18 yards, all in the first quarter and on consecutive Middletown possessions.
Sack attack — Middletown’s Dean Bradley registered two of the Mustangs’ three sacks against Willits.
Speaking of defense — Willits gained just 20 yards in the first half and had one first down.
6-for-6 — Middletown scored touchdowns on its first six possessions of the first half. It would have been 7-for-7 but the Mustangs did everything they could NOT to score right before halftime, including taking two delay of game penalties while milking the game clock.
90-8 — The margin by which Middletown outscored Willits in their two meetings this season.
Giving up — When Middletown quarterback Rob Carey and tight end Stephen Amos hooked up on their 61-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, the player that Amos beat stopped pursuing and started walking toward the Willits bench.
Not even against the JV team — Willits had the ball first-and-goal at the Middletown 4-yard line late in the the fourth quarter and couldn’t score against a combination of Mustang reserves and junior varsity call-ups.
Streaks — Middletown has won four straight and is now 4-0 since former NFL head coaching great Bill Cowher visited the campus and gave an inspirational speech to the Mustangs. Willits, after a 4-0 start to its season, finishes 5-6.
All-NCL I battle — Fort Bragg beat St. Helena 28-21 in the opening round of the Division IV playoffs on Friday night in Fort Bragg, the second time in three weeks the NCL I champions defeated the Saints. Next up for Fort Bragg (11-0) is No. 1 seed Marin Catholic (9-1).
All-County team — Working on it now.
K-Town is pennant town — Kelseyville won four league pennants during the fall sports season — varsity volleyball, varsity boys’ soccer, varsity boys’ cross country and JV football.
Hoop Classic — The Record-Bee’s 22nd annual Hoop Classic basketball tournament for varsity and junior varsity boys’ teams from Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Middletown takes place Dec. 17-19 at Middletown High School. Middletown last hosted the tournament in 2003. Kelseyville hosts the tournament in 2016 (the tournament schedule is on Page A7).
