MIDDLETOWN >> The first official practice day of the high school football season on Monday marked the 36th straight year — and 32nd at Middletown — that Bill Foltmer has donned whistle, hat and shorts and began the laborious process of putting a team together for a season that starts in just a few weeks.
Foltmer spent four seasons coaching tiny Princeton High School in Colusa County before taking over as Middletown’s new coach in 1985. To put things in perspective, Ronald Reagan was in his second term as President, the 49ers were the defending NFL champions under Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh, and most of the players who joined Foltmer on the practice field Monday wouldn’t be born for another 13-14 years.
As a football program, Middletown was no great shakes when Foltmer took over. A member of the old North Central League II, the Mustangs had their hands full with the likes of Calistoga, Tomales and St. Vincent and they were mostly no match for the other teams in Lake County.
A lot has changed has since then, largely because of the guy in charge.
Middletown, a perennial playoff team and a challenger for the NCL I title just about every year, has owned its county competitors in the 21st century. While that streak won’t hold forever, it’s certainly in place as the Mustangs enter a 2016 season, one that will see new faces in several key positions, not the least of which is quarterback and halfback.
With 254 high school wins to his credit, Foltmer is once again in the beginning stages of moving the pieces around on the chessboard. The Mustangs, new faces or not, won’t shy away from a tough preseason schedule. They open the season Sept. 2 at home against another North Coast Section small school power, the Salesian Pride of Richmond, then hit the road the following week to play Berean Christian of Walnut Creek. Both teams handled the Mustangs in 2015 – Salesian by a 41-20 final and Berean Christian by a 49-22 score.
The Berean Christian game took place on Sept. 10 at Bill Foltmer Field, only hours before the destructive Valley Fire started and went on to devastate the communities of Cobb, Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown. The firestorm destroyed the homes of many Middletown athletes, including a handful of football players, forced others to vacate their still-standing homes for weeks — including Foltmer — delayed the start of the school year and cost Middletown a game off its schedule as the entire south county reeled from the disaster, one that is still being felt and is fresh in the minds of most Lake County residents, especially in those areas most affected.
