LAKE COUNTY >> The Middletown Mustangs would like nothing better than to put a dent in the “ownage factor” that defines their rivalry with the Salesian Pride during the last decade.
Middletown opens its 2016 schedule tonight at home against its Richmond rival, both teams perennial playoff contenders although they won’t meet in the postseason this year.
Salesian (1-0) at Middletown (0-0) is one of four games involving Lake County teams tonight. Also opening their seasons at home are Clear Lake (0-0) against South Fork (0-0) and Kelseyville (0-0) against Healdsburg (1-0), while he Lower Lake Trojans hit the road to play Esparto in battle of 0-1 teams. On Saturday afternoon the Upper Lake Cougars (0-0), co-defending North Central League III champions, host Rincon Valley Christian (1-0).
Salesian at M’town
Salesian and Middletown have played some thrilling regular-season and playoff games the last decade, but it’s the Pride who have found a way to win each of the last 10 meetings, including the 2013 season opener that Middletown actually won on the field 21-14 at Richmond only to forfeit the victory away days later because it used an ineligible player.
Middletown’s last official win was a 49-20 victory at Middletown to open the 2008 season.
The teams have squared off in the postseason three memorable times dating back to 2008, including a 21-14 Salesian overtime victory in the 2010 Division IV championship game at Alhambra High School. The Pride also beat Middletown twice in the sectional semifinals – 22-21 on a late field goal at Middletown in 2008 and 21-13 in 2013, also at Middletown.
“They’ve kind of got ownage on us,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. “It seems like we play them tough almost every time and we’ve had chances to beat them, but it doesn’t go our way for one reason or another.”
A couple of those reasons are clear, according to Foltmer.
“Speed and athleticism,” Foltmer said. “Their speed is tough to simulate in practice and they have so many good athletes that can make plays.”
Foltmer said the 2016 Salesian team is unlikley to be the best squad that school has produced in recent seasons.
“It’s not one of their up years,” Foltmer said. “I know their coach (Chad Nightingale) pretty well and he thinks he’s a couple of years away.”
Whether his Mustangs are up, down or somewhere in between as far as their talent level goes, Foltmer said he enjoys the challenge of playing Salesian in week one.
“I’m going to find out who my tough kids actually are in this game,” he said. “It’s easy to look good against a weak team, but when you play Salesian that’s when you find out who your players are.”
To be effective against the Pride, who have moved up from Division V and into Division IV this year, meaning they won’t see Division V Middletown in the postseason, Foltmer said the Mustangs need to do several things.
Among them:
“We’ve got to do a better job of stopping them on their third- and fourth-down conversions.”
“We need to play disciplined football. What I mean by that is we know what’s coming and we have to be in a position to make the plays.”
“Their wideouts do a good job blocking on their running plays. Our linebackers and secondary need to come off those blocks and get involved in stopping the plays.”
“We’ve moved the ball against them in the past but haven’t come away with much to show for it. We need to score points when we get the ball down there.”
“We can’t give up the big plays. We need to make them chip the ball down the field.”
It won’t get any easier for Middletown in Week 2 when it travels to Walnut Creek to play a Berean Christian team that shut out Cloverdale 48-0 last week.
South Fork at Clear Lake
At Lakeport, Clear Lake first-year coach Mark Cory makes his head coaching debut against the high school he graduated from in 1981.
“We’re ready to go,” said Cory, a longtime assistant coach at Eureka High School. “We get to find out where we’re at.”
South Fork has a roster of approximately 17 players compared to Clear Lake’s 22.
“They’ve got some good players. They’re trying to be better just like us. I really don’t know what to expect,” Cory said.
Clear Lake emerged from the Lake County Scrimmage two weeks ago with no significant injuries, just the usual bumps and bruises.
“We’re healthy,” Cory said. “The kids are excited and they’ve been counting down the days.”
Asked about his expectations for the opener, Cory said, “It would be great to see us come out and enjoy football again, come out with a lot of energy and playing as a team. That’s my mantra. If we do all of those things, it will come out right.
“I’m not really nervous as much as I am curious to see what happens,” Cory added.
Healdsburg at K’ville
Healdsburg opened its season at home with a 23-20 victory over Drake last weekend.
“They definitely are a good team,” Kelseyville coach Erick Larsen said of the Greyhounds, who jettisoned their junior varsity program this season and are some 35 players strong at the varsity level. “They’re going to give us a fight for four quarters, we know that.”
They’re also going to give the Knights a lot of quarterback Levi Yeley, who rallied the Greyhounds from a two-touchdown deficit against Drake.
Yeley, who operates out of a spread offense, completed 12 of 29 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for a team-leading 140 yards on 12 carries with a TD.
“The tough part about them is their quarterback is definitely mobile,” Larsen said. “They also have a shifty back and a good receiver.”
Containing Yeley, which is to say keeping him inside the pocket, is priority one for the Kelseyville defense.
“He throws a good ball, but if you don’t contain him, he’ll take off,” Larsen said.
The Lake County Scrimmage held two weeks ago in Middletown helped Kelseyville identify some of the things it needed to address in practice, according to Larsen, and tonight’s season opener will be another good test.
“It’s a non-league game and we want to find out where are weaknesses are before league starts,” he said.
The Knights are definitely ready to play a game after an offseason of weight training, a month of passing league and now nearly a month of practice.
“You put in all that hard work and you want to see it pay off,” Larsen said.
Lower Lake at Esparto
A 32-0 loss to De Anza of El Sobrante may have been the best thing to happen to the Lower Lake Trojans in their season opener last week at Gordon Sadler Field.
So says Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy.
“Sometimes you need a piece of humble pie to refocus you,” Gaddy said.
“We need to play basic fundamental football, especially on offense,” Gaddy added of multiple visits into the De Anza red zone a week ago that produced nothing on the scoreboard.
“We had four chances to score and didn’t do it,” Gaddy said. “As the game went on we lost our focus.”
The Trojans have been more focused in practice this week, according to their coach.
Two players unable to take part in last week’s opener, running back/linebcker Nick Sani and defensive end Keshaun Bridges, also will make their season debut tonight. Sani, a senior, was a key part of Lower Lake’s offense a year ago. Bridges, only a sophomore, is expected to beef up Lower Lake’s defensive line.
“We could have used Sani last week,” Gaddy said. “He had a leg injury and it was a game-time decision (to keep him out).” The key to beating an Esparto team that lost 35-6 at home to Pierce last week is keeping an eye on the quarterback, according to Gaddy.
“You can’t allow their quarterback to take control of the game,” he said. “He had two big broken plays in that game.”
RVC at Upper Lake
Projected as one of the top teams in the North Central League III this season along with the Calistoga Wildcats, the Upper Lake Cougars open the 2016 season with a big ol’ target on their backs after tying Anderson Valley for the league title a year ago.
“We’ve got to start delivering, that’s for sure,” Upper Lake first-year coach Mike Smith said of his team’s season, home and league opener on Saturday against Rincon Valley Christian, the same team the Cougars beat in week one last year in their eight-man football debut.
“It was an awkward first game for us last year because it was our first year in eight-man football and we didn’t know what to expect,” Smith said. “We’re definitely out of that mindset this year. Basically it’s up to us. There’s nothing we can point to that should be a negative for us.”
With one possible exception.
“They’ve played a game and we haven’t,” Smith said of Rincon Valley’s 19-12 win at home last week in a non-league contest against Trinity Christian. “I think it’s a definite advantage for them. They grinded one out as well, so they have some momentum.”
Both teams can point to players wearing No. 44 as being key to Saturday’s outcome – fullback/middle linebacker Willie Maples for Rincon Valley Christian and fullback/defensive end Jacob Kalawaia for Upper Lake.
“He makes them go,” Smith said of Maples. “It you don’t wrap him up, you’ll just bounce off of him.”
Rincon Valley Christian throws the ball some, according to Smith, but it’s the running game that makes or breaks the Eagles.
“Our focus in practice all week has been eight men to the ball,” Smith said.
While Upper Lake appears to be loaded with weapons on offense, Smith said he’s hesitant to make any comparisons between this year’s offense and last year’s, which was ultra-productive, until they’ve played a few games.
“I think we have more depth and are more diversified, but until I see the product, I can’t really say,” he said.
The Cougars also have a big special team’s threat in kickoff/punt return man Nathan Sneed.
“We have a ton of speed, but speed means nothing unless you execute,” Smith said.
