MIDDLETOWN >> Middletown played a solid first half but the Salesian Pride scored 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull away and beat the Mustangs 39-19 in non-league varsity football action on Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown.
“Defensively I didn’t think we played very well at all,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said. “They (Pride) don’t run a lot of different plays … you almost know what’s coming. All the preparation we did in practice to pick up the keys, I was very, very disappointed with how we did. We’ve got a long way to go on defense.”
Middletown (0-1) traded touchdowns with Salesian (2-0) in the first half and trailed 20-19 at halftime. The Mustangs’ lone score in the first quarter came on a John Kelley 10-yard run. In the second quarter, Middletown scored twice through the air on passes of 11 and 17 yards from quarterback Luke Holt, who was making his varsity debut, to veteran wide receiver Robbie Carey.
While the Mustangs moved the ball well on the ground and in the air in the first half, their passing game was almost non-existent over the final two quarters.
“Our blocking kind of fell apart and their pressure hurt us a little bit,” Foltmer said. “I don’t think we completed a pass in the second half.”
Holt finished the Mustangs’ season opener 3-for-15 for 32 yards.
Middletown fared considerably better on the ground where Kelley gained 110 yards on 13 carries while teammate Ty Chorjel added 52 yards on seven carries.
Middletown’s offense didn’t turn the ball over and its defense produced the only turnover of the game, an interception. The Mustangs also had two sacks.
“We didn’t take a physical beating,” Foltmer said. “They just flat out have the team speed on us and that hurt us at times.”
Middletown’s job won’t get any easier a week from today when it travels to Walnut Creek to play a tough Berean Christian squad.
