MIDDLETOWN >> It all starts over for Lake County’s high school football teams and the first players on the field Monday, the first official day of practice for the 2017 season, were the Middletown Mustangs under the charge of Bill Foltmer, who is all about football entering his 33rd season at the school.
Yep, when Bill Foltmer moved from Princeton High School in nearby Colusa County to Middletown to open the 1985 season, Ronad Reagan was President of the United States, the 49ers were defending Super Bowl champions, Shout was the No. 1 song in the country, and cell phones and personal computers were more fiction than fact.
Middletown ushered in the 2017 season with a rare two-a-day practice schedule Monday, meeting in the morning and again in the afternoon. The Mustangs must have 10 practices under their belts before they can compete in the Lake County Scrimmage on Aug. 18 in Middletown and the pair of two-a-day practices they have scheduled for the first week of the season (Monday and Friday) will help them reach that goal. The team also has single practices scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Once the Mustangs start school on Aug. 14 they’ll settle into their traditional after-school schedule.
Foltmer expects to have in the neighborhood of 19 varsity players this season, which is down from past years.
“I like the 11 guys I’ll be able to line up, but it doesn’t leave you much depth,” Foltmer said during the recently completed passing league. “You’re just one injury away from going from a solid starter to a guy who hasn’t played much.”
While the Mustangs took some big hits from graduation after going 7-1 and finishing second in the North Central League I standings behind undefeated champion Fort Bragg in 2016, they also return three linemen who garnered first-team honors on either offense or defense – or both – last season. Colton Hall, who received two-way first-team honors, joins Cameron Ketchum and Devin Ross up front for the Mustangs. Quarterback Luke Holt is also returning.
On the personal milestone front, Foltmer needs eight more wins to notch his 250th victory at Middletown. He enters the season with 242 wins at the school and 261 for his career, which includes four years coaching at Princeton.
Middletown’s varsity squad will be featured in depth in a future edition of the Record-Bee.
