MIDDLETOWN — Beating their third Lake County opponent in as many weeks, the Middletown Mustangs knocked off the Clear Lake Cardinals 41-13 in North Central League I varsity football action on Friday at Bill Foltmer Field.
The victory leaves the Mustangs (3-0 league, 4-2 overall) as one of only two undefeated teams in the league. The other one, the Willits Wolverines (3-0, 5-1), upset the previously undefeated St. Helena Saints 30-28 on Friday night in St. Helena where the Saints (2-1, 5-1) scored with no time remaining before coming up short on what would have been a game-tying two-point conversion run. Middletown travels to St. Helena next Friday while Willits hosts the Lower Lake Trojans (2-1, 4-2).
Against Clear Lake, Middletown senior running back Nico Barrio (14 carries for 230 yards) scored on runs of 67 and 60 yards in the first quarter while helping the Mustangs build a 34-0 halftime lead.
“They jammed up the middle pretty well,” Middletown coach Bill Foltmer said of the Clear Lake defense early in the game. “He (Barrio) scored on a toss for the first touchdown and on a counter on the second one where he went almost untouched into the end zone.”
A long Middletown drive to open the second quarter ended with a Dillon Tingle 6-yard run to make it 21-0. A pair of Isaac Perez touchdown passes, the first one a 37-yarder to Cheyden Tom and the other a 28-yarder to Justin Urbina in tight coverage, lengthened the Mustangs’ lead.
“He made a nice catch over the Clear Lake safety on a perfectly thrown ball by Perez,” Foltmer said of Urbina’s touchdown, which was set up by a Cardinals fumble.
“The first touchdown to Tom was on play action and he was wide open,” Foltmer added.
“Defensively we had a hard time stopping people,” Clear Lake coach Mark Cory said. “They didn’t do anything that we didn’t expect.”
Clear Lake (0-3, 1-5) had some success moving the ball early but didn’t score until quarterback Darius Ford and wide receiver Travis Howe connected on a 37-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Middletown’s final touchdown came on a Tom 7-yard run in the fourth quarter to make it 41-6. Rolando Amaya’s 12-yard run later in the quarter rounded out the scoring for Clear Lake, which has dropped five straight.
“He’s got a good team and they play hard,” Cory said of Foltmer and the Mustangs.
Tingle finished with 101 yards on nine carries for the Mustangs. Perez attempted only four passes but completed three for 89 yards, including the touchdowns to Tom and Urbina.
Marcks rushed a team-best 75 yards on 16 carries for Clear Lake, which returns home next Friday to play Fort Bragg (1-2, 1-4), a 25-20 winner over Kelseyville (0-3, 1-5) on Friday night in Fort Bragg.
Middletown’s defense registered five sacks of Ford in the win, including two by Jared Pyzer. Playing in his first game back from an injury, Blake Schuster recovered a fumble for the Mustangs, Clear Lake’s only turnover of the night.
Clear Lake’s junior varsity squad won its first game of the season, 16-15, after Middletown missed an 18-yard field goal as time expired. The Mustangs had the ball at the Clear Lake 1-yard line with four seconds left. The kick missed wide right.
