Entering his 37th year as Middletown High School’s varsity football head coach, Bill Folmter (far right) huddles with quarterback Luke Hoogendoorn and the rest of his offense during day one of practice for the 2021 season on Monday at the Middletown High School practice field. Looking on is assistant coach Tom Knowles. After losing the 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mustangs return to he field with a completely new group of varsity players, with no holdovers from the 2019 club that won the North Central League I championship and reached the semifinals of the North Coast Section Division VI playoffs before losing to eventual section champion St. Bernard. When the Mustangs open their 2021 schedule on Aug. 27 at home against St. Mary’s of Albany, coached by former Salesian and Cal-Berkeley great Jahvid Best, who went on to play for the Detroit Lions in the NFL, they will have gone more than 21 months since their last football game. (Photos by Brian Sumpter)
