Late field goals lifts St. Helena over Middletown in NCL I football action
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MIDDLETOWN >> Trenton Griffith rushed for 218 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown that staked Middletown to a 7-0 lead, but it was a 25-yard field goal by Camilo Aguirre with 5:30 left to play that lifted St. Helena to a 9-7 victory over the Mustangs on Friday night in Middletown, spoiling head coach Bill Foltmer’s 40th and final homecoming game at the school.
Middletown (1-3 league, 2-4 overall) once again gave its opponent all it could handle despite missing its two top players – both out for the season with injuries.
“My kids are playing hard, we just don’t have that little bit extra to get there right now,” Foltmer said of life without starting quarterback Blake Costlow (broken wrist) and backup quarterback/wide receiver/kicker Jon Hawkins (wrist). “We’re fighting this battle without being able to use our entire playbook.”
The good news for the Mustangs is that Costlow, Hawkins and Griffith are all juniors who return in 2025 when Middletown breaks in a new head coach. The last time someone other Foltmer coached the team was 1984 (Keller McDonald).
Griffith gave everything he had in another close loss to a North Central League I contender. Middletown’s three league losses to date have come to Kelseyville (4-0), a 24-21 setback; Willits (5-0), a 14-7 defeat; and St. Helena (3-1), the top three teams in the standings.
“It was pretty much a defensive battle,” Foltmer said of the low-scoring affair.
Middletown went up 7-0 late in the first quarter on Griffith’s long touchdown and Hayden Xavier’s extra-point kick. That lead held up until Aguirre’s field goal wiped out a 7-6 deficit at the midway point of the fourth quarter. In between, St. Helena’s Sam Beck (94 yards on 17 carries) scored on a 12-yard run with 3:26 remaining in the third quarter to cut Middletown’s lead to a single point. The extra-point kick failed.
The Mustangs were driving following Aguirre’s go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter, but the possession stalled on downs.
“It was a good, exciting game,” Foltmer said of his battle with St. Helena head coach Erick Larsen, the former head coach at Kelseyville (Middletown and Kelseyville met three straight years – 2016-18 — in the playoffs during Larsen’s tenure with the Knights).
Kolton Costlow, a freshman ineligible to play until Friday night, went 1-for-3 for 13 yards with two interceptions as a quarterback for Middletown, the Mustangs’ first completed pass in three games. Kolton is Blake’s cousin. Colton Karp went 1-for-1 for 12 yards. Griffith and Xavier had the receptions.
Middletown’s other 265 yards of offense came on the ground, most of those by Griffith. Freshman Tyler Galamay added 36 yards on eight carries.
Middletown pulled out the stops for its homecoming celebration as usual, complete with mounted riders and a color guard for the national anthem. Unbeknownst to Foltmer, one of the eight riders was his daughter Kailei, who surprised her dad on his 40th and final homecoming.
“I had no idea,” Foltmer said. “She had been home for three days and didn’t tell me. I had tears in my eyes.”
Middletown remains home next Friday to play Cloverdale (0-5, 1-6). St. Helena hosts Clear Lake (1-3, 1-5) in a rare Thursday night game.
Junior varsity
In a battle of undefeated junior varsity teams, Middletown jumped out to a 26-0 lead en route to a 33-12 win over St. Helena. The Mustangs are now 4-0 in league and 6-0 overall while St. Helena drops to 3-1 in the NCL I standings and 4-2 overall.
Esteban Muniz powered Middletown’s rushing attack with 157 yards on only 10 carries, including touchdown runs of 48, 43 and 28 yards. John Finney added 92 yards on 13 carries, including a 37-yard score, and Jamison Jackson scored on his only carry of the game, a 38-yarder.
Jackson completed his only pass, a 12-yarder to Finney.
Brody Costlow anchored the defense with 14 total tackles with one sack while Cody Perez added seven tackles. Emmitt Lloyd, Luke Mace and Wyatt Harris also had sacks. Finney recovered a fumble.
