Missed scoring chances contribute to loss on the Mendocino County coast
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FORT BRAGG >> Middletown was able to move the ball against the Fort Bragg Timberwolves, but the inability take advantage of scoring opportunities contributed to the Mustangs’ 37-26 loss in North Central League I varsity football action Friday night at Timberwolf Stadium.
Other reasons for the Mustangs’ tough night were a Fort Bragg running game that finished with 322 yards, 258 of those by Alex Nicholson, and an opportunistic Timberwolf passing game that completed several passes in the flat to keep alive Fort Bragg drives.
“No. 5, he’s the real deal,” Middletown head coach Bill Foltmer said of Nicholson, who carried the ball 26 times, including a 52-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that put the finishing touches on Fort Bragg’s third straight league win.
“Their quarterback picked us apart in the flat,” Foltmer added of Fort Bragg junior Dane Salo, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. “We had out outside linebackers squeeze down to help with the run and he just picked up apart in the flat. I don’t think we stopped one pass in the flat.”
It was a rough night for Middletown’s defensive line, according to Foltmer.
“The same guys I have on the offensive line play on the defensive line,” he said. “I thought we played OK on the offensive line, but not on the defensive line. I was really disappointed in the defensive line.”
Middletown (2-4 league, 3-5 overall) moved the ball inside the Fort Bragg 10 four times during the game only to come away with no points.
The game was scoreless until a blocked Middletown punt set up Fort Bragg’s first touchdown of the game, that coming on a Cesar Escobar 6-yard run with 8:09 left in the first half. The Timberwolves added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
Middletown closed to 8-6 – as close as they would be the remainder of the game – on Trenton Griffith’s 8-yard touchdown run with 5:04 left. Escobar’s 11-yard scoring run with 41 seconds to go and Salo’s two-point conversion pass pushed the Fort Bragg lead to 16-6 at halftime.
Fort Bragg (4-2, 5-3) extended its lead to 24-6 late in the third quarter on a Salo 6-yard TD pass to Donovan Ivey, with the same two players hooking up on the conversion pass.
Middletown cut the deficit to 24-12 with 47 seconds remaining in the quarter on Tyler Galamay’s 34-yard touchdown run.
Fort Bragg put the game away midway through the fourth quarter, Jacob Hendricks scoring on a 3-yard run.
A flurry of touchdowns followed in the final minutes, Griffith sandwiching 2- and 60-yard TD runs around Nicholson’s long touchdown run.
Griffith finished with 120 yards on 17 carries while freshman Galamay led the Mustangs with 161 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Kolton Costlow completed three of five passes for 53 yards, two of them to Griffith for 40 yards.
Jacob Pullman’s nine total tackles led Middletown on defense while Saul Garcia added eight more and Kelby Shook seven.
“Offensively I thought we battled pretty well,” Foltmer said. “But Fort Bragg outplayed us up front.”
Middletown remains on the road next Friday to take on Lower Lake (1-5, 3-5). The Mustangs return home Nov. 8 for their league finale against Upper Lake.
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