Middletown shuts out Lower Lake to improve to 9-0 on the season
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LOWER LAKE >> The North Central League I junior varsity football championship is the exclusive property of the Middletown Mustangs following a 41-0 road victory Friday evening against the Lower Lake Trojans at Gordon Sadler Field.
Middletown (7-0 league, 9-0 overall) can cap a perfect season to this point with a home win next Friday against Clear Lake (0-6, 0-8) in in its season finale at Bill Foltmer Field.
The Mustangs wasted no time building a lead against Lower Lake (1-5, 3-5), striking for 20 first-quarter points. Middletown scored right before halftime to go up 27-0, driving 70 yards and using up almost no time on the clock thanks to completed passes where the receiver alertly got out of bounds to stop the clock, team timeouts and a big, big mistake by the game timekeeper who didn’t start the clock on a play that used up almost 12 seconds. Had that time run off the clock, there would have been no time left for Middletown quarter Kolton Costlow to complete a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jay Lee, who then kicked the extra point.
It was one of two touchdown passes for Costlow, who completed five of six passes for 115 yards. The other was a 49-yard pass to Colton Karp in the first quarter that accounted for the Mustangs’ first points. Esteban Muniz added a 10-yard scoring run a few minutes later.
Karp had two catches for 86 yards and also rushed for 12 yards. He had a big play on defense, too, returning an interception 73 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter as the Mustangs went up 20-0.
A pair of 11-yard touchdowns, by Luke Mace in the third quarter and Dre Goins in the fourth quarter, added to the Middletown lead in the second half.
Costlow led the team in rushing with 62 yards on five carries. The Mustangs rushed for 165 yards overall.
Ryder Steffen had four catches for 63 yards for the Trojans, who managed just 109 yards of offense.
Mace led the Mustangs with seven total tackles, Karp had six and Goins and Diego Pimentel five apiece. Gavion Elliot had a 16-yard interception return.
Lower Lake remains home next Friday to play Kelseyville (3-2-1, 3-3-1).