Offense, defense show up in force for Middletown
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LOWER LAKE >> Confidence can be expressed in a bunch of ways, such as going for it on fourth-and-15 from your own 43-yard line with more than half of the game still to be played.
That’s what Middletown High School head coach Kurtis Woodard did midway through the second quarter Friday night against the Lower Lake Trojans. A pass from quarterback Blake Costlow fell incomplete, allowing the Trojans to take over on downs, but Woodard, whose team was leading 22-0 at the time, had no regrets.
“I’ve got faith in these guys,” Woodard said of the Mustangs, who are blessed with an explosive offense that was on display again Friday for all to see.
Middletown’s defense also had one of its better nights of the season. While Lower Lake’s game plan was to win the battle at the line of scrimmage and make the Mustangs pass the ball more than they wanted, it was Middletown’s line – on offense and defense – that easily won Friday’s battle in the trenches.
“And they’re all coming back (next year),” Woodard said of his linemen.
The Trojans finished with just 44 yards on the ground, and starting quarterback Ashton Hartmann, under pressure much of the night and sacked twice, was just 5-for-11 for 14 yards through the first three quarters, by which time Middletown had built a 34-0 lead. He finished the game 12-for-22 for 78 yards and a touchdown, but most of that came on a late scoring drive against the Mustangs’ reserves, who came within seconds of preserving the shutout bid, which a Hartmann 4-yard touchdown pass to Jason Gandeza ended.
The defensive play of the game for the Mustangs belonged to defensive back Jamisen Jackson, who broke up what would have been a 37-yard touchdown pass from Hartmann to receiver Raijhier McKneely on a fourth-and-14 play in the second quarter with Middletown leading 22-0 at the time.
“Any other year he would be starting at wide receiver for us, but we’re just so deep there,” Woodard said of Jamison. “It’s a tough position to break into on our team right now.”
Linebacker EJ Rose also recovered a fumble that set up Middletown’s final touchdown.
Middletown’s offense did what it almost always does, move the ball rapidly and efficiently. The Mustangs scored four times in five possessions in the first half, including their first three, to open up a 22-0 lead.
Costlow finished the game 6 of 13 for 122 yards and two touchdowns, Nos. 17 and 18 on the season. He also topped 1,000 yards, which was one of his goals before the year started.
The running game produced its weekly dose of damage as well. Trenton Griffith finished with 74 yards and two touchdowns, Tyler Galamay added 89 yards on eight carries, including the run of the night, a 46-yard touchdown on a trap play with 1:20 left in the first half, as the Mustangs moved out to a 28-0 halftime lead.
“It was a twins trap,” Woodard said of the play, which cleared out the middle of Lower Lake’s defense and left Galamay free to accelerate to the end zone once he cleared the line of scrimmage.
Even the team’s second-string offense, which played the final minutes of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter, added a touchdown as Ryan Halverson scored on a 2-yard run with 10:04 left in the game, initiating a running clock.
“They finally got one,” Woodard said of his second-team’s unit quest for a touchdown this season. “I’m glad. They’ve been working hard for that.”
Middletown received the opening kickoff and moved 68 yards in seven running plays to score its first points, a 5-yard Griffith run followed by a Costlow pass to Hayden Xavier on the conversion.
The Trojans picked up one first down on their first possession before being forced to punt and this time the Mustangs moved 67 yards on 12 plays before upping their lead to 16-0 on a 14-yard pass from Costlow to Jon Hawkins, who leapt over Hartmann in the end zone to pull down the ball. The pass to Hawkins on the conversion made it 16-0. John Finney had a 10-yard run prior to the touchdown to give the Mustangs a first down.
“We got punched in the mouth and didn’t respond,” said Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski, who spent nearly his entire postgame speech imploring his players to attend practice so that the team can finish the season strong.
“Not having guys show up (for practice) during the week, it’s tough to prepare for a team,” Jakubowski said. “Middletown is very good team. They have speed and discipline. We really wanted to be that team, but it’s tough when guys are missing practices. Big plays killed us tonight.”
Middletown moved 81 yards in just four plays the next time it touched the ball. After a 15-yard Griffith run and an 11-yard Costlow scramble, Costlow dumped a short pass to Finney two plays later and the sophomore raced down the Lower Lake sideline, almost untouched, for a 55-yard touchdown, boosting Middletown’s lead to 22-0 with 8:41 left in the half.
Finney finished with two catches for 70 yards.
While the Mustangs lost possession on downs the next time they had the ball, Galamay’s 46-yard touchdown run later in the second pushed the Middletown lead to 28-0.
Lower Lake gained just one first down in the second quarter and had the ball in Middletown territory only once when the Mustangs gambled on fourth-and-15 and didn’t get the first down.
Griffith’s 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Halverson’s 2-yard run in the fourth quarter rounded out Middletown’s scoring.
Woodard said he’s happy with where the Mustangs currently find themselves going into next week’s regular-season finale (Middletown has the league bye Nov. 7).
“We’re confident, it’s going good,” Woodard said. “We’re excited for the playoffs (next month).”
Though the Mustangs had it mostly their own way against the Trojans, Woodard said Lower Lake’s run defense did a good job slowing down Griffith early on.
“We wanted Trenton to go off tonight, so give the Lower Lake defense some credit,” he said.
Woodard also praised the play of Lower Lake’s Hartmann in the secondary.
“He was giving us some trouble early on,” Woodard said. “He did a nice job.”
Looking ahead to his Halloween game at home against Clear Lake, Woodard said the Mustangs are eager to take on the Cardinals, a team they lost to three straight years (2021-23) before beating them last season.
“We’re excited for Clear Lake,” Woodard said. “It’s always fun to see those guys.”
The Trojans are hoping to put up a better fight next Friday at home against Kelseyville, according to Jakubowski.
“We’ve got to be able to stop the run, which we didn’t do tonight,” he said.
Middletown beat Lower Lake 40-0 in the junior varsity game to clinch the outright league championship (see related story).
