Willits (5-1) visits St. Helena (6-0), Cardinals (4-2) call on Mustangs (6-1)
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
MIDDLETOWN >> The Middletown Mustangs do not control their own destiny going into Friday’s round of games that more than likely determine the North Central League I winner this season.
The Mustangs (6-1 league, 7-2 overall) gave up that right after losing 41-34 to St. Helena (6-0, 8-0) on Oct. 3 in St. Helena. How costly that loss will be – both toward the league race and making the playoffs – has yet to be determined. Remember, it was only a year ago that Willits lost just one league game and finished 8-2 overall and failed to qualify for the North Coast Section playoffs, unable to secure an at-large berth in the new world order of “competitive equity playoffs” instituted by the section.
While Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard doesn’t believe that will happen to the Mustangs this year should they also finish with one league and an 8-2 mark, something they’ll achieve by beating Clear Lake at home Friday night, he is not completely sure what will happen if the Mustangs finish second behind the Saints.
The two games of note in the NCL I on Friday night feature Willits (5-1, 7-1) at St. Helena while Middletown hosts Clear Lake (4-2, 4-4). Other action has Kelseyville (2-4, 2-5) at Lower Lake (1-5, 3-5) and Cloverdale (1-5, 2-6) at Fort Bragg (3-3, 3-5). Upper Lake has the league bye.
- If the Mustangs turn back the Cardinals, they’ll be eagerly awaiting the final from Willits-St. Helena. If St. Helena loses, Middletown clinches no worse than a co-championship because its regular season is complete while the other league teams still have another game remaining – Middletown had the league bye Nov. 7.
- If St. Helena wins, the Saints clinch a tie for the title and need only beat Upper Lake (0-7, 0-9) on Nov. 7 in Upper Lake to secure the outright championship and an undefeated season. Middletown would then lock up sole possession of second place with a win over Clear Lake while Willits would be relegated to no better than a third-place finish.
- If Willits and Middletown both win, the likelihood is the league will end in a three-way tie just as long as Willits beats Fort Bragg in its final game Nov. 7.
Clear Lake at Middletown
While the Mustangs have no say in the outcome of Willits at St. Helena, that doesn’t mean the coaches on the Middletown sideline Friday night won’t be checking in on how the Saints and Wolverines are faring.
“I’m sure my guys will be stepping in the background checking the scores,” Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard said. “We’re obviously focused on Clear Lake.”
A Middletown loss to Clear Lake would render academic whatever happens between St. Helena and Willits as far as the Mustangs and the league race are concerned. If they lose, they’re cooked.
Clear Lake beat Middletown three times in a row until last season’s meeting, and that was competitive as the Mustangs prevailed 34-28 in Lakeport.
“Two of the last three years we were the underdogs,” Woodard said. “I think we made the games closer than they should have been.”
Added Woodard of the Cardinals, who have struggled with injuries and player number this season, “They’ve got talent to make plays. They’ve still got Jesse Hayes (senior running back).”
Middletown has done a good job staying focused in practice this week, according to Woodard, and has been able to run a full scout squad all week after elevating junior varsity players to the varsity. Middletown’s JVs received a forfeit win from Clear Lake this week because the Cardinals don’t have enough players to field a team on Friday. That freed up the Middletown JV squad to help out the varsity the remainder of the season.
Woodard said all of the sophomores on the JV squad have the option to suit up with the varsity for the remainder of the season with the caveat that no playing time is guaranteed.
“I told them not to expect playing time because I did not want to mess with the cohesiveness of the varsity,” Woodard said. “But having them up has allowed us to run a scout squad, something that is so underrated.”
The JV call-ups aren’t officially members of the second team, according to Woodard, but afford Middletown a bit of extra depth in the event it is needed.
Clear Lake head coach Augie Perez plans to suit up 14 players for Middletown. The Cardinals never had much depth this season and non-stop injuries have eliminated that, especially on the offensive line.
“We need our offensive line to step up, but that’s hard to do when you have people playing on the line who aren’t linemen,” Perez said.
“The defense needs to do its job,” Perez said. “We need to play better and with more intensity.”
That will be difficult against a Middletown team that has won three straight and seven of it last eight.
“They have a very good team, they’re physical and they run the ball well,” Perez said. “They’ve been trying to pass the ball more, which is scary.”
Senior quarterback Blake Costlow eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark last season and he has plenty of teammates who can catch the ball, including senior wide receiver Jon Hawkins.
“He is quite the freak athlete,” Perez said of the talented and speedy Hawkins, who can jump like a gazelle.
Clear Lake could certainly play spoiler as far as Middletown is concerned and the Cardinals will do their best to keep their own playoff hopes alive. Wins in their final two games would leave them 6-4 overall and 6-2 in league. The Cardinals return home on Nov. 7 to play Kelseyville in Bass Bowl XV.
Middletown and Clear Lake kick off at 7 p.m. sharp because of the JV game forfeiture. It’s senior night for the Mustangs, who will honor their nine seniors, including Hawkins, Costlow and running back Trenton Griffith.
Kelseyville at Lower Lake
Two teams long ago eliminated from the league race play at Gordon Sadler Field as Kelseyville and Lower Lake collide.
The Knights still can finish .500 in league play by winning their final two games and that’s certainly worth something during a rebuilder/transition season. Likewise, the Trojans, at 3-5 overall, could salvage a .500 season by beating Kelseyville and Cloverdale in their final two games, which would snap a string of three straight losing seasons.
“We didn’t have the depth for a couple of positions last week against Middletown that really hurt us,” Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said of a 40-6 home loss to the Mustangs a week ago. “We have a couple of guys back this week that gives us a little more depth on the line.”
Middletown built a big early lead last week against Lower Lake and the Trojans never recovered.
“We got shellshocked early on against a really good team,” he said. “This week we should be fielding a full team.”
Kelseyville has been running the ball with much success since senior Michael DeJohn returned to the backfield after recovering from an injury. DeJohn is coming off back-to-back 200-plus-yard rushing games against Upper Lake and Willits. He scored four touchdowns against Willits and two last week in a 41-6 blowout of Upper Lake.
Jakubowski said the Trojans need to do a better job up front on defense than they did a week ago against Middletown.
If Lower Lake can slow things up at the line of scrimmage, the Trojans may be able to choke off the Knights’ run game and force them to do something they don’t do nearly as well, which is pass the football.
“We just need to be more consistent,” Jakubowski said of his team’s all-around game.
