Middletown advances to Division 7 championship game against Piedmont
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
MIDDLETOWN >> If you’re trying to wrap you head around the ease of Middletown’s 48-8 blowout win over the Concord Bears in the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division 7 football playoffs Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field, consider this.
You’ve got company.
Even first-year Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard said he was expecting a real battle from the Bears as the two teams fought for a berth in next Friday’s Division 7 championship game against Piedmont at Justin-Siena High School in Napa (7 p.m. kickoff).
“I had so much respect for them from what they did on the game films I watched,” Woodard said.
So what happened?
Woodard paused for a moment but answered. “I guess I just have to give the credit to my team. They played great.”
Great might not be praise enough for the Mustangs, who shredded the Bears in all possible ways.
“We were clicking on all cylinders,” Woodard said.
While all the expected major players had a big hand in the win – seniors Blake Costlow (quarterback), Trenton Griffith (running back), Jon Hawkins (wide receiver) and sophomore running back Tyler Galamay – the Mustangs had others step up as well, no one more so than senior Hayden Xavier, who returned a botched punt by the Bears 19 yards for a touchdown and capped a 36-0 first half by hauling in a 48-yard touchdown pass from Costlow, a last-second play in the first half set up by EJ Rose’s interception on the previous play.
“I knew that play would work, it’s one we put in at practice last week,” Woodard said. “Alameda used it against them earlier this season.”
The play, an out-and-up, had Xavier shake loose from his defender near the Concord sideline, and Costlow put the ball exactly on target. Though the Bears were already trailing 28-0 at the time, the last-second strike as time expired in the half seemed to absolutely crush the Concord team as Galamay added the conversion run to make it 36-0.
“Xavier did a great job, what a game for him between that catch and the punt return,” Woodard said.
There was little about Friday’s victory that wasn’t jaw-dropping.
Consider this:
- Middletown ran only eight plays in the first two quarters and scored four touchdowns, not counting Xavier’s punt return.
- Galamay carried the ball only four times and still gained 171 yards with touchdown runs of 45 yards in the first quarter and 75 yards in the second quarter. His other runs went for nine and 42 yards, and both helped set up touchdowns.
- Costlow threw only two passes all night, a 24-yard strike to a wide-open Hawkins for a touchdown in the first quarter, the first points of the game, and the 48-yard dart to Xavier to close out the first half.
- Middletown outgained 361-212 (and almost half of Concord’s yards were against the Mustangs reserves late in the game) despite running only 19 plays all night to Concord’s 46. “We haven’t run over 40 plays this season,” Woodard said of the efficiency and quick-strike lethality of his offense.
- Middletown had a 48-0 lead, including a touchdown by its second-team offense on a John Finney 25-yard run, before Concord scored under a running clock in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout.
- Middletown’s defense contained Concord’s standout junior quarterback, Juan Gonzalez, limiting him to 23 yards on 10 carries. Gonzalez completed 14 of 22 passes for 160 yards, but almost half of that came after the game was way out of control. The Mustangs applied constant pressure on Gonzalez, including two sacks by Galamay, one of them resulting in a nine-yard loss in the third quarter.
While Woodard expected the Concord line to give Middletown problems, it was the other way around; the Mustangs dominated up front on offense and defense, opening up huge holes on offense and shutting down the Bears’ running lanes on defense. Concord’s top running back, Jacari Gibson, was a non-factor with only 43 yards on nine carries, is longest 15 yards in the third quarter with Middletown in front 36-0.
Throw in the speed of Galamay and Griffith, and the Mustangs didn’t need much more to punch their ticket to the Division 7 finals against team, Piedmont, they beat for their first win of the season back on Sept. 5 in Middletown by a 32-17 final.
“Tyler barely had any carries,” Woodard said. “His runs were incredible.”
Middletown had a 14-0 lead before the Bears had a chance to settle in Friday night. The Mustangs received the opening kickoff and ran the ball four times to the Concord 24 before Costlow’s touchdown pass to Hawkins, who gained significant separation from the Bears player trying to guard him, made it 6-0.
Concord went three-and-out on its first possession before disaster struck on fourth down. The Bears lined up to punt the ball, but the snap soared high over the head of the punter. While he was able to retrieve the ball with his back to Middletown players in hot pursuit, he could only twist around and get off a weak kick that rolled along the turf where Xavier scooped it up at the Concord 19-yard line. Moving to his right, he then cut back to the left and raced into the end zone untouched. Costlow’s conversion pass to Finney made it 14-0 with 7:09 left in the quarter.
Things only went from bad to worse for the Bears. After taking the kickoff from Middletown, they converted a third-and-nine for their initial first down of the game but found themselves into a fourth-and-seven moments later. Instead of lining up for a punt this time, they went for the first down, and Galamay sacked Gonzalez for a three-yard loss.
On the very next play, Galamay raced 45 yards down the Concord sideline for the touchdown. A successful two-point conversion pass was wiped out by an offensive pass interference penalty, backing up the ball to around the Middletown 17. On the next conversion attempt, Concord was called for pass interference. Trying again from the 9-yard line, Middletown converted on a Costlow pass to Hawkins, again wide open, to make it 22-0.
The Bears held the ball for 10 plays on their next possession before failing to convert on a fourth-and-one run from the Middletown 25. Galamay scored on the next play, using key blocks from Hawkins and especially Griffith, who flatted a Concord defender trying to position himself for a tackle. Galamay bobbed and weaved his way through traffic the rest of the way to reach the end zone and make it a 28-0 game with 4:27 left in the first half.
The Bears were on the move again with time running out in the half when a Hernandez pass was deflected into the arms of Rose, who returned it to the Concord 48, but with only seven seconds left.
Middletown had no intention of taking a knee even though it had a comfortable 28-0 lead. The out-and-up pass from Costlow to Xavier boosted Middletown’s advantage to 36-0 with the ensuing two-point conversion run.
Griffith scored on a 3-yard run that capped a four-play, 58-yard drive in the third quarter, the bulk of that yardage coming on a 31-yard Griffith run.
Finney’s touchdown run in the fourth quarter put the finishing touches on Middletown’s sixth victory in a row, and the sixth straight game the Mustangs have allowed eight or fewer points.
The Mustangs can advance to the NorCal championship game the weekend of Dec. 5-6 if they win the school’s fifth section title in football next Friday against Piedmont. That NorCal game could take place in Middletown, so the Mustang might have one more home game left in them.
GAME NOTES: Middletown had 289 rushing yards on only 17 carries. While Galamay had that bulk of that, Griffith finished with 56 yards on only five carries while Finney added 53 yards on six carries … The Mustangs have joined a short list of Lake County teams down through the years to win 10 games in a season. Since the regular season is only 10 games long, there isn’t much margin for error … Middletown is the last North Central League I team left standing after Friday’s round of games. Willits lost 28-10 to the Piedmont team Middletown faces next week, while NCL I champion St. Helena (11-1) lost for the first time this season, falling 42-26 to Bishop O’Dowd in the Division 6 semifinals at St. Helena … The Mustangs had a chance to score 50 points for the third time this season but just fell short. They have 50 against both Upper Lake and Kelseyville during league play … Middletown has outscored the opposition 440-147 this season … Since no Middletown team has ever advanced to the NorCal playoffs and no Lake County team has ever won in the NorCal playoffs, the Mustangs have a shot to make some history in the next couple of weeks.
