Redding Christian ends Middletown’s season in NorCal 7-AA championship game
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
MIDDLETOWN >> Both teams scored three touchdowns, but it was a lot of the other little things that Middletown didn’t do – and Redding Christian did – that helped the undefeated Lions beat the Mustangs 22-18 in the Northern California Division 7-AA championship game Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field.
Redding Christian moves on to the 7-AA state championship game against Woodbridge next weekend.
The last thing the Mustangs (11-3) wanted to see was Redding Christian (14-0) celebrate on Bill Foltmer Field, but the Lions did exactly that after handing Middletown its only home loss this season. They did it by making sure Middletown and its quick-strike offense never got a chance to win the game over the final 3:28, right after an 88-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Blake Costlow to Hayden Xavier cut Redding Christian’s lead to 22-18.
The play, triple end trips right 985, which the Mustangs used to score a touchdown in a 48-8 victory over Concord in the semifinals of the North Coast Section playoffs, developed right in front of the Redding Christian sidelines. Xavier caught the pass and had one defender to beat, which he did while streaking down the sideline for the score, a quiet Middletown crowd suddenly erupting with cheers as the Mustangs, shut out since taking a 12-8 lead early in the second quarter, came back to life in an instant.
But the Mustangs couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick, which meant they needed to stop the Lions and get the ball back, all that without a timeout as Middletown had expended all three earlier in the quarter to save time.
The Lions gained a first down right away, running back Levi Putnam breaking loose on a 15-yard run to the Middletown 31. A holding penalty backed up the Lions, but three straight runs brought up a fourth-and-one from the 22 with 33 seconds left. Wide receiver Darren Goodman, taking the direct snap out of a wildcat format, gained just enough for the first down to effectively end the game.
“They were solid,” Middletown head coach said of the Lions, the Northern Section champions who dominated nearly all of their opponents this season. “We’ve talked about overcoming adversity and executing all season, but the execution didn’t happen tonight, and I can only give to Redwood Christian for that. They executed, we didn’t, but we battled to the end.”
Had the Mustangs stopped the Lions on the fourth-and-one play on their final drive, Woodard said they would have run a hook-and-lateral, wide receiver Jon Hawkins pitching the ball to running back Trenton Griffith along the sideline. They were also ready to run a quad pattern on which they would try to get the ball deep down the field to running back Tyler Galamay.
Middletown’s three turnovers – two interceptions and a lost fumble – were big factors in the outcome, especially for a team that has done a great job of protecting the football all season.
Woodard again praised Redding Christian’s defense, especially the secondary, which was able to contain Middletown’s biggest downfield threat, the senior Hawkins.
“We knew they were a talented team, I just think their energy was better than anything we saw on game films,” Woodard said. “They care, they play with heart, they play football the right way.”
Middletown’s lost fumble in the first quarter set up the game’s first score as the Lions marched 41 yards in six plays to move in front 8-0 on a Putnam 1-yard run and Goodman’s conversion run. It was the Lions’ second possession of the game after their first came up empty on a 32-yard field goal that went wide right.
Trailing for the first time since their last loss, 41-34 at St. Helena in an early October league game, Middletown answered immediately. Redding Christian’s kickoff went out of bounds, setting up the Mustangs at their own 35-yard line. Galamay carried for four yards on first down, then broke a 61-yard touchdown run down the Middletown sideline for a touchdown. He cut back to the inside around the Redding Christian 5 to avoid a Redding Chrisian defender and reach the end zone. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the conversion run was stopped short of the goal line, leaving the Lions in front 8-6. Middletown was unsuccessful on all three of its conversion runs Friday while Redding Chrisitan converted two out of three, the difference in the game.
Middletown forced a punt before moving in front 12-8 on its first possession of the second quarter, a 56-yard drive of five straight running plays, all for good yards. Galamay gained 17 yards, Griffith eight, John Finney 15 and Griffith 11 more before Griffth scored on first-and-goal from the 5-yard line.
Redding Christian, in the unfamiliar position of trailing in a game, pushed in front – to stay as things would turn out – on a Putman 5-yard run with 3:36 left in the half. Collin Matos punched in the conversion run to make it 16-12.
Middletown was on the move in the closing stages of the half after a Griffith kickoff return to the Redding Christian 49. The Mustangs were positioned at the Lions 8 and facing a third-and-six with 27 seconds left when a Costlow pass was picked off in the end zone.
The Lions, who won the coin toss but deferred to open the game, received the second half kickoff and marched 70 yards in an impressive 13 plays, overcoming three false start penalties in the process, to move in front 22-12. Redding Christian converted on a pair of third-down plays – third-and-six and third-and-five – with a seven-yard pass from quarterback Wyatt Shaw to wide receiver Brodie Ogden and later a Putnam 5-yard run.
Ogden’s 9-yard pass to a well-covered Micah Skinner, Ogden’s 53rd touchdown pass of the season, put the Mustangs in a double-digit hole.
Redding Christian ran 16 plays to Middletown’s three in the quarter, the Mustangs’ only possession a three-and-out.
The Lions still had the ball when the fourth quarter opened, working the play clock well. They converted a huge third-and-nine to stay on the move, Goodman racing for 12 yards out of the wildcat formation. While the drive didn’t produce points, it did use up time, and the Mustangs didn’t get the ball back until there was only 7:53 left in the game.
Middletown was on the move and at the Redding Christian 29 when a Costlow pass to a double-covered Hawkins was picked off. The Mustangs began taking timeouts at that point, using all three before forcing a Lions punt with 4:17 left.
The Mustangs scored two plays later. Following a Griffith 5-yard run, Costlow’s pass to Xavier made it a 22-18 game, but Middletown wouldn’t get its hands on the ball again.
Middletown, making its first ever appearance in the NorCal playoffs, was also trying to become the first Lake County to reach a state championship game, but like Clear Lake in 2022, they came up a victory short.
Ultimately, too many mistakes proved to be Middletown’s undoing, not only turnovers and missed two-point conversions, but a handful of dropped passes, according to Woodard.
The silver lining for Woodard and Middletown is that the team’s entire line along with skill players such as Galamay and Finney, only sophomores, return next season when the Mustangs will also be reinforced by this year’s undefeated junior varsity team.
That group of returning players won’t include faces as Costlow, Griffith, Hawkins and Xavier, seniors who have been mainstays in the Middletown program for several seasons – Griffith was promoted to the varsity midway through his freshman year.
“Special,” Woodard said of his seniors. “A solid group that we’ve had for three years, 3 ½ years in Griffith’s case. “Those kids and their families are part of the Middletown football family. I’ve known them since they were winning championships in youth football. I’m going to miss them all.”
Though it might take the Mustangs a few days to realize it following the disappointment of their close loss to Redding Christian, Woodard said Middletown had a strong season during his first year as head coach. The Mustangs finished second in the North Central League I with a 7-1 record, losing only to a senior-dominated St. Helena squad, and then won three straight games in the North Coast Section playoffs to bring home the school’s fifth sectional championship and first since 2018.
“We did have a successful season,” said Woodard, who did his best to manage a smile after Friday’s heartbreak.
