First-year head coach of Mustangs guides team to section title, NorCal berth, 11-3 record
Lake County Sports on Facebook
MIDDLETOWN >> Talk about a great rookie year.
First-year Middletown High School varsity football coach Kurtis Woodard didn’t waste any time continuing the Mustangs’ long tradition of winning established by his predecessor, longtime head coach Bill Foltmer, who Woodard played for in high school and later assisted as part of the Middletown coaching staff.
In his first season as the Mustangs’ head coach, Woodard helped lead Middletown to a 7-1 record in North Central League I play, good for second place, and an 11-3 overall mark that included a North Coast Section Division 7 championship and a berth in the NorCal playoffs. The section title was the fifth in school history, the first four coming under Foltmer’s leadership.
For his part in helping the Mustangs to another memorable football season, Woodard has been named the Lake County Sports Coach of the Year in boys sports for the 2025-26 high school season.
Ironically, a 22-14 loss in their season opener to Berean Christian as well as a hard-fought 41-34 setback to undefeated league champion St. Helena may have helped the Mustangs and Woodard in the long run as the two defeats likely contributed to the decision to keep Middletown in Division 7 for the sectional playoffs (St. Helena was moved up into Division 6).
Middletown won all three of its sectional playoff games, including a 37-23 victory over Piedmont in the championship game, to earn a home game against Redding Christian in the 7-AA NorCal championship game. The Mustangs dropped a 22-18 heartbreaker to the Lions, who won the state championship the following week, beating SoCal champion Woodbridge 16-0.
Woodard benefited from a dynamic offense and a defense that steadily improved through the season. Though several starters have now graduated, the Mustangs return several key starters in 2026, not to mention the roster of last year’s undefeated junior varsity teams. Middletown is poised for another big season and perhaps a return trip to the state playoffs.
“I feel like my job was to not mess this program up that Foltmer had built for 40 years,” Woodard said. “I had a tremendous coaching staff with Tom (Knowles) and Moke (Simon) returning, a good group of guys joining us, and a terrific group of kids with potential where the sky was the limit. Everything went right for us in 2025 for health and the games where the ball bounced our way every time. I’m blessed to be in a football community and look forward to the future of Mustang football.”
