Blocked extra point saves M’town in 22-21 victory over hard-charging St. Helena team
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
MIDDLETOWN >> While an upset of Middletown proved to be just out of St. Helena’s grasp Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field, a blocked extra point was just inside Emmitt Lloyd’s lengthy reach.
That’ll happen when you stand 6 feet, 9 inches tall, and the junior’s exceptional size proved to be the difference with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter when he blocked an extra point to preserve a thrilling Middletown 22-21 homecoming win that also doubled as the North Central League I South opener for both teams.
It was a thriller of a finish as the Saints (0-1 South, 3-3 overall) turned in an incredible effort and just missed beating Middletown (1-0, 5-1) for a third year in a row.
How incredible?
— The Saints spotted Middletown a 7-0 lead before pulling even at 7-7 after a 60-yard drive that consisted of 17 straight rushing plays that not only used the final 7:11 of the first quarter, but also the first 2:36 of the second quarter. They twice converted on fourth-down plays and were 6-for-6 on fourth downs during the game.
— They limited Middletown to only two first-half possessions, both of which produced touchdowns, and to four possessions for the game (not counting a final one that consisted of two kneel-downs to run out the clock).
–They moved 59 yards in 12 plays after picking off a Middletown pass in the third quarter as the Mustangs were driving for a score of their own, holding the ball another six minutes before scoring 41 seconds into the fourth quarter and adding a two-point conversion run for a 15-14 lead.
— Trailing 22-15 late in the fourth quarter, and down to their last play facing a fourth-and-13 from the Middletown 35-yard-line, the Saints scored on a hook-and-lateral, quarterback Daniel Gonzalez hitting Luca Montelli with a short pass, and Montelli, who was short of the first-down marker when he caught the ball, pitching it backward to Julian Earls, who came all the way around from the other side of the field. Earls broke a pair of tackles down the Middletown sideline before reaching the end zone.
–The Saints committed no turnovers and only a handful of penalties that weren’t critical.
–St. Helena lost 41-35 in overtime two weeks ago to a Willits team that Middletown beat 42-0.
“You’ve got to give Erick (Larsen) and his coaching staff so much credit,” Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard said. “What they did to us tonight, they did to us in the second half last year at St. Helena (a come-from-behind 41-34 St. Helena win).”
Added Woodard, “That hook-and-ladder play was genius.”
“We came in with the gameplan to control the clock and field position,” said Larsen, who was the successful head coach at Kelseyville for several seasons before moving over to St. Helena, where even more success has followed. “Our kids played very hard. I’m really proud of the way our quarterback played. We also had a big game from (two-way junior lineman) Daniel Nava and (two-way junior lineman) Andrew Greenberg.”
While the Saints didn’t throw ball much, including not at all in the first half, they made the most of Gonzalez’s five attempts in the second half. He completed a 7-yard pass to Earls on a fourth-and-six play to extend St. Helena’s scoring drive that put them up 15-14 early in the fourth quarter. In fact, that drive ended with Gonzalez hitting a wide-open Tommy Garrett, a junior tight end, in the end zone on a fourth-and-two play.
His pass to Montelli on the hook-and-lateral was also delivered with precision, and with the game on the line and the Mustangs applying pressure.
“We’re getting better,” Larsen said of his squad, which lost most of its starters from the previous season to graduation after an 11-1 season in 2025. “We’re still missing some of the little pieces, and those little pieces were enough to let a good Middletown team beat us tonight.”
After St. Helena scored on the hook-and-lateral to make it 22-21, Larsen said he was prepared to go for two points on the conversion but ultimately decided to go for the tie in regulation.
“Our kicking game has been pretty good,” he said.
George Filippini, a running back who caused the Middletown defense a fair share of problems during the night as did Earls, set up for the kick, Earls holding. The kick appeared true when it left Filippini’s football, but Lloyd’s penetration into the backfield thwarted the Saints’ plans. The kick appeared to catch part of Lloyd’s helmet before ricocheting upward and fluttering harmlessly back to the ground as the Mustangs – and a large Middletown homecoming crowed – exploded in celebration.
“They gave us everything they had,” Woodard said of the Saints, who combined a strong effort, a good bounce on a deflected pass, and one huge penalty on Middletown to throw a major scare the Mustangs’ way.
“They got off the ball hard,” Woodard said of St. Helena’s strong line play.
While the Saints certainly threw everything they could muster at the Mustangs, Middletown proved more than resilient, answering every challenge along the way.
The Mustangs scored three of the four times they held the ball. The only miss came on their one and only possession in the third quarter. Middletown moved from its own 25 to the St. Helena 41 when quarterback Jamisen Jackson lofted a pass on a second-and-eight play to running back Tyler Galamay, who had the ball go off his hands, deflect up into the air and land in the waiting arms of the Saints’ AJ Smith along the Middletown sideline.
St. Helena had a 15-14 lead 12 plays later on a Gonzalez 7-yard pass to Garrett. Montelli added the two-point conversion run, stretching his arm over the goal line while being tackled.
The Saints caught a huge break on their final touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Facing a fourth-and-nine from their own 39, Gonzalez threw an incomplete pass over the middle, the play broken up by a huge Galamay hit. A penalty flag came out as the play ended, and Galamay was penalized for hitting a defenseless receiver (who was well off his feet while attempting to catch the ball). The flag gave St. Helena a fresh set of downs as the drive continued, ultimately ending with the hook-and-lateral touchdown. While the play didn’t sit well with the Middletown sideline or Middletown’s fans, Larsen said it was the right call.
“I thought that was a fair call,” Larsen said.
“The official said he (Galamay) needed to wrap him up (to avoid the penalty),” Woodard said.
After Lloyd’s blocked extra point, St. Helena went for the expected onside kick but the line drive roller, which went well beyond the 10 yards it needed to travel, went out of bounds, allowing the Mustangs to take possession and run out the clock.
Had St. Helena successfully kicked the extra point to tie the game, Woodard said the Mustangs had plenty of time – 1:28 – and all of its timeouts to win the game.
“We’re certainly capable of doing that,” Woodard said. “We’ll never know now.”
Woodard said he expected St. Helena to go for two points and the lead after cutting Middletown’s lead to 22-21.
“I thought they would go for two,” Woodard said. “It also surprised me that they didn’t try to score right before halftime.”
Trailing 14-7 late in the second quarter, St. Helena had the ball near midfield but elected to run out the clock rather than throw deep down the field in the closing seconds of the half.
Middletown jumped ahead 7-0 on a Johnny Finney 35-yard run, capping Middletown’s first possession. Filippini capped St. Helena’s marathon 17-play drive with a 1-yard run and then kicked the extra point to tie it.
The Mustangs went 66 yards on their lone second-quarter possession, passes of 16 yards and 28 yards from Jackson to Finney setting up a Jackson 1-yard keeper to put Middletown back in front 14-7, Jackson adding the extra point.
Middletown’s final score in the fourth quarter, a 78-yard drive that consisted of eight running plays, ended with a Galamay 4-yard run. That’s when the Mustangs used their own bit of trickery while setting up for an extra-point kick. The snap went directly to kicker Jackson, who lofted the ball to Esteban Muniz in the end zone.
Woodard said the Mustangs actually ran the play poorly but got away with it. When Muniz caught the ball, his teammate, Colton Karp, was standing almost right beside him, and Woodard said the two receivers weren’t supposed to be that close.
“I’d rather be lucky than good,” Woodard said.
Owning a 22-15 lead, the Mustangs appeared to be in great shape right up the Saints pulled off their hook-and-lateral magic.
“What a game,” Woodard said. “St. Helena is a solid team.”
“We knew we had to take chances to beat them,” Larsen said of the Saints’ play calling and willingness to go for it on fourth down.
St. Helena signaled its intentions to gamble early, going for it on fourth-and-one from its own 49 in the first quarter trailing 7-0.
GAME NOTES: Galamay finished with 13 carries for 115 yards while Finney added 73 yards on nine carries … On defense, Ryan Halverson led the Mustangs with 19 total tackles, Luke Mace had 15 and Galamay 12.
PHOTOS: Courtesy of Ed Oswalt.
