Middletown closes regular season with sixth straight victory, playoffs up next
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MIDDLETOWN >> The Middletown Colts finished the regular season with a sixth straight win, beating the Cloverdale Chargers 31-0 in the pee wee division of the Mendo-Lake Empire Junior Football League on Saturday at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown.
Middletown (7-1) rode the rushing and scoring of Elijah Tucker and another strong defensive effort to beat the Chargers, who had minus-four rushing yards and no first downs. The mercy rule came into play early in the third quarter.
Tucker carried the ball nine times and gained 162 yards with four touchdowns. He also caught a 29-yard touchdown pass thrown by Colton Smith, who went 4-for-7 for 48 yards. Danny Yell added 47 yards on six carries while Jaxx Salter had 21 yards on three carries. Shane Blanton had two catches for 16 yards.
“We started off the game with an Elijah Tucker 70-yard run and he was untouched,” Middletown head coach Cody Smith said.
Middletown took a 25-0 lead into halftime.
Tackle leaders or the Colts were Blanton with five and Colton Noonis with four and an interception.
“We finished the regular season at 7-1 with only one hiccup early against a good football team (Lower Lake),” Smith said. “I told the kids after that loss we need to learn from it and build on that tough loss one week at a time and keep getting better. They did exactly that. I feel like we are in a great place right now heading into the first round of the playoffs against Fort Bragg.”
Added Smith, “Offensively we are firing on all cylinders. Most importantly, we are sticking with our blocks and running the ball hard with very few mistakes. Our defense just keeps getting better every week. We are able to make in-game adjustments and even change up our defenses on every play I we want to, and I think that has been a key to our success.”
Fort Bragg visits Middletown in the semifinals next Saturday. Lower Lake (8-0) hosts the other semifinal. Semifinal winners advance to the league championship game Nov. 7 in Fort Bragg at 3:30 p.m.
