Mustangs finish regular season at 8-2, await word on North Coast Section playoffs
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
FORT BRAGG >> The Fort Bragg Timberwolves certainly didn’t lay down for the Middletown Mustangs on Friday night at Timberwolf Stadium, scoring on each of their first two possessions, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Middletown junior running back Tyler Galamay answered with four touchdowns, giving him 13 in his last three games, as the Mustangs pulled away for a 54-20 win in North Central League I interlock action. Johnny Finney added a team-best 125 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the regular-season-ending victory.
Next up for Middletown (8-2) is a return trip to the North Coast Section playoffs. The defending Division 7 champions will likely end up in Division 5 this year, according to head coach Kurtis Woodard, but that won’t be final until the section releases the divisional playoff brackets Sunday.
“Call us delusional, but we’re confident wherever we end up,” Woodard said.
“Our offense was really efficient tonight,” Woodard said. “I don’t think they stopped us.”
Middletown’s defense struggled early against a Fort Bragg team that won its season opener before losing its final nine games.
“Once we got our bearing straight, we were fine,” Woodard said of his team’s early defensive struggles. “They’ve been missing some guys the last couple of games, and they had those guys back tonight.”
Galamay carried the ball only five times for 53 yards, but he made the most of those carries, scoring his 21st, 22nd and 23rd rushing touchdowns of the season, one of them set up when he returned a Fort Bragg fumble to the Timberwolf 1-yard line. He also recovered teammate Ryan Halverson’s fumble on a punt return and continued on into the end zone for another score. Halverson, one of the team’s top players on defense, sustained an injury on the play and is questionable for next week’s playoff opener, according to Woodard.
In his last three games, Galamay has rushed for 11 touchdowns, caught another, and returned a punt for a score. He also cracked 1,000 rushing yards for the season against the Timberwolves and finishes the regular season with 1,046, his second straight year over 1,000.
Luke Mace came up big for the Mustangs on the defensive side with 19 total tackles while Wyatt Pullman added 14 and Halverson eight.
“Luke really played well,” Woodard said.
Quarterback Jamisen Jackson and running back Esteban Muniz added rushing touchdowns in the win. Jackson scored on a 28-yard keeper. He also had an interception on defense.
NOTES: Middletown will most definitely be pulling for Cloverdale on Saturday night as the Eagles (2-1 South, 7-2 overall) travel to San Francisco to play Stuart Hall (3-0, 8-1) in the NCL I South finale for both teams. A Cloverdale win will leave all three teams tied for the South championship. Stuart Hall clinches the outright league title with a victory … Middletown also finished the 2025 regular season 8-2. The Mustangs won each of their first three playoff games to capture their fifth section title in school history. They lost 22-18 to Redding Christian in the NorCal championship game … Finney needs 111 more rushing yards to reach 1,000. If he does it, it will mark the second straight year the Mustangs have had a pair of 1,000-yard rushers. Last season, it was Galamay (1,348) and Trenton Griffith (1,167) … League coaches will vote on the All-League team next week. Middletown should be well represented again … Lake County Sports will release its All-Lake County team after that. The Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association is sponsoring that team for a fourth straight year.
