Colts avenge regular-season loss to Trojans, take home league title with 7-0 victory
FORT BRAGG >> Danny Yell’s touchdown run midway through the third quarter lifted the pee wee Middletown Colts to a 7-0 upset victory over a previously undefeated Lower Lake Trojans squad Saturday afternoon in the championship game of the Mendo-Lake Empire Junior Football League playoffs in Fort Bragg.
Middletown (9-1) capped a 9-1 season by beating the only team it had lost to in the 2026 regular season, a 32-0 setback to the Trojans way back in Week 2. Lower Lake (9-1) had only been scored on once until Saturday.
“Man, what a game,” Middletown head coach Cody Smith said. “Our defense came out and did what they have done all year, and defense wins championships. We had one rough game, Week 2, giving up 32 points. We learned from it and took every week one week at a time hoping to get to this championship game. We only gave up six points the rest of the year with eight shutouts.”
“First off, congratulations to Middletown on a well-deserved championship,” Lower Lake head coach Jamez Conatser said. “They came out ready to play, and they earned that victory. Our boys had an incredible season, and they have every reason to hold their heads high and be proud of what they accomplished. But Saturday belonged to Middletown, and I don’t want to take anything away from that.”
Yell, Middletown’s leading rusher with 58 yards on nine carries, scored on a run up the middle to finally break the scoreless deadlock. Colton Smith’s conversion pass to Jaxx Salter made it 7-0.
The Colts’ defense, just as in the first half, took it from there. Middletown’s defense limited Lower Lake to 25 yards of total offense. The defensive play of the game belonged to Gunner Adams, who made a touchdown-saving tackle while bringing down Lower Lake’s top running back at the Middletown 20-yard-line. Adams had to run him down from behind, according to Smith.
“It was by far the biggest play of the game,” Smith said. “That changed everything. We work every week on pursuit angles with the entire team for this moment, and it paid off in a big, big way.”
Adams was among a handful of Colts with five total tackles, joining Colton Noonis and Eli Hartley. Yell led the team with seven.
“Over the course of this season, I’ve had the opportunity to develop a great relationship with Middletown’s head coach, Cody Smith, and I can’t say enough good things about him as a coach,” Conatser said. “He and his staff had those boys ready to go. They were hungry, motivated and determined to prove that their Week 2 loss to us wasn’t going to define their season. And they did exactly that.”
Added Conatser, “After the game, Cody and I talked, and one thing he said really stuck with me. We hadn’t been battle tested the way we needed to be, and he did a great job recognizing that and taking advantage of it. Sometimes you learn more from a loss than you do from a win, and Saturday gave us plenty to learn from.”
“I’m just so proud of this team and coaching staff for showing up each and every day and always striving to get better week after week,” Smith said. “Going up against this offense o Lower Lake, we went into the game saying if they are going to beat us, it’s going to have to be in the trenches or passing because we were going to take away the outside, and we did just that. Holding them to just 25 yards of total offense and (making) 11 tackles for loss in a game is incredible.”
Middletown’s offense was able to control the clock with its running game, led by Yell. Elijah Tucker added another 49 yards on 16 carries.
“Our offense did exactly what we came into the game wanting to do,” Smith said. “We wanted to run in the trenches and give the ball to our workhorse fullback Danny Yell and running back Elijah Tucker and control the clock. They both ran the ball extremely hard and we knew eventually one of them would break one, and that’s exactly what Danny did.”
Perhaps a bit jittery given the stakes, both teams turned the ball over on their first possession.
“Congrats to Lower Lake on one heck of a season,” Smith said.
“At the end of the day, that’s what youth football is all about,” Conatser said. “Teaching these kids how to compete, how to handle success, how to handle disappointment, and how to grow from both.”
