Knights, Trojans hit the road for North Central League I games
LAKE COUNTY >> Middletown High School faces an ultra-tough North Central League I opener at home against the Kelseyville Knights at Bill Foltmer Field, one of four Friday night games involving Lake County teams in Week 4.
Also going under the lights Friday are the undefeated Lower Lake Trojans (1-0 league, 3-0 overall) at Willits (1-0, 2-1), the Upper Lake Cougars (1-0, 2-1) at home against the St. Helena Saints (0-1, 0-3), and in non-league action the Clear Lake Cardinals (0-2) at home against the St. Bernard’s Crusaders (3-0).
Kelseyville at Middletown
It’s not only the opponent that presents a challenge for Middletown this week, but its quarterback situation after starter Blake Costlow sustained a broken foot against Piedmont on Sept. 6 and is sidelined indefinitely.
Costlow started all of last season and the first two games this year for the Mustangs. The junior was taking 95 percent of the snaps in practice before his injury, according to Middletown head coach Bill Foltmer.
“So it’s one thing we really weren’t prepared for,” he said. “We’ve talked about this often (concerning injuries). You’ve got to be good to win games, but you’ve got to be lucky too. We’ve been pretty lucky with injuries the last few years.”
Kelseyville rolled past Fort Bragg 41-14 last week in its league opener, scoring all of its points in the first half. Foltmer was on hand to watch the first half and said that’s all he needed to see.
“Kelseyville was the preseason pick (to win the North Central League I) because they have all their players back from last year and they were good last year,” Foltmer said. “Their quarterback (Brock Barrick) can throw the ball a mile, their receiver No. 80 (Reme Strong) made some great catches, and they have two good running back (led by senior Kyle Watkins) and a good tight end (Jayden Teabo).”
Added Foltmer, “There’s no doubt about it, we have our hands full.”
With Costlow out, the Mustangs turn to freshman Colton Karp, promoted from the junior varsity team, to take over behind center. The Mustangs also flirted with moving junior wide receiver Jon Hawkins to quarterback.
“I think we’re going to start the freshman,” Foltmer said. “We think we can throw just enough to keep people honest, and it allows us to keep everything else in place.”
Having a bye week to slowly work Karp into the offense was a blessing, according to Foltmer.
“That was huge for us,” Foltmer said. “I’ve been impressed with Colton’s ability to run the offense.”
Foltmer said with Costlow the Mustangs had their most balanced offense in years, between his passing and the running provided by junior Trenton Griffith and freshman Tyler Galamay.
“Without Blake we have to adjust some things in the playbook, but we’ll be fine,” Foltmer said.
Middletown’s defense will be put to a test by a Kelseyville offense that has scored 112 points in its first three games. The Knights are also working on a two-game winning streak at Bill Foltmer Field where they prevailed 14-6 in 2022 and 28-0 in 2018.
“Kelseyville plays well at Middletown and we play well at Kelseyville,” Foltmer said, noting that the homefield advantage isn’t always a big factor.
Middletown’s defense, a work in progress, is unaffected by the injury to Costlow since he played only offense.
“We’ve got all 11 of our guys,” he said.
The Mustangs certaily figure to be tested by Kelseyville on the ground – Watkins already has 10 rushing touchdowns – and through the air where Barrick has completed 33 of 48 passes (69 percent) for 558 yards, four touchdowns and only two interceptions.
In other games Friday:
Lower Lake at Willits
Lower Lake faces a big road test at Willits against a Wolverines squad that has won its last two meetings with the Trojans, including a 41-6 victory last season and a 45-0 decision in 2022 at Willits.
Lower Lake last beat Willits in 2019, a 33-26 win at Willits.
The Trojans are coming off a 20-8 victory last weekend in their league opener at Cloverdale where the Eagles forfeited late in the third quarter after running out of enough healthy players. Junior quarterback Ashton Hartmann passed for one touchdown and ran for another to lead a balanced Lower Lake attack that scored on its only two possessions of the second half to snap an 8-8 halftime tie.
Lower Lake is trying to match the 4-0 start it got off to in the 2017 season when current assistant coach Hokulani Wickard was the Trojans’ starting quarterback.
The Wolverines beat St. Helena 20-14 at home last weekend, a game that went down to the wire with the Saints on the Willits 4-yard line when time ran out.
Willits reached the North Coast Section Division 7 finals a year ago before losing to Ferndale, which went on to win a state championship.
St. Helena at Upper Lake
Upper Lake has won two straight and will be looking to make it three in a row against the hard-luck St. Helena Saints and second-year coach Erick Larsen, the former Kelseyville High School head coach.
Upper Lake rolled past Clear Lake 32-6 last week in its home and league opener while St. Helena fell 20-14 at Willits. The Saints also lost 20-17 in overtime to Justin Siena to open the season, so they’ve been close a couple of times. Sandwiched between those close calls was a 54-25 blowout loss to Healdsburg (3-0).
Upper Lake already has more wins this season than last (1-8), so the rebuilding project head coach Stan Weiper began last season when the Cougars returned to 11-man football is beginning to pay dividends.
Larsen guided the Saints to the playoffs in his first season at St. Helena in 2023, and if they’re going to return to postseason this year, they probably need a win against the Cougars, a team they thoroughly dominated a year ago, winning 41-8 at St. Helena.
St. Bernard’s at Clear Lake
Clear Lake’s lights should be up and running when the undefeated St. Bernard Crusaders visit Don Owens Stadium. One of the light standards caught fire last week following Kelseyville’s 41-14 win over Fort Bragg (the Knights are using Clear Lake’s field this year as their own field undergoes renovations).
“They said they (lights) were going to be OK,” Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said.
Returning from a 32-6 loss at Upper Lake last week the Cardinals arrived home just in time to see the light standard on fire, a perfect capper for Cory’s evening. They are hoping things will go a bit smoother this week, even if the end result is now a win.
“We’re just in the mode of getting better right now,” Cory said. “Hopefully that means competing in a game. Hopefully we become more consistent. We need to get better and not worry so much about winning and losing.”
Clear Lake fell 51-7 to a tough Pierce team in its season opener after a Week 1 bye. They were within 12-6 of Upper Lake a week ago late in the first half before things went south.
“It’s not a total breakdown, sometimes it takes just one little piece,” he said.
St. Bernard’s uses a platoon of two quarterbacks, both sophomores,
“One’s a better passer, one a better runner,” Cory said of the Crusaders. “They do what they do very well. They have a very successful program.”
It’s the first of two home games for the Cardinals, who return to their NCL I schedule on Sept. 27 against Middletown. They hit the road again Oct. 4 to take on Fort Bragg.