Middletown builds 20-0 lead, then holds off Clear Lake for 34-28 victory
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKEPORT >> Discombobulated is a word you might not often hear, but Middletown High School varsity football head coach Bill Foltmer invoked it to describe the state of the Mustangs late in the second quarter of their 34-28 victory Friday night when junior quarterback/wide receiver Jon Hawkins left the Mustangs’ road game against the Clear Lake Cardinals with a serious wrist injury.
Middletown (1-1 league, 2-2 overall) had a 20-0 lead at the time and appeared headed for a big night when Hawkins became the second star player to go down for the Mustangs this season – junior quarterback Blake Costlow was lost to a broken foot three weeks ago.
If that wasn’t devastating enough for the Mustangs and their 40-year veteran coach, Foltmer said Hawkins was blocking on a running play and engaged with a Clear Lake player when one of his own teammates collided with him, jamming the wrist.
“We were completely discombobulated,” Foltmer said of the Mustangs’ reaction to Hawkins’ injury with 3:08 left in the first half. “We had guys out of position all over, we had no pass rush … he (Clear Lake quarterback AJ Bruch) had all the team he wanted to pass back there. I’ve never had a season like this. I not only lose a top player, I lose two top players.”
The injury, which Foltmer said is almost assuredly season ending, was diagnosed as a broken growth plate.
“It’s such an unfortunate thing,” Foltmer said. “Jon is not only a top receiver and a good blocker, but he’s our kicker, punter and a lockdown corner. When you have a player who can cover people like that on defense, you can actually risk blitzing a linebacker. Besides that, he’s also a good kid.”
Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory, no stranger to injuries to top players – he lost starting quarterback Jake Soderquist late in the Cardinals’ run to a league co-championship last season – said he also hated to see Hawkins go down, but his departure from the field certainly opened the door for Clear Lake (0-2, 0-4).
“The way game started (20-0), it looked like a blowout if Hawkins stays in the game,” Foltmer said.
Middletown was running the ball at will until Hawkins’ injury, and even after his unfortunate exit the Mustangs continue to pound it at the Cardinals. They finished the game with 411 rushing yards – 218 yards on 21 carries by junior Trenton Griffith, plus three touchdowns; 151 yards on 21 carries by Tyler Galamay, with one TD; and 42 yards on five carries by Hayden Xavier, with one TD.
“I can’t say enough about my running backs,” Foltmer said. “Trenton got a lot of those yards after the first hit. Galamay and Xavier also ran the ball hard.”
Griffith scored on a 30-yard inside reverse with 7:50 left in the first quarter to put the Mustangs on the board, and Xavier’s 34-yard touchdown run with 4:43 remaining made it a 14-0 game. Middletown’s third possession of the game ended with yet another Griffith score, this time on a 7-yard run that made it 20-0 with 9:16 left in the first half.
Middletown took over on downs after Clear Lake punched the ball down to the Mustangs’ 25-yard line. Disaster struck a couple of plays later with the Mustangs again on the move, Hawkins hitting the turf in great pain and players immediately signaling for help from medical personnel.
The confusion caused by Hawkins’ injury, with Middletown shuffling players around the field, sparked Clear Lake’s comeback. After a Middletown punt and with time running out, Bruch drove his team down the field – 63 yards in the final 1:19 – finally connecting with Adrian Truby on a 25-yard touchdown with nine seconds to go. The extra-point kick made it 20-7, and Clear Lake had some momentum.
“When that happened the game just flipped,” Cory said of the combination of Hawkins’ injury and the Cardinals immediately taking advantage to score their first points.
After a long run by Galamay was wiped out by a penalty to open the third quarter, the Mustangs ended up punting and Jace Beard returned the ball 50 yards to the Middletown 10 where Bruch scrambled away from pressure and scored on a 10-yard run to close the gap to 20-14 with 8:41 to go.
Middletown answered with Griffith’s third touchdown run of the night as he broke loose on a fourth-and-six play, a 46-yard play with 4:13 to go that made it 26-14. With Hawkins unavailable to attempt the extra-point kick, the Mustangs went for two and the run was stopped.
Clear Lake cut the deficit to 26-21 on its next possession, driving 65 yards for a touchdown as Bruch hooked up with Zane McAuley on a fourth-and-goal play from the 6-yard line. Earlier in the drive a touchdown pass to McAuley was called back on a motion penalty.
Middletown embarked on a 77-yard drive for its final score, Galamay’s 26-yard run with 10:12 to go and his ensuing two-point conversion run pushing the Mustangs’ lead to 34-21.
But right back came the Cardinals with a 60-yard march capped by a 27-yard Bruch run to make it 34-28.
Clear Lake’s defense forced a punt and the Cardinals were on the move for a game-tying touchdown until Bruch lost a fumble at the Middletown 31, and the Mustangs recovered.
“That was probably the key point of the game,” Foltmer said of the lost fumble forced by Xavier and recovered by Galamay. “They had momentum, we couldn’t stop them on defense … we were barely holding on.”
“We were going to score there if we don’t turn it over,” Cory said. “I don’t know if we win the game, but we were definitely going to score.”
Foltmer concurred with Cory’s assessment.
“Yeah, they were (going to score),” Foltmer said. “You could just feel it.”
With only 2:20 left, the Mustangs were able to run some precious time off the clock before punting the ball back to Clear Lake, including a huge first-down run by Griffith. The Cardinals took over at their own 23 with 46 seconds remaining.
Clear Lake just missed completing a pass near midfield with 24 seconds left, the ball going off the hands of a receiver, and the Cardinals’ final gasp came with 14 seconds left, an incomplete pass on fourth down giving the ball back to Middletown, which took a knee to run out the final six seconds.
Cory said Hawkins’ injury most certainly was the catalyst for Clear Lake’s resurgence, but that’s just football.
“20-0 puts you in a spot where there’s not a lot of margin for error,” Cory said. “Down the stretch we needed to score every time we had the ball. We almost did it. It was a battle, but it also was a weird game.”
Added Cory, “We almost threw on every down in the second half and they (Mustangs) didn’t throw the ball once all night (with freshman Colton Karp at quarterback).”
Bruch went 18-for-41 for 214 yards, the two TDs and no interceptions. He also ended up being Clear Lake’s top rusher with 69 yards and the two scrambling scores.
“They weren’t designed plays,” Cory said of Bruch’s scrambles. “He just did a good job getting away from their pressure and making something happen. Truby gave him a nice block on one of those touchdowns.”
While both coaches were happy with their team’s execution on offense, the play of the two defenses left a lot to be desired.
“A defensive masterpiece it wasn’t,” Cory said.
Added Foltmer, “That’s probably the worst one of my defenses has ever played and we still came out with a win.”
“We just need to be better,” Cory said of the overall Clear Lake effort. “We did get better, we competed.”
Middletown’s junior varsity team improved to 2-0 and 4-0 with a 34-7 win
Game notes: Middletown snapped a three-game losing streak to Clear Lake in a rivalry that has produced three tight finishes in the last four years … The Mustangs face a difficult road contest next Friday in Willits (3-0, 4-1) while the Cardinals head to the Mendocino County coast to play Fort Bragg (1-2, 2-3) … The win was the 311th of Foltmer’s career and his 292nd as Middletown’s head coach … These two teams shared the NCL I championship a year ago … Both teams return home Oct. 11 – Middletown against St. Helena and Clear Lake against Lower Lake.