{"id":1424,"date":"2024-11-10T06:46:24","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T06:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2024-11-10T06:46:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T06:46:24","slug":"mustangs-celebrate-foltmer-rout-cougars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=1424","title":{"rendered":"Mustangs celebrate Foltmer, rout Cougars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Middletown welcome Costlow, Hawkins back to lineup, beats Upper Lake 46-0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brian Sumpter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake County Sports on Facebook<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MIDDLETOWN >> Hollywood couldn\u2019t have scripted it any better, but everything you\u2019re about to read really happened Friday, the real and the surreal joining forces as the only head coach Middletown varsity football has known since 1985 was about to add another sweet memory to an incredibly long list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a 40th<\/sup> and final season where injuries have stolen much of the thunder from coach Bill Foltmer\u2019s last year on the sidelines with the Mustangs, the stars aligned perfectly this night at Bill Foltmer Field, though the visiting Upper Lake Cougars probably didn\u2019t see it that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown won 46-0 to close out a 4-4 North Central League I campaign and 5-5 regular season, but more importantly the win made the Mustangs eligible for next week\u2019s North Coast Section playoffs. Middletown won\u2019 t learn until Sunday if it has qualified and who, when and where it\u2019s playing, so the final chapter(s) in Foltmer\u2019s long and distinguished four-decade career at the school has yet to be written. Middletown\u2019s second straight shutout win to close out league play provided the coaching icon with career victory No. 314, moving him to sole possession of ninth place on the state\u2019s all-time list of coaching wins, but that was merely a footnote to all that occurred on this night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you weren\u2019t there, you really missed a feel-good story as well as some magical moments, a fitting going-away present for a coach that has won 21 league titles, appeared in the postseason 29 times (and that could be 30 depending on what Sunday brings), advanced to seven sectional finals and won four of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to kickoff Friday, many of Foltmer\u2019s former players, including a few from his first team back in 1985, joined him on the field during pregame ceremonies as the longtime coach\u2019s many accomplishments were announced over the public address system to a large and enthusiastic Middletown crowd. And things were just warming up as the current-edition Mustangs took the field for the opening kickoff against Upper Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That group of Mustangs included junior quarterback Blake Costlow, out since Week 2 with a broken foot, and junior wide receiver\/defensive back\/kicker Jon Hawkins, out since Week 4 with a wrist injury. With Middletown\u2019s top two players on the shelf most of the year, the Mustangs lost to the league\u2019s top finishers in this year\u2019s standings \u2013 Kelseyville (8-0), Willits (7-1) and St. Helena (6-2) \u2013 by a collective 12 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both players were finally back in the lineup Friday night, though they hadn\u2019t seen action in several weeks. Just how much they would be able to do to help the Mustangs after such an extended layoff?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plenty as it turns out, adding to the night\u2019s mystique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was great for me having them back,\u201d Foltmer said. \u201cI felt like I didn\u2019t have one hand tied behind my back. I could use my whole playbook for a change instead of just a small part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With almost no passing game since Costlow went down in a non-league game against Piedmont on Sept. 6, and with opposing defenses taking advantage of his absence by overloading the box against Middletown\u2019s running game, the Mustangs were whole once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust because we had those kids back, I was definitely going to throw the football more,\u201d Foltmer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Upper Lake was about to find out in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re both tremendous athletes,\u201d Upper Lake head coach Stan Weiper said of Costlow and Hawkins. \u201cWe had no time to prepare (for their return, which wasn\u2019t announced until late in the week). I just told my guys to go out there and do their best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then the game began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake kicked off and Middletown had a 7-0 lead in the time it took Trenton Griffith to score untouched on an 85-yard return \u2013 12 seconds to be exact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars entered play with exactly the same record as Middletown \u2013 3-4 in league, 4-5 overall \u2013 and just like the Mustangs, they needed a win to help their postseason chances. In a second-year rebuild under Weiper\u2019s watch, Upper Lake had played competitive football in each of the first nine weeks of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this was Foltmer\u2019s night as everyone in attendance was about to find out, including the Cougars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Upper Lake went three-and-out on its first possession and had to punt, Middletown took over at its own 36-yard line. On the Mustangs\u2019 first play from scrimmage, the quarterback who had missed the last eight games and the receiver who had missed the last six hooked up on a 64-yard touchdown, Hawkins working his way behind an Upper Lake defender and outrunning the pursuit to the end zone without being touched. That made the score 14-0 just 141 seconds into the game as Hayden Xavier added the extra point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars again went three-and-out, a short punt followed, and the Mustangs were back in business at their own 47. One pass interference penalty against Upper Lake and two runs later, Costlow\u2019s second pass of the game produced his second touchdown as he once again found Hawkins for the score, a play of 27 yards that had the Mustangs up 21-0 with 7:34 still tom playn in the opening quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crazy, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Foltmer\u2019s greatest show on earth was just getting warmed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawkins picked off a Jerod Rosales pass and returned it 25 yards to the Upper Lake 24-yard line. Costlow\u2019s third pass of the game once again found Hawkins, this time for a 19-yard gain to the 5 where Xavier scored on a run on the very next play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it was 27-0 with still more than half of the first quarter \u2013 6:17 to be exact \u2013 remaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I heard they were playing, I knew we were in deep, deep trouble,\u201d Weiper said of Costlow and Hawkins. \u201cMy kids played hard, they just got beat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth of those kids are like coaches on the field,\u201d added Foltmer, who said earlier this season that Hawkins is the most talented player he\u2019s ever coached at Middletown. \u201cAny time that kid goes up for a 50-50 ball, chances are he\u2019s coming down with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake did all that it could to get back into the game at the point, starting from its own 10, hitting a 12-yard pass for its initial first down of the night, then keeping the ball on the ground for 12 straight running plays. Using up the remaining time in the first quarter and a decent chunk of the second quarter, the Cougars reached the Middletown 15 where a second-and-six pass from Rosales was picked off by Xavier in the end zone for a touchback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown covered the 80 yards to the end zone in just six plays, including a pair of 26-yard runs by Griffith and another Costlow-to-Hawkins pass of 21 yards that set up Tyler Galamay\u2019s 5-yard touchdown run on the next play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just like that it was 33-0 with 6:15 left in the half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Griffith returned a punt 59 yards for a touchdown only to lose the score on an illegal block during the return, but the Mustangs still had great field position at the Upper Lake 17. Three straight runs by Griffith, who finished with five carries for 73 yards, all in the first half) set up a Galamay 1-yard touchdown run with 3:02 left in the half to make it 39-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire second half was played with a running clock at Upper Lake\u2019s request, making for a quick evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foltmer emptied his bench over the final two quarters not wanting to add to Upper Lake\u2019s misery, but the Mustang reserves still managed one more score, that coming with five seconds left in the third quarter on a nine-play, 64-yard drive aided by two major penalties on the Cougars. Hunter Karp\u2019s 1-yard run and Xavier\u2019s extra-point kick made it 46-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth quarter was mostly without incident except for some chippy comments and late hits from players on both sides. Late in the third quarter the officials briefly stopped the game to talk to captains from both teams asking them to take it down a notch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of Upper Lake\u2019s drives in the second half ended with turnovers — Galamay intercepted a pass and Karp recovered a fumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Costlow and Hawkins weren\u2019t needed in the second half, and really not much after the first quarter, they both put up impressive numbers for the amount of time they played. Costlow was 5-for-6 for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Hawkins had four receptions for 131 yards and the two touchdowns. In addition to his interception, he also boomed some deep kickoffs, including one for a touchback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThink what we could have done with them (Costlow and Hawkins) all season,\u201d Foltmer said following the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foltmer and Weiper, who has been coaching off and on in the county since the 1970s, exchanged kind words and a big hug after the game as the two teams exchanged handshakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a lot of respect for Bill,\u201d Weiper said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this thing a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Foltmer was more than pleased with how the night went, being reunited with many of his former players before the game was something he said he would never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had players there from the 80s, the 90s \u2026 my first team (in 1985) and my first league champion (1989),\u201d Foltmer said. \u201cIt was great seeing them again. There were all kinds of great memories out there. I loved seeing all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there was no shortage of love in the air Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Middletown welcome Costlow, Hawkins back to lineup, beats Upper Lake 46-0 By Brian Sumpter Lake County Sports on Facebook MIDDLETOWN >> Hollywood couldn\u2019t have scripted it any better, but everything you\u2019re about to read really happened Friday, the real and the surreal joining forces as the only head coach Middletown varsity football has known since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,19,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1426,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions\/1426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}