St. Mary's fullback Kyle Goree lands on top of Middletown's Jacob Urbina (21) and a teammate during Friday's action. Goree rushed for 59 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown in the second quarter that was the difference in the Panthers' 7-0 win over Middletown. (Photos by Minenna Photography)
MIDDLETOWN — A golden opportunity to tie or even win the game in the final minutes wasn't to be for the Middletown Mustangs in a 7-0 season-opening varsity football loss to the St. Mary's Panthers of Albany on Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown.
In a game St. Mary's thoroughly dominated at the line of scrimmage on offense and defense, Middletown was able to hang in there until the very end and nearly came away with a gift score with the clock running down in the fourth quarter. Following a St. Mary's punt with a little more than three minutes remaining, Middletown lineman Jacob Pullman picked up the ball after it rolled to a stop. Players from both teams thought the play had been whistled dead at that point, but that was not the case. Pullman advanced the ball all the way to the St. Mary's 10-yard line, some 60 yards, with 3:10 remaining in the game.
Middletown running back Brandon Costlow is hit behind the line of scrimmage after taking the handoff from quarterback Hunter Hartzog. St. Mary's defense limited the Mustangs to 14 rushing yards and no rushing first downs in a 7-0 season-opening win Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field.
"I thought it was dead," Middletown head coach Bill Foltmer said of the weird play. "I was getting ready to call a play and I looked up and he (Pullman) was running down the field."
Running back Elijah Diaz gained 5 yards on first down — which matched Middletown's biggest gain on the ground all night — to bring up second-and-goal. Quarterback Hunter Hartzog rolled to his right but couldn't connect with Diaz, the ball just beyond his reach near the goal line.
Middletown tried another passing play on third down but Hartzog, who threw for the lion's share of Middletown's 95 yards of total offense, was sacked for a three-yard loss. That same heavy pressure on fourth-and-goal resulted in Hartzog having the ball knocked from his grasp before he could get a pass off, and while the Mustangs recovered the ball, the Panthers took over on downs.
"Our offensive line struggled all night," Foltmer said. "Their No. 8 (middle linebacker Kyle Goree) owned us up front. He exposed us tonight."
The Panthers (1-0) weren't shy about blitzing the Mustangs and it was effective. St. Mary's defenders made significant penetration up front to clog up the running lanes and hold Middletown (0-1) without a rushing first down, which might be a first for Foltmer in nearly 40 years at the helm of the Mustangs.
Middletown quarterback Hunter Hartzog scrambles to the outside in the fourth quarter. Hartzog went 7-for-15 passing for 94 yards in his varsity debut.
"We have green kids up front and only one senior there, and he didn't play there last year," Foltmer said of his inexperienced offensive line. "And our quarterback doesn't have much experience."
Middletown's defense, which played reasonably well and was aided by 95 yards in St. Mary's penalties, did get the ball back into the offense's hands with just 30 seconds to play, but the Mustangs couldn't advance the ball beyond the line of scrimmage at the Middletown 37. A last-gasp pass by Hartzog in the final seconds was intercepted and nearly returned for a touchdown as time expired.
"The defense I thought did a good job, but I don't think we can expect our opponent next week (Bradshaw Christian) to give us that much penalty help," Foltmer said. "They're a well-oiled machine."
The many penalties committed by the Panthers held back their offense on several occasions. They were finally able to overcome that on their first possession of the second quarter with an eight-play, 83-yard drive capped by Goree's 25-yard touchdown run, one on which he was momentarily held up in the backfield only to spin loose and work his way to the outside for the score.
"That play shouldn't of happened," Foltmer said. "We definitely had some tackling issues in our first game."
Unable to move the ball on the ground at all against a St. Mary's defense that stopped everything up the middle and used its speed on the outside to keep the Mustangs from turning the corner, Middletown had few opportunities to reach the end zone.
Middletown wide receiver Troy Taber breaks loose on a 28-yard gain to the St. Mary's 37-yard line in the third quarter as St. Mary's defenders chase him down.
A 41-yard pass from Hartzog to sophomore wideout Troy Taber in the first quarter — Middletown's biggest gain of the night — moved the ball to the St. Mary's 45. The Mustangs were on the verge of getting another first down moments later but Hartzog was sacked on a third-and-one play from the 36, forcing a punt.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs made it as far as the St. Mary's 35 before consecutive four-yard losses — the first on a running play, the second on a passing play — produced another punt.
On Middletown's very next possession, which came about after the Mustangs came up with a huge stop on defense as St. Mary's failed to convert a fourth-and-two pass from its own 46-yard line, Middletown made it as far as the St. Mary's 15, including a 24-yard pass from Hartzog to tight end Evan Harper, before turning it over on downs.
"Basically we had two chances to score," Foltmer said. "Given how little we did on offense, we did well to get those."
The Mustangs ended up with 14 yards rushing compared to 136 for the Panthers, who finished with 214 yards overall to Middletown's 95. There was only one turnover, that on the final play of the game.
"We did have some nice defensive stops," Foltmer said. "I thought we did OK there."
Hartzog finished 7-for-15 for 94 yards, most of that going to Taber (three catches for 65 yards).
Middletown's Jacob Pullman (55) nearly came up with the play of the game late in the fourth quarter, returning a punt to the St. Mary's 10-yard line before being knocked out of bounds by Kyle Goree. The Mustangs were trailing 7-0 but couldn't get the ball into the end zone.
St. Mary's, the first of three non-league games for the Mustangs before they open their North Central League I schedule Sept. 23 in Lower Lake, was the "easiest" team on Middletown's preseason schedule, according to Foltmer. After playing Bradshaw Christian (1-0) at home next Friday, the Mustangs are on the road Sept. 9 to play St. Patrick/St. Vincent (0-1) of Vallejo, a 35-18 loser to Berean Christian of Walnut Creek on Friday night. Bradshaw Christian opened its season with a 35-28 win over Lathrop on Aug. 19 and had a bye Friday.
Middletown's junior varsity squad fared much better Friday, winning 36-8.
Game notes: Had the Mustangs scored in the closing minutes of the game following Pullman's long punt return, would they have gone for one or two points on the conversion? "At the time I was so busy calling the plays, I didn't even think about it," Foltmer said. As things turned out, he didn't have to make the decision ... Cruz, Middletown's leading rusher last season and an All-League selection, had only two carries Friday night, both in the fourth quarter, and he still ended up tying teammate Brandon Costlow (nine carries for seven yards) for the most rushing yards on the night ... Jaime Baldovinos came up with a key sack near the end of the second quarter as the Panthers were trying to add onto their 7-0 lead in the final minutes of the the first half. They ran out of time at the Middletown 15, having used all three of their timeouts earlier in the half ... St. Mary's beat Middletown 25-14 last year in the season opener for both teams.
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