MIDDLETOWN — Clear Lake quarterback Jake Soderquist passed for 282 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score Friday night as the Cardinals shut out the Middletown Mustangs, 28-0, in North Central League I varsity football action at Bill Foltmer Field in Middletown.
"My kids played hard, but we just got beat by a better team," Middletown head coach Bill Foltmer said after the Mustangs (1-1 league, 1-4 overall) ended the game at Clear Lake's half-yard line.
"That's as close as we came to scoring all night," Foltmer said while tipping his cap to the Cardinals' defense and offense.
"They bent a little bit but they didn't break," Foltmer said. "We were able to move the ball but we couldn't sustain any major drives. Their defense is aggressive and they were flying all over the place."
Foltmer was equally impressed with the Cardinals' offense.
"The can run the ball, pass the ball and their quarterback can scramble," he said. "Coach (Mark) Cory has put together a pretty good offense."
"We played a complete game," Cory added as the Cardinals improved to 2-0 in the league standings and 5-0 overall. "And we were pretty loose tonight. I thought we were a little tight last week with all that Bass Bowl stuff (against Kelseyville)."
Three players definitely stood out for Clear Lake, according to Cory. On offense it was both Soderquist, who finished with 319 yards of total offense, and wide receiver Ayden Williamson, who caught seven passes for 136 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown in the second quarter that gave the Cardinals a 14-0 halftime lead. And those numbers don't reflect the 75-yard touchdown Williamson had wiped out by a penalty in the second half.
"He was a force for us tonight," Cory said. "He was dragging guys all over the place."
Soderquist, a junior, completed 17 of 24 passes, his longest a 46-yard touchdown strike to Jesse Hayes in the fourth quarter that accounted for the Cardinals' final points. He also scrambled 22 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give Clear Lake a 7-0 lead.
"He stepped underneath the rush, reach the sidelines and was gone," Cory said.
On defense, Clear Lake was led by the play ofsenior defensive end Tony Gersalia.
"He was all over the place, chasing runners down from behind," Cory said. "It was an impressive night by him. He was causing them a lot of problems."
Clear Lake finished with 120 yards on the ground, 53 of those by fullback Hank Ollenberger, who scored on a 7-yard run in the third quarter to make it 21-0.
Middletown finished 147 yards on the ground but had just 49 yards through the air and was intercepted twice. Jacob Urbina was Middletown's top rusher (13 carries for 68 yards) as the Clear Lake defense limited Brandon Costlow, coming off a 280-yard game against Lower Lake the previous week, to just 51 yards on 16 carries.
"They had the ball a lot, I'll give them that," Cory said of the Mustangs. "They had the ball a lot more than we did in the first half, but our (scoring) drives were fairly long."
While the Cardinals certainly had success passing the ball, they also were able to sustain drives with their running game in the second half.
"We started banging it right back at them," Cory said. "That's something we've been able to do this season."
Middletown committed the game's only three turnovers. Soderquist and Graden Greer had interceptions for Clear Lake while Gersalia recovered a fumble.
The Mustangs did register the first sack against Soderquist this season, that in the first quarter.
However, Foltmer said Clear Lake did something to the Mustangs that no one else has been able to do this season, work receivers behind their defensive backs.
"We gave up three passes behind us," he said.
Added Foltmer, "This game was pretty much all Clear Lake."
Middletown won the junior varsity contest 22-18.
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