LAKE COUNTY — And then there was one.
The Middletown Mustangs are once again Lake County’s last football team standing following their 40-6 victory over Pinole Valley on Friday night in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 6 playoffs at Middletown High School. The Lower Lake Trojans also qualified for the playoffs this season but couldn’t get past Justin-Siena, falling 55-14 in another Division 6 first-round game on Friday in Napa even though junior quarterback Vann Wilkins set both Lower Lake and Lake County records for most passing yards in a single season.
Middletown’s quest for a second straight sectional championship and a third consecutive appearance in the sectional finals resumes Saturday with a 1 p.m. semifinal showdown against St. Bernard at St. Bernard’s Academy in Eureka. The winner of that game meets the winner of this Friday’s other semifinal between No. 1 seed Kennedy (Richmond) and No. 4 Justin-Siena. Middletown (8-2) is the No. 3 seed and St. Bernard (8-3) is the No. 2 seed. The two teams have met in the playoffs before, St. Bernard taking a 25-14 decision from Middletown in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Division 5 playoffs.
Following is a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights from Week 13:
Statistics
Rushing — Nico Barrio continued his assault on the Middletown record books with 153 yards on 14 carries and three touchdowns in the Mustangs’ 40-6 playoff victory over Pinole Valley, and he sat out the entire fourth quarter. Teammate Dillon Tingle added 47 yards on nine carries with two TDs.
Passing — Lower Lake’s Vann Wilkins became Lower Lake’s and Lake County’s single-season passing yardage leader after completing 14 of 25 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns in a 55-14 playoff lost to Justin-Siena. Wilkins finishes his first varsity season with 2,807 yards, eclipsing the old record (school and county) of 2,779 set by Lower Lake’s Elijah Hernandez last season. Middletown’s Isaac Perez didn’t have to throw the ball much, but he connected on all three of his passes for 98 yards, helping set up touchdowns on three different drives. He’s 13-for-13 over his last two games.
Receiving — Lower Lake senior Semaj Clark caught six passes for 110 yards and a touchdown in his final game for the Trojans. He finishes 2019 with 1,258 yards and 19 TDs.
Special teams
Extra points — Middletown’s Jorge Fonseca went 4-for-5 on his extra-point tries against Pinole Valley. Three of them boomed through the uprights while the fourth made it over the crossbar with about an inch to spare.
Defense
Right place — A high punt snap by was recovered by Middletown’s Justin Urbina in the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter Friday night against Pinole Valley. The back-breaking play was the second Middletown touchdown in a 77-second span and gave the home team a 26-0 lead.
Protecting their turf — The Middletown Mustangs had a 26-0 lead before Pinole Valley got the ball across midfield. When the Spartans finally did move onto Middletown’s side of the field in the first half, they got as close as the 10-yard line but ended up turning the ball over on downs … at the Middletown 43.
Setting the tone — Justin-Siena blanked Lower Lake’s high-octane passing offense in the first quarter while establishing a 21-0 lead.
Miscellaneous
Too much to lose — Lower Lake entered play against Justin-Siena minus three starting offensive linemen, a starting running back, and a wide receiver/kicker.
7-1 — Middletown’s four three-year varsity starters — Nico Barrio, Dillon Tingle, Jared Pyzer and James Hernandez — are 7-1 in the postseason.
289 — Bill Foltmer won his 289th career game at the high school level (270th at Middletown) with the victory over Pinole Valley. He credited his assistant coaches — Moke Simon, Tom Knowles and Kurtis Woodard — with much of the team’s success in recent seasons.
Could happen — If Justin-Siena beats Kennedy on Friday and Middletown beats St. Bernard on Saturday, Middletown would host the Division 6 championship game the weekend of Nov. 29-30.
Busy Saturday — Middletown will have other teams in action Saturday as well as both the boys and girls cross country teams compete in the North Coast Section Championships at Hayward High School. Both teams will be looking to secure berths into the CIF State Championships on Nov. 30 in Fresno.
And speaking of Middletown — The girls soccer team won the North Coast Section Division 1 championship last weekend with a 1-0 victory over Arcata. The Mustangs (21-3-1) won their final 17 games and avenged all three of their regular-season losses by beating those teams — Roseland University Prep, Fortuna and Arcata — in the playoffs.
Unhappy camper — A Pinole Valley fan was ejected from Bill Foltmer Field late in the third quarter after he threatened a game official. He probably should have been upset with the Mustangs, who held a 40-0 lead at the time and didn’t need any help from the officials to do it.
Perfect — Middletown’s offense scored touchdowns on all four of its possessions in the first half.
So much for competitive — All four first-round games in Division 6 were blowouts.
