Middletown too much for SV

Middletown can’t spoil St. Vincent’s Homecoming, but they can beat the celebrants on the football field.|

Highly rated Middletown scored three times in the opening period, and the visiting Mustangs coasted to a 41-0 win over St. Vincent in front of a packed house at Yarborough Field on Saturday. Middletown improved to 3-0 in the competitive North Central League I race by dominating play on both sides of the ball.

“Many of the coaches in the league thought that Kelseyville would be the team to beat this year, but Middletown beat them 7-6,” said an impressed St. Vincent coach Gary Galloway. “I think that Middletown hits harder than anybody in our league.”

Middletown quickly took the anticipation out of the homecoming crowd as quarterback Luke Holt hooked up with wide receiver Trey O’Neil on a 71-yard scoring play to open the floodgates.

Before intermission, Middletown had opened its margin to 27-0 by mixing up its offensive game with some strong defense.

St. Vincent quarterback Trent Free went to different receivers in a bid to move the chains, but his club was limited to only short routes that Middletown eventually choked off. St. Vincent had six pass completions in the first half, but its ability to earn better field position was limited by a strong Middletown rush. Three of Free’s tosses were picked off as he threw into heavy coverage.

Receivers Tyler Cunha and A.J Fetter were limited to short completions, and it wasn’t until late in the second period that Free spotted hustling Reno Nalducci for a 13-yard completion that netted a first down.

In the second half, St. Vincent moved into Middletown territory with the help of a roughing-the-passer penalty. The drive stalled after three ensuing plays.

“These kids are resilient,” said Galloway. “We don’t do anything different in our planning and prepare for each game one at a time. The boys digest each scouting report on Monday, and we are getting better.”

Middletown ran mostly dive plays in the second half behind backup junior quarterback RH Hess. With a running clock, Middletown scored twice on strong runs by Jacob Kelly. Veteran coach Bill Foltmer had his team run off a maximum number of seconds between each play call.

St. Vincent had some solid defensive efforts by Brian Giron and rapidly improving sophomore Gio Antonini. Antonini broke through a wave of blockers to nail Middletown runners near the line of scrimmage.

Giron earned the respect of Middletown backers by twice chasing down runners from behind who were headed for pay dirt down field. Giron led the team with 66 tackles prior to the game followed closely by Antonini who had stacked up 63.

Fetter had a productive day on defense, and St. Vincent got some strong work from freshman Andrew Pech. Pech (195) was credited with multiple stops in both halves of play.

St. Vincent slipped to 0-4 in the NCL III and 1-5 overall.

The extended halftime drew some added excitement when junior Lauren Vollert drew the red rose signaling her choice as the homecoming queen for 2017. Vollert is a three-sport athlete who competes in soccer and basketball before ending the school year by patrolling center field for St. Vincent’s Division V finalist softball team.

The homecoming king selection of Gabe Miguel also was well received by the crowd on the east sideline.

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