Middletown comes together for first football game since fire

High school football in Middletown is always popular, but Friday night's sold-out contest was special, the first home game since the devastating Valley fire. 

"In spite of all that I've lost, I still have my team and my football, so it's good," varsity athlete Scotty Kelly told KTVU before the game. His family lost their house, and his dad, his business.

"Yeah it's basically everything," said Kelly. "But I've got good friends all around me, helping me every step of the way." 

The fire, which started September 12, raged through Lake County, killing four people, and destroying more than 1,200 homes. Thousands of families were uprooted, followed by weeks of turmoil.  

Parents and players wondered if the season would survive. 

"The kids wanted to know, 'What's going to happen? Are we going to have a football season?'" Sports Boosters President Kelli Chorjel told KTVU. "And we were hoping we'd still be able to play and here we are!"

Charred patches surround the stadium and an equipment shed burned, but the field and grandstands are fine. 

"We're here, out school is standing and our kids are on the field and playing," exclaimed Chorjel. "So it's all a win in our book." 

All together about a dozen players and coaches lost homes to the fire. 

"Every day I think about it," varsity player Coleman Drew told KTVU, as he watched the junior varsity game in the stands. His family of six is staying in borrowed trailers for the time being. Drew credits the Mustangs coach with keeping everyone on track.      

"He held us together, and brought us back out here, got us as a team again, and got our minds off it. He's real good about that," explained the senior.  

30-year coach Bill Foltmer says everyone was traumatized.

"That fire rolled over the hill and was on us in no time," he recalled.

What happened next was just as impressive.

Help poured in from the entire region, donated cash and sports gear from competing high schools, to make sure Middletown High athletics would be whole again. 

Foltmer says boxes of pants, cleats and pads from the Oakland Raiders really raised spirits, especially since they were accompanied by a video message from the professional players. 

"They said, 'hey Middletown, we've got some gear to send you,'" described Foltmer. "And you could see the looks on my guys' faces, the smiles. It was very uplifting." 

The junior varsity coach, whose home was destroyed, admits football is helping him move forward too.  

"In sports, the message is, lose a game, get back to practice, fix it and try again," observed Tony Hart. "So we're dealing with that on the field, and in life; just get back up and keep going." 

When the national anthem played at the start of the varsity game, many spectators were wiping their eyes and sharing hugs, happy to be back on home turf, some normalcy restored.  

"It doesn't fix what happened," mom Tanya Drew acknowledged. "But it brings us together. This is Middletown and I'm amazed so many people came, it's awesome." 

The Mustangs lost their home opener to the Wolverines of Fort Bragg High School. 

But in so many important ways, Middletown is undefeated.