Warriors extend drives, grind way to opening win

RICE LAKE 28, MEDFORD 6

GREAT NORTHERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL STANDINGS Conf. Overall W L W L A close game at the half got away from the Medford Raiders quickly in the second half as they fell 28-6 at Rice Lake in their 2021 football opener Friday night.

The Raiders made one push into Warriors territory in the first half, had two more drives stall around midfield, forced a turnover and only trailed 6-0 at the half. But Rice Lake scored on three straight possessions to start the second half with the dagger being a 2-yard touchdown pass from Cole Fenske to Alex Belongia on fourth down on the first play of the fourth quarter that capped a 99-yard, 16play drive and made it 22-0.

“We played OK in the first half, but we didn’t play very well in the second half and things kind of started rolling downhill on us the wrong way,” Medford head coach Ted Wilson said. “You have to keep drives alive and you have to get other teams off the field, so you can get back on offense. We didn’t really do that that well.”

The 99-yard drive wasn’t the only grinder of a drive that Rice Lake converted into points. After Medford got first downs to open the game and then had to punt, the Warriors went 75 yards in 13 plays to score their first points of the season on their opening possession. The Warriors had three third-down conversions and a fourth-down conversion on the drive and capped it with a 9-yard touchdown run by fullback Christian Lindow with 2:12 left in the opening quarter.

The Raiders put together their best drive of the first three quarters on their next possession and reached Rice Lake’s 35 when a no gain, a high snap that led to a 2-yard loss, a 7-yard run by Aiden Gardner and another bobble that led to quarterback Logan Baumgartner losing 2 yards killed the drive at the 30.

“Mistakes against good teams are killers,” Wilson said. “We definitely made more mistakes than Rice Lake did.”

Medford got the ball back when Charlie Kleist popped the ball loose from Rice Lake’s Elliott Nolin and Jake Seifert recovered the fumble at Medford’s 37. But the Raiders were unable to capitalize and punted.

The third quarter got off to a tough start when Fenske hit Jace Fitzgerald for a 24-yard gain on third and nine and three plays later, Fenske got loose on the left sideline for a 29-yard touchdown run.

Rhinelander 0 0 1 0 Antigo 0 0 0 0 Mosinee 0 0 0 1 Merrill 0 0 0 1 Medford 0 0 0 1

Lakeland 0 0 0 1 Ashland 0 0 0 1 Hayward 0 0 0 1 Aug. 20: Rice Lake 28, Medford 6; Edgar 35, Lakeland 0; Stratford 14, Mosinee 7; Valders 40, Merrill 22; Northwestern 42, Ashland 7; Osceola 46, Hayward 8; Rhinelander 32, Tomahawk 0; Antigo at Amherst (canceled). Aug. 27: Amherst at Medford, Merrill at Wausau West, Escanaba, Mich. at Antigo, Racine St. Catherine’s at Mosinee, Milwaukee Riverside at Rhinelander, Hayward at Spooner, Hurley at Ashland, Lakeland at Tomahawk.

The two-point conversion opened up a 14-0 lead.

The Raiders went three and out for their only offensive snaps of the quarter, but Baumgartner’s 55-yard punt took a sharp roll and was downed at the one, giving Medford a chance to establish some field position. Instead, the Warriors went on their grinding drive that included a 25yard pass to Belongia, an 18-yard run by Fenske and the touchdown pass on fourth down that just got over the fingertips of Baumgartner and settled into Belongia’s hands in the back of the end zone.

Medford fumbled the ball away on its next offensive snap and the Warriors capitalized scoring on another Belongia touchdown reception, this one coming from 8 yards away.

Belongia finished with five catches for 62 yards and also hurt Medford a year ago, catching five passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-14 season-ending loss last November and a big 52-yard touchdown that broke open an eventual 27-6 Rice Lake win on Oct. 30.

“He’s very good,” Wilson said. “He’s a very well polished wide receiver. Honestly I thought Logan did a decent job on him. The kid still made a bunch of plays on us, but it wasn’t like he was running pretty much wide open down the field at will. We compete for it. Sometimes they’re going to complete a pass and he’s a spectacular athlete.”

Belongia ended Medford’s next possession with an interception on a long desperation heave on fourth down. The Raiders did end the game on a high note, driving 87 yards in 11 plays and overcoming a holding penalty before scoring on a 23-yard pass from Baumgartner to Caleb Guden. Baumgartner side-stepped pressure, rolled slightly to his right and found Guden wide-open in the back of the end zone.

“He did that a couple of times, so that’s nice to see,” Wilson said. “He’s a pretty cool customer in the pocket. I think going forward, obviously, if we can throw the ball efficiently that will help us. I wouldn’t say we did that Friday night because we were only five of 11. We have to find a way to complete 60-plus percent of those passes.”

Gardner had some solid runs, gaining 90 yards in 19 carries and Tukker Schreiner plowed for 23 yards on seven carries for the Raiders. Baumgartner threw for 54 yards on his five completions. Guden and Brigham Kelley caught two passes apiece.

The lesson for the night for Medford’s inexperienced offensive line as well as the backs and receivers trying to open holes was the need to sustain their blocks.

“We got a lot of work to do,” Wilson said. “We’re just not sustaining blocks at the moment. I guess we moved a little bit forward, but there’s a lot to clean up and a lot of blocks that need to be made and a lot of kids that need to start sustaining blocks. We’re going to continue to work on that to try to get better at that.”

Things don’t figure to get any easier Friday when Medford hosts one of Wisconsin’s top small-school programs of the last decade or so, Amherst, at 7 p.m. at Raider Field.

The Falcons flew high in their opener, easily taking down St. Croix Falls 42-19, highlighted by a 35-point second quarter. Amherst torched the Saints through the air as quarterback Landon Moe was seven for nine for 187 yards and he ran for 72 yards and four touchdowns. Receiver Ian Hall caught four balls for 105 yards.

They’re extremely athletic, extremely fast,” Wilson said. “They’re very wellcoached. Since Mark Lusic has been there, they’ve had a ton of history of winning football. They’ll be very, very good. We’ll have our hands full.

“They’re a spread-option type of team,” Wilson added. “They’ll take what the defense gives them. If that’s a lot of passing, they’ll throw it. They run the ball quite a bit. They’re a well-rounded team. Very good athletes on the outside. They have tall, lanky wide receivers. They look fast.”