RUNNING TO A RECORD

MEDFORD 45, LAKELAND 20

Gardner’s 352 yards push Raiders to win

The Lakeland Thunderbirds made things happen on two drives with their passing game Friday, but the Medford Raiders ran the ball almost at will throughout, resulting in a record-setting night for senior Aiden Gardner in a 45-20 road win.

Gardner broke Medford’s singlegame rushing record with 352 yards on 31 carries and he scored four of the team’s six touchdowns in the win, which bumped the Raiders to 2-2 overall and, more importantly, 2-0 in the GNC heading into this Friday’s game against Rhinelander (2-0, 4-0) at Raider Field.

“Awesome,” was how senior center Jake Seifert and junior guard Bryce Sperl described helping open the holes that paved the way for Gardner’s historic night. He broke a record that had stood since Nov. 1, 2003 when John Tracey ran for 340 yards in a 52-36 WIAA Division 3 Level 2 playoff win at Mosinee.

The Raiders ran for 463 yards in Friday’s win and finished with 535 total yards.

“The lead blockers, the line, they did awesome tonight,” Gardner said. “Everything was wide open. Coach said going into this game that Lakeland would always shift more guys to one side, we realized that and we got it done. It was just a great game.”

“Guys are getting into their spots now, filling their role,” Seifert said. “It’s good. Everybody’s picking up their blocks, doing their job.”

“Coach always tells us to talk at practice,” Gardner said. “We’ve been talking a little bit more, but tonight, this is the most I’ve heard the line talk. It was fun to listen to and watch.”

“There was a lot better communication between everyone,” Sperl said.

“I just think the kids improved,” head coach Ted Wilson said. “They’ve been improving week to week and this was their best blocking performance. They did a better job of adjusting on the fly. We’ve struggled with that earlier in the year.”

Wilson said it is often difficult to predict how teams will defend some of the Raiders’ unique formations, particularly its single-wing “puma” look.

“You have to get there and see what they’re doing and adjust,” Wilson said. “We did a much better job of being able to adjust on the fly. Kids were more willing to accept that they had to adjust on the fly and figure out where we had to go and block. I thought they did a good job of adjusting and being able to adjust to make the gains go from 2-3 yards to big ones.”

The biggest carry was a 93-yard burst by Gardner with 3:01 left in the first half. Trailing 14-8 and getting pinned on the 1-yard line by a perfect Lakeland punt, the Raiders ran the same play to the right three straight times. On third and four, Gardner hopped over a wouldbe tackler, got the second level, cutback to his left and outran the last defender to the pylon. The two-point run by Parker Crass gave Medford a 16-14 lead that held to halftime.

Two plays into the second half, the Raiders struck again on the same play with Gardner busting one for 78 yards. He added the two-point conversion to open up a 24-14 lead.

“It’s awesome looking down, you’re 50 yards behind him, you just got done blocking and you look up and there’s Aiden in the end zone,” Seifert said.

“It makes you feel good,” Sperl said. “You know you did your job and you helped make that happen.”

“On the goal line we actually ran the same play three times in a row because it was so close to being busted the first two times,” Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of us making sure we got it right, and we did. And Aiden broke both of them. It was a good job on Aiden’s part to cut back a little bit and real good to get him up to the second level where he wasn’t even touched.”

“The lead blockers, Tukker (Schreiner) and Parker, they did great,” Gardner said. “Tukker on I think the 78-yard run, there were two guys coming in and he blew both of them up and Parker was right there to get a cornerback so that always helps. The line always made it work, so that was fun.”

Lakeland answered, taking advantage of a roughing-the-punter penalty and turning the next snap into a 42-yard touchdown pass up the right sideline from Brayden Wiczek to Mikel Allen that pulled the T-Birds within 24-20.

But Medford answered with a Medford- like drive, grinding out an 11-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Gardner’s 12-yard run to the right. He scored the two-pointer to open up a 32-20 lead with 3:25 left in the quarter.

The Raiders forced a three-and-out and drove 57 yards in six plays, stunning the T-Birds with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Crass to Caleb Guden on the first play of the fourth quarter. Schreiner’s kick boosted the lead to 39-20.

Three incomplete passes and a punt later, Medford had the ball again at midfi eld. Gardner ran for 15, Schreiner, who also had a solid night rushing with 84 yards on 15 carries, plowed ahead for 9 and, with the defense sucked in, Brigham Kelley got behind everyone and caught an easy 26-yard touchdown pass from Ty Metz to seal it with 10:36 to go.

Crass, in the lineup for the first time this season, made a difference with his blocking out of the backfield and he was two for two through the air for 46 yards.

“We knew we were going to use him in a specific way this year,” Wilson said. “I didn’t think we were going to end up having to use him at quarterback. He helped quite a bit. Made a couple nice throws. We’re going to use that a little more because he does have a good arm. He played quarterback in the younger levels for us.”

Lakeland turned a 73-yard return on the opening kickoff into a 6-yard touchdown pass in the right flat from Wiczek to Jerry Goselin and a 6-0 lead. Medford countered with a 65-yard drive that end- ed with an 11-yard score for Gardner and his two-point run that put the Raiders up 8-6 with 5:20 left in the first quarter.

The T-Birds then frustrated the Raiders with a lengthy 92-yard drive that included six pass completions, including three on fourth downs, to regain the lead on a 13-yard pass from Wiczek to Allen on third and goal.

Wiczek was impressive, completing 13 of 25 passes for 157 yards. He was 10 of 14 in the first half for 90 yards. Lakeland, however, ran for just 26 yards on 21 carries and had minus-8 rushing yards after the first quarter. Rocky Wagoner had a 21-yard carry early and that was about it for the T-Birds’ running game.

“We made some adjustments, we started trying to put some heat on (Wiczek) a little bit,” Wilson said. “I think it helped that we also got up, by scoring right out of the third quarter. They scored again, but then we scored again. We were just kind of keeping the pressure on them that they’re going to have to keep up with us that way I think probably helped.”

Having ground down two opponents in a row in the second half, the Raiders feel they have gained valuable momentum heading into the Rhinelander game.

“It’s been paying off for us,” Gardner said. “We’ve been working harder and harder and we’ve been seeing results. It’s been fun to watch and play.”

Medford’s Colby Elsner sacks Lakeland quarterback Brayden Wiczek.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS