ONALASKA 33, MEDFORD 18 - Onalaska exposes areas that need fixing in Medford’s home opener

ONALASKA 33, MEDFORD 18

After a feel-good comeback at Holmen in week one, things went a step backward for the Medford Raiders against an even better Mississippi Valley Conference team Friday in a 33-18 Parents’ Night loss to Onalaska in the 2024 home opener.

The Raiders turned two big plays into touchdowns in the first quarter, but a rough second quarter on both sides of the ball put them in a 27-12 halftime hole. Any secondhalf momentum Medford made was killed by penalties. The yellow flags were a problem all night long as Medford was flagged 14 times for 105 yards in losses.

Both teams ended non-conference play at 1-1 as Onalaska rebounded from a 27-7 weekone loss to West Salem.

“We were in the game but just didn’t execute well enough to beat a really good team,” Medford head coach Ted Wilson said. “They’re really senior-dominated in the offensive and defensive lines and that’s where we’re pretty young. You could see the difference comparatively in those two spots. In the second half we did slightly better to figure out how to block them a little better. But we made too many mistakes to stay in the game more than we were.”

Medford’s Evan Wilkins took a direct snap, got through a nice hole on the left side and went for 53 yards on the game’s second play to reach Onalaska’s 5-yard line and Paxton Rothmeier scored on the next play to give the Raiders a 6-0 lead just 49 seconds into the game. A 38-yard run by Cameron Cornett on Onalaska’s first play quickly got the Hilltoppers in Medford territory, but the drive eventually stalled on downs at Medford’s 14. But a fumble two plays later gave the ball right back to Onalaska, who capitalized with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Ian Kowal to Jackson Egan. Mallory Meighan kicked the extra point to Onalaska on top 7-6.

That lead lasted just 91 seconds. On third and seven, Medford dialed up a counter play for Evan Paul who got through another big hole on the left side and went 66 yards to the end zone untouched to put the Raiders in front 12-7 with 2:13 left in the opening quarter.

“Very well blocked by all parts,” Wilson said of the two big runs in the first quarter. “Evan and Evan I think both had one guy to beat, which they did. I thought those were really well-executed. Those types of things are good in the fact that they show our kids that when we do things right, when we step with the correct foot, when we block with the correct shoulder and we climb up to the next level that our offense can be very explosive and it can be really good. But you can’t do that just once every five plays. You have to do it consistently.”

Onalaska’s offense consistently found the end zone over the next 12 minutes. Noah Chenault, who alternated at quarterback with Kowal, broke loose for 47 yards two plays into the next drive, which led to his 24-yard scoring strike to Pierce Sommerfield that put the Hilltoppers up 13-12 with 39 seconds left in the quarter.

“Go back to the first quarter, we get a big stop and turn around and fumbled the ball right back to them two plays after,” Wilson said. “Even if we just turn the field over on that drive instead of turning the ball back over on the 15-yard line, that’s a big play and then there’s the penalties. With the penalties and mistakes, we played like a young team against a team that is older in the spots where we’re younger.”

Onalaska’s next drive was a quick one as Cornett ran through a couple of arm tackles at the point of attack and then sprinted for a 60yard touchdown. Medford got two first downs on its next drive and had second and one before a penalty and a bad snap that resulted in a 14-yard loss killed that drive. A 36-yard pass from Chenault to Carter Johnson set up a Cornett’s 1-yard touchdown run with 2:33 left in the half. Sam Hierlmeier’s interception stopped another potential scoring drive by Onalaska just before halftime.

“We’re pretty young up front,” Wilson said. “We’re bringing in a lot of young bodies there and we definitely looked like our kids were a little lost against an experienced team. That goes back to how quickly experienced teams come off the ball, how quickly they get to the next level. It’s hard to sometimes get that in practice.”

The Raiders had a shot to close the gap in the third. They got a fourth-down stop at their 43 and picked up three first downs to get to Onalaska’s 21-yard line but three penalties and a sack later, Onalaska took over at Medford’s 44 and drove 56 yards in 11 plays, with all of the yardage coming on the ground, and scored on Kaeson Stettler’s 4-yard run with 10:47 left in the game.

Medford responded with a grinding 80yard scoring drive. Parker Lissner hit Hayden Koester for a big 27-yard fourth-down completion that put the ball at the one and Rothmeier finished it from there with 4:17 left. Medford got the onside kick and picked up two first downs, one by a penalty that wiped out a Chenault interception. But Chenault got another interception that counted three Medford penalties later to seal it.

Statistically, Onalaska’s advantages weren’t drastic. The Hilltoppers had a 366-338 edge in total yards and Medford had a 284-281 edge in rushing yards. Onalaska had an 85-54 edge in passing yards.

Rothmeier got a tough 153 yards on 26 rushing attempts, while Wilkins had 64 yards on eight carries and Paul had the one 66-yard run.

Chenault was four of seven for 72 yards in the passing game and had 60 yards on just three carries while running the ball. Cornett finished with 153 yards on 15 carries.

“We want to play good competition,” Wilson said. “They got better from week one to week two, definitely. We’re just hoping to get better from week two to week three now and keep taking steps forward.”

Medford hosts Antigo (2-0) Friday at 7 p.m. in the teams’ Great Northern Conference opener.

The Stanfley Farms team won the Mixed Division in the Black River Industries Golf Classic Fundraiser. Team members are (l. to r.) Taylor Reinhart, Katie Voss, Suzanne Stanfley and Ben Stanfley. The 4S’s Golf Team was second. SUBMITTED PHOTOS

The Women of Grass Destruction –– Erin Wojcik, Kaci Sapinski, Valerie Gorichs and Natalie Winkler –– won the Women’s Division in the BRI outing.