MEDFORD 40, MERRILL 0 - Medford’s third-quarter barrage buries the Blue Jays

MEDFORD 40, MERRILL 0

The Merrill Blue Jays stayed in Friday’s game through 30 minutes, but then, in just 79 seconds, they were knocked out of it by three Medford touchdowns during a 40-0 Great Northern Conference win for the home team at Raider Field.

In those 79 seconds, a 14-0 lead went to 34-0 and Paxton Rothmeier’s 39-yard touchdown run with 1:12 left capped the fourtouchdown quarter that assured Medford would stay unbeaten in conference play at 20.

Medford (3-1) dropped Merrill to 0-2, 2-2 by completely shutting down the Blue Jays’ running game, turning them over four times, including three interceptions from linebacker Charlie Gierl, and rushing for 279 yards with an average 8.5 yards per carry. Paxton Rothmeier had another huge night with 217 yards on just 16 carries.

“Once we got the momentum rolling it was absolutely electric,” Sam Hierlmeier said. “It’s just a great feeling with the team all amped up. It just rolls through the rest of the game.”

The third quarter outburst started with the first-ever varsity touchdowns for seniors Hierlmeier and Ben Gruber, one of which came offensively and the other on the defensive end.

“It’s a feeling you won’t forget,” Gruber said.

Gierl’s second interception of the game would have gone for a 90-yard pick-six had it not been for a questionable blindside block penalty on the return early in the third quarter. While the touchdown was wiped out, Medford did take possession of the ball at its 18, leading just 14-0. The drive stalled near midfield and Medford punted, but Gierl ended Merrill’s ensuing possession with his third pick of the game on a pass over the middle by Merrill’s Aiden Lonsdorf and returned it to the Jays’ 26. On first down, Hierlmeier got open on a corner route and quarterback Parker Lissner found him for the touchdown that made it 20-0 with 5:56 left in the quarter.

“I just saw they had the big linebacker on me,” Hierlmeier said. “We called a curl and corner. I was lined up in the slot and I was like, ‘I got this.’ I broke out and I knew I had him burned and I saw Parker threw a good enough ball to me and I caught. I dove right for the line and he called it a touchdown. It was sweet.”

On Merrill’s next offensive play, Tucyr Smola, back from a week-one ankle injury, burst through the middle and sacked Lonsdorf, forcing a fumble that Gruber picked up at the 17-yard line and carried into the end zone. Lissner hit Gierl with the twopoint pass and, nine seconds after Hierlmeier’s score, it was 28-0.

“It was unbelievable,” Gruber said. “Scoop and score. Tucyr Smola hit the quarterback, he fumbled. I just scooped it up and ran it in for a touchdown. It’s a dream.”

“Ben has just been grinding away all year,” Medford head coach Ted Wilson said. “He wasn’t really a starter to start the season. He’s kept playing, kept practicing and doing the right things in trying to get better and for him to scoop and score on that fumble was really neat.”

Medford got another quick stop defensively, stopping a completed pass by EJ Weix on a fake punt short of the first down. Medford again went for the quick strike and got it with Lissner firing a dart down the left seam to a wide-open Evan Paul for a 34-0 lead at the 4:37 mark.

“When you run the ball well it helps open up your play-action game a little bit,” Wilson said. “Then you can take some opportunities once you get inside that 40 going in. We can take a couple shots here and there and have confidence that even if you take a shot on first and 10 and you’re at second and 10 you have three plays to try to get back to a first down.”

Rothmeier’s second score of the game came four plays after Medford stopped another fake punt just shy of the necessary yardage to keep Merrill’s drive alive. The 60yard scoring drive for Medford ended when Rothmeier ran to the left on a rocket sweep, spun through a would-be tackler at the 30 and then outran the rest of the defenders to the left pylon.

With Medford’s defense limiting Merrill to 17 net rushing yards –– most of which came on the last drive against Medford’s reserves – – the Blue Jays had to resort to passing to move the ball. They did that with some success as Lonsdorf threw for 200 of Merrill’s 226 passing yards. But Medford’s defense kept the Jays out of the end zone on their two biggest threats bookending halftime as Merrill missed a 25-yard field goal in the first half and threw the interception to Gierl on the first drive of the second half.

Wilson said Medford’s defensive backfield continued to be the strength the Raiders thought it could be when the season started.

“Our kids have done a very good job,” Wilson said. “We have senior leadership back there between Evan (Wilkins) and Sam and Evan (Paul) and Paxton and even with the other Evan (junior Evan Czarnezki). They’ve done a good job. Greg (Klapatauskas) does a great job with those defensive backs and Ross Hackbarth does a great job with the overall scheme. We do play a lot of man coverage, so we do put those guys on an island at times. They’ve done a good job of, even if the guys makes the catch, that they’re going to be there to make the tackle. They’re kids that want to take coaching and want to do well.”

“I love it when they throw the ball at me,” Hierlmeier said. “It’s the best feeling. I just want that challenge.”

The game didn’t look it would be challenging early. Rothmeier ran for 51 yards on the game’s first play to get to Merrill’s 11, but the Raiders fumbled the ball away two plays later. They got the ball back quickly, however, and capped a short 38-yard scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown run by Wilkins. On Medford’s second possession, Wilson decided to go for it on fourth and 1 from the Raiders’ own 39 and it paid off with Rothmeier busting through a hole on the right side for his 61-yard score.

“It’s one yard,” Wilson said. “You figure you have seniors and you should be able to get a yard. Granted it doesn’t always happen and yes there is some risk to it. But I thought with the way our defense had played up to that point that helped minimize that risk. It was blocked well and he did make a kid miss once he was at the second level and he had the first down. The kid missed and we were off to the races.”

The bad news was that Medford lost yet another key player on their offensive and defensive fronts to injury when Zach Gosse went down very early in the game. While the Raiders did get Smola and senior Tripp Reamer back, which certainly helped, injuries remain a concern as the season reaches its midpoint.

“We’ve had a lot of years where we’ve had hardly any injuries and this year, it just seems to be piling on a little bit,” Wilson said. “It’s going to stretch us a little bit because we weren’t deep to begin with. But every opportunity provides for other kids. Sawyer Elsner, like Ben Gruber, he wasn’t a starter at the beginning of the year and he played pretty well Friday night and hopefully he can play well going forward. They just keep practicing away, get their opportunity and try to seize the opportunity and get better every day.”

The injuries forced Medford to move Gierl back to linebacker and it paid off Friday his three-pick night, plus the 70-yard pick-six he had the previous week against Antigo.

“He’s a linebacker,” Wilson said. “He’s not even a kid that’s quote-unquote defending anybody. He does a good job of getting into his drop. He gets into those passing lanes well. He’s good at going up and getting the ball, which makes him also a decent wide receiver for us. Moving him back to linebacker has been a good thing for us. We kind of did it out of necessity, but it’s been a good move for us.”