High school football: Critical third quarter propels Medina to win over Stow

STOW — A pair of game-deciding plays helped the Medina football team pick up a season-opening 21-13 non-league win over Stow on Friday. The Bees led 14-7 at the break and were coming off a 17-play drive that came up empty when they turned the ball over on downs with five seconds left in the second quarter. They then struggled mightily coming out after halftime. Medina punted on its first three drives of the second half and momentum slowly started switching to the Bulldogs when the first big play happened. Facing third-and-7 from the Medina 45-yard line, River Blomquist (21-of-39 passing, 249 yards, 3 TDs; 19 carries, 51 yards) was flushed from the pocket. As he rolled right, Blomquist hit Kellen Hathaway for just his second completion of the half. "I just didn't trust myself and I didn't trust the read," Blomquist said. "I had to make something happen. I saw (Hathaway) down there and I scrambled for it and we connected." Hathaway (5 catches, 81 yards, 2 TDs) broke a tackle at the Stow 25 and sprinted in for a 55-yard score to give Medina a 21-7 lead. "We always practice that scramble drill," Hathaway said. "The play is not over until it is over. He rolled out and found me open. We connected and got the momentum." Hathaway's first score gave Medina the 14-7 lead after Stow quarterback Jacob Harrington (13-of-22 passing, 136 yards; 22 carries, 97 yards, 2 total TDs) scored from a yard out to even the game. Blomquist and the Medina offense stagnated after a strong start and, combined with some Bulldogs pressure, off-target throws and drops by the Medina receivers, who were without an injured Brian Wuchter, had a run of just one completion in 10 attempts spanning the end of the second quarter and all of the third. "It was the first game and we are still getting into things and still building," Blomquist said. "We are still building chemistry with everyone." Behind Harrington, the Bulldogs kept battling and pulled within a score when the senior quarterback found Israel Purkiss for a 12-yard touchdown with 7:16 left in the game. Stow went for two and Harrington's pass fell incomplete. Medina had a chance to run out the clock but fell behind the sticks on a delay penalty and could not convert a third-and-7 play when Caleb Sherman was tackled 3 yards short of the line to gain. "The offense had to capitalize," Hathaway said. "We'd drive down the field and get down into the red zone and stuff shuts down. That can't happen. We have to capitalize when we get down there." Both teams had trouble with penalties, as Medina had 10 for 96 yards and Stow amassed 12 for 85. The Bees punted the ball back to Stow with 3:35 left and had to rely on their defense to preserve the victory. The Bulldogs took over at their own 40-yard line and drove to the Medina 17 behind Harrington before facing one final shot on fourth-and-6. Medina got pressure immediately, with Cliff Nicholson (sack, 2 tackles for loss) forcing Harrington out of the pocket to the right. Harrington's desperation pass back over the middle was overthrown. "We knew what they wanted to do," said Bees linebacker Jack Fletcher, who had a sack among three tackles for loss. "We watched in film all week that their back released to the side whenever our linebacker would get drawn in. We needed to anticipate that." The Medina defense, led by Nicholson and Fletcher, who was awarded the unit's championship belt after the game, was solid and, despite a gritty performance from Harrington, didn't allow anyone else to do much of anything. "We need to do a lot more work," Fletcher said. "But the defense did an excellent job." The Bees allowed just 268 yards to the Bulldogs, held them to five third-down conversions on 12 attempts and made stops on a pair of big fourth-down attempts. James Hilvert picked up a sack for Medina, while Donavan Delatte, Michael Kessler and Carson Mann each had a tackle for loss. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Medina 21, Stow 13 MEDINA &emsp;&emsp;7 7 0 7 — 21 STOW &emsp;&emsp; 0 7 0 6 — 13 First M — Sydney Lloyd 24 pass from River Blomquist (Landen Cusick kick), 2:15 Second S — Jacob Harrington 1 run (Amari Darrow kick), 10:55 M — Kellen Hathaway 5 pass from Blomquist (Cusick kick), 7:01 Fourth M — Hathaway 55 pass from Blomquist (Cusick kick), 10:06 S — Isreal Purkiss 8 pass from Harrington (pass failed), 7:16 &emsp;&emsp;M &emsp;&emsp;S First downs &emsp;&emsp;19 &emsp;&emsp;15 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;32/71 37/129 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;2.2 &emsp;&emsp;3.5 Passing &emsp;&emsp;21/39&emsp;&emsp;13/22 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;249 &emsp;&emsp;137 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;71/320 59/266 Punting &emsp;&emsp;4/32.3 4/36.3 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;10/96&emsp;&emsp;12/85 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;2/0 &emsp;&emsp;1/0 RUSHING: Medina — Blomquist 19-51, Lloyd 7-47, Caleb Sherman 2-4, Team 4-(-31). Stow — Harrington 22-97, Caden Boyd 8-31, Purkiss 5-12, Team 2-(-11). PASSING: Medina — Blomquist 21-39-249-0. Stow — Harrington 13-22-137-0. RECEIVING: Medina — Hathaway 5-81, Lloyd 5-60, Beckett Vogrin 3-35, Jayden Tagalicod 4-32, Sherman 3-21, Ashton Knowles 1-20. Stow — Dayton Keeling 5-66, Andrew Rickelman 5-52, Purkiss 3-17, Jeremy Turner 0-2.