Medford got another stop and ….
Medford got another stop and appeared to be on the verge of delivering another big punch when quarterback Logan Baumgartner hit Kraemer for a 61yard completion. However, Lakeland was able to strip the ball at the end of the play and recover at the 11yard line. The T-Birds reversed field position but didn’t score on their possession, thanks to a Baumgartner interception, but Halin recovered a fumble on Medford’s next offensive play at the Raiders’ 11 and the T-Birds turned it into Wagoner’s 1-yard score that cut the lead to 24-14 with 22 seconds left in the half.
Baumgartner’s second interception of the game quickly ended Lakeland’s first drive of the second half and the Raiders wasted no time putting the game away. Gilles got through a big hole on the right side for a 30yard touchdown that made it 30-14. Cole Dassow snagged a deflected interception just before the ball hit the turf at Lakeland’s 42 and the Raiders went for the home run on first down and got it with Baumgartner perfectly hitting Ty Metz along the left sideline at the goal line. Schreiner finally ended Medford’s string of five unsuccessful two-point tries by running this one for the final points of the night with 7:15 to go in the third.
Medford collected its last 93 rushing yards on its final drive while running the last 4:13 off the clock in the fourth quarter.
Baumgartner was three of six through the air for 119 yards, adding a completion of 16 yards to Dassow. He ran for 40 yards on six carries as did Weissmiller. Kraemer had 30 yards on five carries.
Lakeland finished with just 142 total yards, 92 on the ground and 50 through the air.
The Raiders host Ashland tonight, Thursday, in a game moved up a day due to a shortage of officiating crews for Friday. The GNC’s Rhinelander at Antigo game is also tonight. The Oredockers were blitzed 55-14 by GNC co-leader Mosinee on Friday and come in at 1-1 in league play and 1-3 overall.
“Anybody can beat anybody in this conference,” Wilson said. “We definitely have to be prepared and ready to go. We’re going to get people’s best every week.”
