Three passing TDs, stout defense keep Raiders rolling

MEDFORD 36, ASHLAND 6

Logan Baumgartner threw three firsthalf touchdown passes and Medford’s defense allowed next to nothing in the first three quarters Thursday in the Raiders’ dominant 36-6 win over the Ashland Oredockers.

While earning their fourth straight win and improving to 3-0 in the Great Northern Conference, the Raiders (4-1) actually threw for more first-half yards than they gained in the running game, 109-100, with Charlie Kleist catching two of the scoring passes and Tucker Kraemer nabbing the other one.

As they reached the season’s midpoint, the Raiders’ execution was cleaner than it had been in recent weeks with zero turnovers when the game was in doubt and fewer penalties.

“It’s awesome,” Baumgartner said after the game about the team’s progress. “We’re having a lot of fun out there. Everything is kinda coming together. A lot of confidence is building up. We have a few injuries right now and some new guys in. But they’re picking it up.”

Among the players stepping into starting spots Thursday, junior Colton Dassow stepped in for injured center Will Haavisto with no major issues in snapping the ball and Cameron Bull stepped in for Ty Metz and made a couple of notable plays at defensive end.

In the time it took Medford to build a 30-0 lead midway through the second quarter, the defense held Ashland to 7 total yards and one first down on the Oredockers’ first four possessions.

“I thought the kids for the most part played pretty well,” head coach Ted Wilson said. “We blocked decently and we threw the ball well even though we only threw it five times. We probably should have had four completions, maybe even five. As a whole I thought it went well. It was a little bit of a well-oiled machine on Thursday night.”

“The defense was good,” Baumgartner said. “The defensive line right off the start was getting a yard deep, fighting pressure and getting across. Then it was the linebackers filling and reading the guards. The safeties and corners were just filling if they needed to.”

Ashland’s early first down, which came on its first possession, was basically nullified by penalties and Bull dropping Ethan Petersen for a 7-yard loss on a little swing pass from quarterback Ty O’Bey. The Oredockers punted and the Raiders quickly covered 77 yards in six plays, aided by an Ashland personal foul. On play six, Baumgartner lofted a pass down the left side where Kleist pulled away from his defender and hauled in a 34-yard scoring strike to put Medford up 6-0.

“Charlie just beat his man off the ball,” Wilson said. “I just kinda threw it up there. He had about 10 yards of separation. He just went out there and made the grab.”

Tucker Kraemer made Medford’s next big play, returning a short Oredocker punt 24 yards to Ashland’s 14. Tukker Schreiner ran for 9 yards and Peyton Gilles followed with a 5-yard touchdown run. Schreiner bulled his way through the Ashland defense to complete the twopoint conversion and make it 14-0 with 1:14 left in the opening quarter.

Kleist got a piece of Ashland’s next punt, which rolled dead at the Oredockers’ 45. On the next play, Medford went deep again with Baumgartner hitting Kraemer in stride down the right side for the second touchdown pass of the half.

Schreiner added the two-point run for a 22-0 lead.

“That was about the same thing,” Baumgartner said. (Kraemer) beat his man, was kind of the only man down there. Sometimes those are the hardest throws though, the easiest ones that you don’t want to mess up.”

“Defensively we did well and our punt rush also put their punter under some pressure and he shanked a couple,” Wilson said. “Obviously we got one blocked. That’s been a thing, probably the last five years maybe even more, that we’ve done more is rush the punter because high school kids don’t always block it that well and if you get a little pressure on those punters they have a tendency to rush it and don’t hit it as well.”

The Raiders had to work a little harder on their next drive, going 69 yards in nine plays and overcoming a holding penalty. On fourth and 11 from Ashland’s 30, Baumgartner rolled toward the right sideline and, initially didn’t have an open receiver. But he kept the play alive and eventually threw back to the middle of the field where Kleist made the grab at the 19, broke away from his defender and ran to the end zone.

“Usually coach Wilson doesn’t like me throwing across the field late,” Baumgartner said. “I saw Charlie and the defender was kind of hiding as I threw it. When I threw it I thought, ‘oh this might not be good.’ Then Charlie came down with it and made something happen.

“I was just kinda looking for the receivers to come back, make a play and get open,” he added. “I think on that play there were only two routes maybe. Cole (Dassow) was on the right and he was double covered. I made a guy miss, somehow saw Charlie and I just threw it.”

“Logan put that one on Tucker Kraemer, that was a good throw,” Wilson said. “That first one on Charlie was a good throw. The one across his body, I don’t know, but it turned out OK. Out of the two throws we missed, one was a drop and one he underthrew a little bit, but otherwise I thought he threw the ball well for the five times he threw it. To throw it five times and get three touchdowns and 109 yards, that’s pretty efficient.”

Ashland’s ensuing possession ended with a 28-yard completion from O’Bey to Xander Parduhn to Medford’s five as time expired. Medford received to start the second half and quickly put the running clock into motion by ending a 55-yard drive with Schreiner’s 1-yard touchdown run with 9:17 left in the third quarter.

The defensive reserves stopped one drive by Ashland’s number-one offense when Isaac Schaefer recovered a fumble at the 5-yard line. But the Oredockers broke the shutout when a 43-yard run by Laken Villaverde set up Petersen’s 3-yard score with 3:24 left.

“We have 40-plus junior and seniors out, so it’s nice to get a lead and get those juniors and seniors that don’t always get a lot of snaps a bunch of playing time,” Wilson said. “They got a quarter or more. Good for them to see the field and play and actually play pretty well.”

Offensively, Medford finished with 292 total yards with 183 of them coming on the ground. With the short fields, Schreiner had just nine carries, but he gained 83 yards on them. Gilles had eight attempts for 54 yards, then five more ball carriers got a couple of attempts apiece.

“Colton Dassow for his first start at center, when you don’t really notice an offensive lineman, that’s usually a good thing because that means they’re doing their job all the time,” Wilson said. “He did well for his first varsity action. As a whole he snapped the ball really well, especially in the shotgun.”

Medford can clinch a WIAA playoff berth with a win this Friday at Hayward. The Raiders and Hurricanes (1-2 GNC, 1-4 overall) kick off at 7 p.m. at Rod Lundberg Field.

Medford’s defense gives Ashland fullback Hunter Chernier nowhere to go on this first-quarter carry.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS