right spot. Great job by ….

right spot. Great job by those two guys and then to get the ball in the end zone was good.”

Medford forced Onalaska to punt for the first time, but the Hilltoppers got a third-down sack to quickly end the Raiders’ next possession. Odom’s 15-yard punt return put the ball at Medford’s 39 and the Hilltoppers covered that in eight plays with Odom getting the 4-yard touchdown catch on a rollout to the left by Skifton.

Medford turned the ball over on downs on its first possession of the second half and Onalaska went 44 yards in four plays to score again and put the running clock into effect. Kuhn’s 33-yard catch down the middle set up Odom’s 10-yard touchdown off a little backfield flip.

The Raiders scored their final points of the season against Onalaska’s reserves with 7:35 left in the game. They put together a 70-yard drive that ended with a tough catch in the back of the end zone by senior Cole Dassow on a 14-yard scoring strike from Baumgartner.

“We had a little double move on for that play,” Wilson said. “It was really good for Cole to get his feet down. He bobbled it just a little bit, but he did a good job to reel it in.”

Medford finished with 168 yards of total offense. Baumgartner was five of 15 for 77 yards. Four different receivers caught passes. Schreiner had 48 of Medford’s 91 rushing yards, including a 23yard gain on the last scoring drive. Gilles had 44 yards.

Onalaska moves on to Friday’s Level 3 action and will host Rice Lake (9-2). The Warriors eliminated Great Northern Conference champion Mosinee on Friday night 42-33.

Medford’s season ends at 8-3, including a 6-1 mark in the GNC. A huge senior class of 23 led the way and now leaves plenty of doors open for new faces to emerge in 2023.

“I thought the kids had a really nice season,” Wilson said. “The teams we lost to, all of them won playoff games. All of them were in the top half of their conference or conference champions. I thought the kids overall had a very nice season. They executed well. They grew as we went along and became a very good football team.

“Every year, only seven teams are going to go home happy,” he added. “It’s kind of an abrupt ending, but as a whole the kids had a very nice year. I’m proud to be called their coach. It’s a good group of kids.”