By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor
MEDIAPOLIS - In their toughest game to date, the Wilton Beavers took care of business. Last Friday, Wilton traveled to 1A No. 5 Mediapolis with high stakes. On the line was a possible district title to the victor despite two weeks left in the regular season after the contest. There, Wilton took the ball game 20-3, giving the Bulldogs their first blemish of the season. Mediapolis came in 6-0 and ranked No. 5 and Wilton came in 5-1 and ranked No. 8. The loser of the game will have an uphill challenge to reach the 1A playoffs. The likelihood of the really stuck with the Beavers who turned in their best performance of the season.
Wilton improves to 6- 1 overall and 3-0 in district play. The Beavers will play the bottom two teams in district 5 the next two weeks with a game at home with Columbus Junction Friday and a contest with Van Buren in week 9. Mediapolis falls to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in district play. They play at Van Buren this week and host Sigourney-Keota in week 9.
Wilton had 17 first downs and 334 yards to total offense. The Beavers rushed for 120 and passed for 214. Mediapolis had 12 first downs and 216 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs rushed for 189 and passed for only 27 yards.
Wilton and Mediapolis played to a scoreless tie after the first quarter. Wilton, got on the scoreboard first, in the second quarter, on their fourth drive of the football game and 11 seconds into the second quarter. There, Wilton senior quarterback Jerome Mays crossed the goal line from eight yards on third and goal to give the Beavers a 7-0 lead. Mays finished with 83 yards on 18 carries in the game. Mays had 35 of his yards in the game on the scoring drive.
Mediapolis dented the scoreboard on their ensuing drive. Though not a touchdown, Mediapolis did score points on a 35-yard field goal from Nathan Hine to set the score at 7-3 with 7:40 left in the first half. Wilton answered the Bulldog field goal with their second touchdown of the first half, when Mays rushed in his second score, this one from 1-yard out. That score set the score at 13-3 with 2:26 left in the first half.
Wilton had the Bulldogs teetering at halftime and took the wind out of the Bulldog’s sails with another touchdown less than three minutes into the second half. The Wilton defense stuffed the offense of Mediapolis and forced a punt to start the third quarter. The Bulldogs for a big punt by Briar Johnson to pin the Beavers at their own three-yard line. Despite the field position, Wilton shocked everyone and called for a trick play. That play, a halfback pass out of the shotgun formation, saw Mays flip the football to Cory Anderson who was serving as the halfback on the play. Anderson was going parallel to the goal line and a Bulldog defender was in his face when he launched a pass to a wide-open Brian Stillman at the 36-yard line. Stillman caught the ball in stride and took it 64 yards for a big 97-yard touchdown catch to set the score at 20-3 Wilton. Neither team would score again.
Wilton’s defense came up big in the second quarter with two interceptions on back-to-back Mediapolis drives, one each from Cory Anderson and another from Ronen Santiago. The Beavers also recovered a key fumble in the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs approaching the red zone, trying to cut into the 17-point Beaver lead.
Mediapolis held running back Collin McCrabb to 22 yards on 12 carries in the game. McCrabb came into the game with 568 yards. Mays passed for 117 yards on ten completions. Mays now has 840 yards and leads district 5 passers with 424 yards and 5 TDs. The next closest quarterback is Massner, nearly 375 yards behind. Cory Anderson caught three passes for 54 yards. Brian Stillman had 131 yards of total offense in the game with 109 passing and 19 rushing yards. McCrabb and Garrett Bohnsack each had two receptions in the game.
Defensively, Brock Hartley led Wilton with 10 tackles. Jared Townsend, Anderson and Charles Martin each had 9 tackles. Clayton Cooling and Brayton Wade each had tackles for loss. Cooling had two of the three Wilton sacks in the game. Wilton had two interceptions in the game, one each from Ronen Santiago and the other from Anderson.
Zach Osborne led Bulldog rushers, going over the 100-yard march with 102 yards on 21 carries. Osborne has over 700 rushing yards this season and has topped the 100-yard mark in each of the three Bulldog district games. Briar Johnson also had 100 yards on 13 carries. Mediapolis passed for 27 yards in the game, a season low. Senior Cauy Massner passed for 16 yards on two completions also a season low. Massner is second in the district in passing yards in district games and has thrown for over 550 yards this season. Four Bulldogs each had one reception.
Mediapolis had three players with double-digit totals in tackles. Kye Morrison led with 11 while Wyatt Wilkerson and Josh Darbyshire each had 10 tackles. Zach Osborne had eight tackles and four tackles for loss as well as two quarterback sacks.
Wilton will play Columbus Junction this week. The Wildcats are more run-heavy than pass-heavy, however, are led by quarterback Chance Colby. Colby has a team-high 629 yards and 4 rushing scores with a per carry an average of 5.8 yards. He has passed for 297 yards with 6 touchdowns. Will Schwab and Tucker Bright each have over 100 receiving yards and Jaime Villegas leads in receptions with 10. Defensively Columbus Junction ’s tackle leaders are Colby with 70 and Jose Cerezo with 62. Colby also has three sacks. The Wildcats have not recorded an interception this season.
Team Summary:
WIL MEPO
First Downs 17 12
Rushes-Ave. 42-2.9 43-4.4
Rush yards 120 211
Pass C-A-I 11-22-0 4-12-2
Pass yards 214 27
Returns-yards 2-34 4-25
Penalties-yds 7-60 4-25
Turnovers 1 4
Time of Poss. 25:54 22:06
Total yards 334 238
Quarter Scores:
1 2 3 4 Final
Wilton 0 13 7 0 20
Mediapolis 0 3 0 0 3
Scoring Summary:
2nd Qtr (11:49) - WIL - Jerome Mays 8-yard run (Brock Hartley kick)
2nd Qtr (7:40) - MEPO - Nathan Hine 35-yard field goal
2nd Qtr (2:26) - WIL - Jerome Mays 1-yard run (Brock Hartley kick failed)
3rd Qtr (8:10) - WIL - Brian Stillman 97-yard pass from Cory Anderson (Brock Hartley kick)
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Wilton - Jerome Mays 18-83, Collin McCrabb 12-22, Brian Stillman 7-19, Cory Anderson 1-14. TEAM 4-(-18). MEPO - Zach Osborne 21-102, Briar Johnson 13-100, Josh Darbyshire 4-10, Cauy Massner 2-(-6), Drayven Fenton 1-5.
Passing: Wilton - Jerome Mays 10-for-21 117 yards 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s, Cory Anderson 1-for-1 97 yards 1 TD, 0 INT’s., Brock Hartley 0-for-1 0 yards, 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s. MEPO - Cauy Massner 2-for-6 16 yards 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s., Briar Johnson 2-for-6 10 yards 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s.
Receiving: Wilton - Cory Anderson 3-54, Brian Stillman 2-109, Collin McCrabb 2-18, Garrett Bohnsack 2-15, Ashton Stoelk 1-10, Ronen Santiago 1-8. MEPO - Drayven Fenton 1-16, Wyatt Wilkerson 1-9, Josh Darbyshire 1-1, Zach Osborne 1-0.
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Wilton - Brock Hartley 3-7 10, Jared Townsend 5-4 9, Cory Anderson 5-4 9, Charles Martin 4-5 9, Brayton Wade 4-3 7, Brian Stillman 2-3 5, Clayton Cooling 3-2 5, Collin McCrabb 2-2 4, Jerome Mays 2-1 3, Chantz Stevens 1-2 3, Calib Lilly 1-2 3, Jacob Creamer 2-0 2, Ashton Stoelk 1-1 2, Garrett Bohnsack 1-0 1, Ronen Santiago 1-0 1, Jackson Hull 0-1 1, Pat Barszczewski 0-1 1, Trey Burnett 1-0 1.
MEPO - Kye Borrison 8-3 11, Wyatt Wilkerson 5-5 10, Josh Darbyshire 6-4 10, Zach Osborne 6-2 8, Blake Osborne 4-2 6, Max Drebenstedt 2-2 4, Brennan Breuer 3-1 4, Drayven Fenton 3-1 4, Owen Timmerman 2-1 3, Ben Wolgemuth 2-0 2, Keegan Akers 1-0 1, Caden Benz 1-0 1, Hayn Eberhardt 1-0 1, Nick Ensminger 1-0 1, Bo Hightower 1-0 1, Briar Johnson 0-1 1,
Tackles For Loss: Wilton - Clayton Cooling 1, Brayton Wade 1. MEPO - Zach Osborne 4, Blake Osborne 2, Klay Foster 2, Max Drebenstedt 2, Wyatt Wilkerson 1, Josh Darbyshire 1, Keegan Akers 1.
Sacks: Wilton - Clayton Cooling 2, Jared Townsend 1. MEPO - Zach Osborne 2, Kye Borrison 1, Blake Osborne 1.
Fumble Recoveries: Wilton - Cory Anderson 1, Pat Barszczewski 1. MEPO - Wyatt Wilkerson 1.
Interceptions: Wilton - Ronen Santiago 1, Cory Anderson 1. MEPO - none.
Pass Knockdowns: Wilton - Cory Anderson.
Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: Wilton - Brock Hartley 4-214 yards 53.5-yard ave. MEPO - Nathan Hine 2-112 yards.
Kick-Off Returns: Wilton - Cory Anderson 1-18. MEPO - Zach Osborne 2-34, Josh Darbyshire 1-19.
Punts: Wilton - Jared Townsend 6-211 yards, 35.2-yard ave. MEPO - Briar Johnson 5-191 yards, 38.2-ave.
Punt Returns: Wilton - Cory Anderson 1-21, Brian Stillman 1-13. MEPO - Zach Osborne 2-18, Owen Timmerman 1-32.
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