September 27, 2019
By Scott Williams
WAUSAU – The Wausau East football team knew it had a tough challenge ahead Friday night if the Lumberjacks wanted to halt a modest two-game skid.
Medford invaded Thom Field riding high.
The Great Northern Conference title contender entered the matchup with East unbeaten and ranked third in Division 3 the latest wissports.net Coaches poll.
The Red Raiders showed why they own such a lofty ranking by handing the Lumberjacks a 35-0 setback in nonconference action and ruin their Homecoming festivities.
East will venture outside the state in search of win No. 4 when it travels to Kingsford (Mich.) for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, Oct. 4.
Medford also features talented running back Ean Wilson, who ranked second in the state with 16 touchdowns. He also rang up 850 rushing yards to rank 18th through five games.
Wilson was up to his usual tricks again Friday. He continued to be a scoring machine by finding the end twice in the opening quarter to help stake Medford to a 14-0 lead.
East proceeded to clamp down on defense, holding the Red Raiders scoreless the rest of the first half. The only problem was the Lumberjacks couldn’t get untracked when they had the ball.
Since putting up 45 points in a wild overtime win over Mosinee to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2004, the Lumberjacks have found points hard to come by.
East has now been outscored 94-27.
In the last three weeks teams have discovered how to slow down productive East running back Donovan Leverette.
A threat to go the distance every time he touches the football, Leverette has struggled to find running room since a hot start on the ground.
Meanwhile, Medford was able to solve the Lumberjacks’ defense enough in the second half to put up 21 more points to account for the final margin of victory.
8-Player Football
Newman Catholic 28, Elkhart Lake/Glenbeulah 14
ELKHART LAKE – For the first time this season, the second-ranked Cardinals had show they could win without lighting up the scoreboard.
With its high-powered offense sputtering to some extent, Newman Catholic turned to its defense to get the job done and remain unbeaten Friday against a stubborn group from Elkhart Lake/Glenbeulah.
On the way to piling up five straight wins to open the season, the Cardinals had averaged 50.8 points a game. Their lowest scoring output came in a 42-14 win over Algoma in Week 3.
What has perhaps flown under the radar during the hot start for Newman Catholic, however, is a stout defense that has surrendered no more than 14 points in five of its six games now.
The lone exception came in the season opener when Oakfield put up 21 points in a 53-21 Cardinals’ win.
Newman Catholic (6-0) will hit the road again next week for a date at Wisconsin Heights on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
