Medina scores 44-13 victory at Wilson to keep C North Division record clean

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Jarin Rhim tries to escape the grasp of Wilson defender Paul Smith during the Mustangs win over the host Lakemen this evening.

Moving on top to stay with two quick touchdowns in the first five minutes, Medina went to defeat host Wilson 44-13 in a C North Division game this evening.

Quarterback Xander Payne completed touchdown passes of 34 yards to Greg Thompson and 8 yards to Cayden Lilleby for a quick 12-0 Mustangs lead.

Medina quarterback Xander Payne picks up yardage as Evan Wolfe pursues for Wilson.

However, Wilson came battling back to cut the deficit to five twice before halftime, first at 12-7 on a 4 yard TD run by Luke Atlas and an extra point kick by Evan Krieger on the first play of the second quarter and then at 18-13 with 4:27 to go in the period as Chris Dispenza recovered a Mustangs fumble in the Medina end zone.

The Lakemen though would get no closer.

Medina took the 18-13 lead into halftime on a 56 yard touchdown run by Jarin Rhim just 54 seconds after Wilson’s first score.

The Mustangs opened up a little breathing room at 24-13 on a 33 yard touchdown pass from Payne to Joe Cecchini with 2:03 remaining in the third quarter.

The Medina defense came up big to preserve that 11 point lead by stopping a Wilson drive at the Mustangs 30 yard line early in the fourth quarter as Rhim had a key breakup of a fourth down Lakemen pass attempt.

Medina then broke the contest wide open with a burst of three touchdowns with a span of just over two minutes late in the final quarter.

That explosive stretch included a 21 yard touchdown pass from Payne to Iverson Poole, a 54 yard TD run by Poole and finally a 32 yard scoring run by Thompson as Dominic Larabee added the two-point conversion.

A pass interception by Hayden Woodroe at the Wilson 32 set up that final touchdown opportunity.

Medina is now 3-0 in the division and 5-0 overall while Wilson slips to 2-2, 3-3.

The Mustangs will next host Tonawanda in a C North contest at 7 p.m. Thursday to begin a busy regular season ending stretch of three games in nine days.

Medina’s Iverson Poole sheds one Wilson tackler as Cayden Lilley blocks another Lakemen defender, Luke Atlas.