Mustangs down Panthers in clash of unbeatens to retain C North Div.title

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 12 October 2023 at 10:31 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Christian Moss goes through a hole opened up by Kole Campbell (68) and Carter Woodworth (32) during the Mustangs division title clinching victory at Newfane this evening.

Making it a four-peat, Medina used a punishing ground attack to notch a 48-26 victory over host Newfane this evening in a key late season clash of unbeatens to claim a fourth straight C North Division championship.

Setting the tone for the evening, Medina pounded out two first quarter scoring drives to take the lead for good at 14-0 on touchdown runs of 7 yards by Christian Moss and 2 yards by quarterback Julian Woodworth. Cole Callard tacked on the first two of his six extra point kicks.

Runs of 30 and 13 yards by Moss and 14 by Woodworth highlighted the first drive. Moss then had back-to-back gains of 17 and 14 yards and Woodworth a 16 yard carry to key the second drive.

Newfane did cut the deficit to 14-6 late in the opening quarter on a 60 yard TD pass from quarterback Nate Snow to Mac Capen.

“We set the tone up front early but Newfane kept battling back so we had to work to match them,” said Medina Coach Eric Valley. “I was real pleased with the effort. After having last week off because of the forfeit win you don’t know how the kids will respond but they came out and played real physical football. The line up front definitely set the tone.”

However, the Mustangs got those points back with interest by scoring on their first two possessions of the second quarter to go up 28-6.

Woodworth scored the first TD on a 2 yard run as a 21 yard run by Moss highlighted the march.

Noah Cudzilo then made a nifty catch of a 33 yard TD pass from Woodworth as he took the ball away from a Panther defender in the endzone. Moss had a 17 yard run during that drive.

The Panthers though did cut the deficit to 28-12 just before half by capitalizing on an interception. Snow again hooked up with Capen for the score on a 43 yard pass play.

Keeping the momentum, Newfane then closed the gap to just 8 at 28-20 with a 7 minute long scoring drive to open the second half capped off by a 1 yard TD run by Snow and a two-point conversion pass from Snow to Ben Dickinson.

The Mustangs though turned back the challenge by scoring three straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away for good by a commanding 48-20 margin.

Moss opened that barrage with a 4 yard touchdown run on the first play of the quarter, Woodworth then tallied on a 2 yard run, a scoring opportunity set up by a pass interception by Justin Pitts. Runs of 12 and 15 yards by Moss keyed the drive.

Amari Soule rounded out the Mustangs scoring with a 8 yard TD run. Moss had a 15 yard run and Brody Fry an 11 yard pickup to get that drive going after the Mustangs defense had stopped Newfane on downs at midfield.

Newfane’s last score came on a TD pass by Snow with just four seconds remaining.

Medina finished the C North season at 6-0 and is now 7-0 overall heading into next Friday’s home game against rival Albion.

The loss drops Newfane to 5-1, 6-1 heading into next Friday’s rivalry game against Wilson.

Cleveland Hill 32, Roy-Hart/Barker 14
In another C North contest Cleveland Hill downed host Roy-Hart/Barker 32-14.

Tysen McCaa threw a pair of touchdown passes for Roy-Hart/Barker of 20 yards to Blake Schwab and 36 yards to Aidan Mescal. McCaa also had a two-point conversion run.

Medina quarterback Julian Woodworth advances the ball behind blocks by  Brody Fry (21) and Xavier King (77).

Medina’s Roosevelt Mitchell brings down Newfane quarterback Nate Snow.