Mustangs romp in opener

Medina thumps Amherst 48-6

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – SEASON OPENER: Dan Brown (6) picks up good yardage for Medina during this evening’s season opening 48-6 win over Amherst at Vets Park.

Scoring on seven of nine possessions, Medina romped to a 48-6 victory over Amherst tonight at Vets Park in the B-North Division season opener.

Quarterback Jason Hellwig threw three touchdown passes, one each to Dylan Lewis, Ben McPherson and Kyle Barna who also ran for three scores to spearhead the Medina attack.

Leading 6-0 on a one yard touchdown run by Barna with eight seconds to go in the first quarter, Medina broke the game wide open with three unanswered second quarter tallies. Dan Brown helped set up the lone first quarter score with a 20 yard run and a 12 yard pass reception from Hellwig.

Hellwig ignited the second quarter uprising with a 10 yard touchdown pass to Lewis, an opportunity set up by a fumble recovery by Brown.

Brown then picked off an errant Amherst attempted pitch and raced 80 yards for a touchdown. Hellwig tacked on the two-point conversion with a pass to Barna upping the lead to 20-0.

Keeping the momentum, the Mustangs increased the lead to 28-0 at the half as Hellwig hooked up with Barna for a 30 yard TD pass with 51 seconds to go. The drive also included a 20 yard Hellwig to Barna pass completion. Hellwig again added the two point conversion pass to Brown.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – POINT GETTER: Kyle Barna, who scored a total of four touchdowns for Medina, here runs in for a two-point conversion.

“We played a little slow of out the gate but we buckled down and played faster and faster which paid off for us both offensively and defensively,” said Medina Coach Eric Valley.

The Medina lead soared to 42-0 as Hellwig and McPherson teamed up for a 10 yard touchdown pass and Barna ran 38 yards for another score in the third quarter. A fumble recovery by Brown set up the first score.

Hellwig completed 9 of 11 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns on the night.

Barna rounded out the Mustangs scoring parade with a 44 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Amherst avoided the shut-out by scoring with just 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Medina next hosts Maryvale at 7:30 p.m. Friday.