BPH wins 57-34 shootout against Medford
BPH wide receiver Eliot Gimbel (7) makes a leaping catch over teammate Christian Mealy (4) and a Medford defender. Gimbel had a touchdown grab as well in BPH’s 57-34 win. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Blooming Prairie/Hayfield (BPH) put on an offensive masterclass during a 57-34 shootout win against the Medford Tigers last week, but despite the 17-point win the team’s defense actually played a key role in the game.
BPH was able to jump out to a 27-0 lead by halftime and allowed all 34 of Medford’s points in the second half.
Scoring kicked off in the opening frame with BPH finishing an eight-play, 63-yard drive with a 13-yard rushing touchdown by runningback Easton Johnson.
The team tacked on the extra point to lead 7-0, but quickly found the endzone again after forcing a Medford three-and-out early in the second quarter.
With the ball back in its hands, BPH went 66 yards on two plays with quarterback Chase Escamilla hitting wide receiver Jesse Mealy for a 54-yard passing touchdown.
Mealy caught the ball just ahead of the line of scrimmage but found space down the sideline to sprint past the entire Medford defense and put his team up 14-0.
Both teams stalled on their next few possessions, but it was BPH that made the proper adjustments first to expand its lead.
A turnover on downs by Medford at the BPH 43 gave the visitors a chance to strike from midfield, and BPH did just that by going 57 yards in two plays.
After a chunk gain on first down, BPH’s Escamilla called his own number and ran 30 yards into the endzone to give his team a 21-0 advantage as time dwindled down in the first half.
Medford tried to get its passing game going, but another quick three-and-out with just six total yards gained gave BPH one final possession before halftime.
The visitors put together a steady nine-play, 87-yard drive that chewed up the clock and put the team ahead 27-0 after a failed extra-point attempt.
Once again, it was Escamilla who found an open receiver by making a deep throw to the back of the endzone where BPH’s Eliot Gimbel made a diving catch to secure the 21-yard touchdown just ahead of halftime.
The second half opened with promise for the Tigers as the team secured a BPH fumble deep in opposing territory and put together a quick four-play drive capped by a 15-yard rushing touchdown by runningback Tanner Milewski.
However, the score was quickly negated by another BPH touchdown, this time on another hookup from Escamilla to Mealy from 17 yards out to wrap up an 80-yard drive.
Now trailing 33-6, Medford put together another impressive scoring drive highlighted by another one-yard rushing touchdown by Milewski to cut the lead to 33-12, but once again BPH pilled one points in response.
BPH hardly gave Medford any chance for a comeback by scoring on its next three drives.
The next two scores came on a kick return and another redzone reception by Mealy before Johnson effectively ended the game with a 29-yard rushing touchdown.
Johnson’s rush put his team up 57-26 and although the Tigers scored on a final play where Milewski threw a pass to wide receiver Justin Limon, there was not enough time left for the Tigers to close the 17-point gap.
Medford went on to fall 54-37 at home despite the team’s best offensive effort of the season.
With the win, BPH moved to 5-3 overall and improved its conference record to 4-2.
On the other hand, Medford finished its regular season winless at 0-8 with an 0-6 conference record.
Both teams will play next in their Section 2AA quarterfinal matchups slated for Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.
No. 3 BPH will host No. 6 Blue Earth at McFarlin Field while No. 7 Medford will travel to No. 2 Maple River.
|
Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
|
BPH |
7 |
20 |
22 |
8 |
57 |
|
Medford |
0 |
0 |
12 |
22 |
34 |
Player Stats
BPH
Passing
#12 Chase Escamilla – 16/20 268 yards 4 TD
Rushing
#18 Easton Johnson – 11 att. 81 yards 2 TD; #12 Escamilla – 10 att. 70 yards 1 TD; #5 Jesse Mealy – 3 att. 62 yards
Receiving
#5 Mealy – 10 rec. 178 yards 3 TD; #7 Eliot Gimbel – 3 rec. 75 yards 1 TD; #3 Jaxon Studer – 2 rec. 10 yards; #4 Christian Mealy – 1 rec. 5 yards
Medford
Passing
#1 Landon Seiler – 4/14 30 yards; #17 Trevor Vatsaas – 3/4 26 yards 1 Int.; #22 Tanner Milewski – 1/1 9 yards 1 TD
Rushing
#22 Milewski – 29 att. 216 yards 4 TD; #1 Seiler – 5 att. 19 yards; #26 Mason Krenz – 2 att. 17 yards; #20 Grayson Burr – 1 att. 6 yards; #12 Dominic Andrie – 1 att. 5 yards; #3 Elliot Jones – 1 att. 4 yards;
Receiving
#22 Milewski – 2 rec. 18 yards; #7 Justin Limon – 2 rec. 14 yards 1 TD; #26 Krenz – 2 rec. 12 yards; #11 Simon Karsten-Atkins – 1 rec. 9 yards
