Medina, Chargers shut out Norwalk

MILAN — Edison only has five seniors on its roster. One of them happens to be explosive playmaker Marcus Medina. The elusive and speedy quarterback accounted for three second-half touchdowns and added an interception on defense to help the Chargers to a 28-0 non-league win over Norwalk on Friday. "We talked at halftime about facing some adversity, which we did in the first half," Edison coach Jim Hall said. "We weren't able to execute at the level we need to execute. We needed to pull together as a team at halftime and make sure we were all on the same page and working in the same direction. "I thought Marcus' leadership showed in the second half. He made some plays for us and that's what he does." Edison improved to 5-0, halfway to an undefeated regular season. Not bad for a team picked in the middle of the pack in the media's preseason Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division poll. "Our guys defensively understand our scheme very well," Hall said. "They executed it very well. We knew Norwalk had a bunch of speed in the backfield and it was very important to contain that speed. Our guys were on point defensively." Meanwhile, the Truckers (2-3) have been shut out in back to back weeks and face major questions when it comes to the offense. "We're trying to find an answer," Norwalk coach Keith Mora said. "We made a quarterback change and tried to change the way we option and attack a little bit. You can't change an entire offense in a week." Edison led just 6-0 at halftime, but opened the second half with possession. The Chargers picked up a first down but later faced third-and-11 at their own 36. Medina hit Bryson Wittmer for a 14-yard pass and a fresh set of downs. Medina followed with a 35-yard run to get in the Norwalk red zone. After a short run by Luke Blatnik, Medina found Davin Wendt in the middle of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion run by Wittmer boosted Edison's lead to 14-0 with 7:28 left in the third quarter. Later in the quarter, Norwalk picked up a first down on a pass interference call. But on the next play, Medina stepped in front of Brayden Viock's pass and returned it 29 yards to the Truckers' 21. He covered that distance on the next play, flawlessly weaving his way through the traffic of defenders. Alex Davidson nailed the extra point to make it 21-0 with just over a minute to go in the third. "Marcus understands what he means to the team and the things we ask him to do," Hall said. "He wants that kind of responsibility. He does a good job with it. It is our job to coach him and put him in those positions." Edison's defense continued to do its job on the other side of the ball. Abe Hermes, Caden Clere, and Cole Leimeister each picked interceptions in the fourth quarter for the Chargers. Clere's pick started Edison at the Norwalk 21. Clere rumbled 12 yards before Medina scored from nine yards out. Davidson's extra point made it 28-0. "It was a read, so it wasn't necessarily predetermined we were going to go outside," said Mora of Edison pushing his runners to the outside instead of being able to run between the tackles. "Edison was crashing the inside and did a nice job with their defensive ends pinching in hard, which forced our quarterback to pull it and get outside." Neither team got much going in the first half, but the Truckers nearly caught lightning in a bottle near halftime. Edison scored the only touchdown of the half early in the second quarter. A 26-yard run by Medina was aided by a personal foul on Norwalk on the last play of the first quarter. On the second play of the second quarter, Cy Finnen took a handoff and scored from 13 yards out. The extra point was no good, but Edison led 6-0 just 38 seconds into the second quarter. That scored remained as both teams made big stops defensively when it needed to. Edison took over with 1:22 to go until halftime, but went four-and-out including a big sack by Norwalk's Sam Konik on fourth down. Norwalk put Viock in at quarterback after using Ben Rothhaar in that position to that point. Viock eluded defenders on the second play of the drive and threw an on-target pass to the end zone, but it was dropped by the receiver for what could have been a sure touchdown. With just a few seconds left in the half, the Truckers went deep for one final play. Viock did complete the pass to Rothhaar, but he was tackled just a couple yards short of the end zone. "We had virtually no offense, but our defense kept us in the game," said Mora of the first half. "I told the guys to find a way to score one touchdown and we're right back put ahead. Now all of a sudden, people start playing differently." Norwalk finished with right around 100 yards of offense. "I told the team our coaches are going to come together this weekend and we are not leaving until we feel like we have an answer," Mora said. "I don't care how long it takes. "We are going to put in the work for the kids and do the best we can to make sure we have the right guys in the right spots." Medina completed 6-of-11 passes for 50 yards while running 17 times for 121 yards. Blatnik added 15 carries for 89 yards. "I thought we ran it pretty good, but we didn't block things right up front," Hall said. "That is a credit to Norwalk. They came out and did some things that we didn't adjust to very well. Our pass game wasn't what we wanted it to be." Now, the Chargers host Bellevue (3-2) — the team that was a near unanimous choice for champion in that same preseason poll. "That's what it's all about, right?" Hall said. "Give yourself a chance to be in big games like this. It's going to be a big atmosphere. Our guys have been playing a lot of football for us the past few years and they want something like this. "It's going to be a heck of a challenge." Norwalk 0 0 0 0 — 0Edison 0 6 15 7 — 28 Scoring E — Cy Finnen 13 run (kick failed) E — Davin Wendt 13 pass from Marcus Medina (Bryson Wittmer run) E — Medina 21 run (Alex Davidson kick) E — Medina 9 run (Davidson kick)