Big Plays Help Panthers Hold Off Old Town In Gridiron Opener Medomak Valley 30 - Old Town 28

The Medomak Valley football team opened the season with a 30-28 win over Old Town on Saturday, Sept. 6 in Waldoboro.

The beginning and end of the game were challenging for Medomak, but in between the Panthers had solid control. Medomak Valley beat the Coyotes without their star running back Jaydiin Ruiz, who last year scored 18 touchdowns and ran for more than 1,400 yards but was unavailable in the season opener due to a hand injury the day before the game. They were also missing senior two-way starter Logan Vigue.

The Panthers fell behind 6-0 on the first play from scrimmage when Old Town quarterback Ethan Closson broke loose for a long touchdown run. The Coyotes were thwarted by the Panthers defense on the subsequent two-point conversion attempt.

Medomak Valley knotted the score 6-6 in the closing seconds of the first quarter. After the Panthers ground out three consecutive first downs, running back Cole Esancy broke free for a long run but was tackled just shy of the Coyotes goal line. Esancy had a big game for the Panthers, rushing for 63 yards on 10 carries.

Shortly thereafter, quarterback Wyatt Simmons finished the scoring drive by forcing his way into the end zone from the one-yard line. The two point conversion was no good, and the score remained 6-6 at the start of the second quarter.

After the ensuing kickoff, the Medomak defense stopped Old Town on downs and forced them to punt. The Panthers offense got the ball on the 21-yard line, and after a five-yard offside penalty, Simmons launched a long pass to the right sideline to senior wide receiver Owen Dostie who snared the pass and scampered up the sideline for an 84-yard touchdown that boosted Medomak into a 12-6 lead with 9:14 left to play in the second quarter.

“I played from kindergarten to eighth grade, and then I stopped playing so I could focus more on basketball,” said Dostie, who returned to football this season to the delight of Medomak head coach Ryan Snell. “I missed playing and decided to come back in my senior year and I’m having a lot of fun.”

Old Town collected the kickoff and converted a pair of first downs before the Medomak defense clamped down and stopped the Coyotes on fourth down to get the ball back at their 43 yard line with 6:48 left in the half.

Once again the Panthers scored on a long touchdown play. Seamus Pease took the handoff heading to the right only to spin around and cut back around the left tackle to the sideline, where he outran a pack of Coyotes for a 57-yard touchdown. The Panthers’ lead stood at 18-6 after the two-point conversion attempt failed with 6:38 left in the first half.

On their next possession, the Old Town offense was able to move the ball up the field, in large part due to the running and passing prowess of Closson, who was hard for the Panthers to handle throughout the game. The Old Town drive stalled inside the Medomak 10-yard line when a lineman jumped offside on a short fourth down and two yards to go opportunity. Dostie broke up a pass at the goal line on the next play to end the threat and Medomak got the ball with 12 seconds left and opted to run out the clock and went into halftime with an 18-6 lead.

The Panthers received the second half kickoff and began their next offensive drive at their own 30-yard line. On the first play, Pease took a handoff from Simmons and followed blockers through a hole on the left side of the defense before outrunning a trio of Coyotes to the end zone for a 70-yard touchdown, his second big TD run of the game. The Panthers failed to convert the conversion for the fourth straight time, making the score 24-6.

Old Town closed the gap to 24-12 late in the third quarter when running back Charlie Degrasse broke a tackle and plunged into the end zone after an 11 yard run. Pease bolted for another long run on the next drive for Medomak in the fourth quarter, running the ball to the Coyotes’ 13-yard line. Pease carried the ball for eight yards to the five, and Simmons ran a quarterback keeper to get a first down at the two-yard line. Pease ran it into the end zone from there for his third TD. After another failed conversion, the Panthers’ lead stood at 30-12.

Old Town did not give up. On the ensuing Coyotes possession, Closson bolted for a 60-yard touchdown. Old Town added the two-point conversion to close the gap to 30-20 with more than eight minutes remaining in the game. The Coyotes booted a sucessful onside kick, but their offense failed to drive down the field and they were forced to punt on fourth down.

The Panthers got the ball at their 23-yard line, and on the next play Pease reeled off yet another long touchdown run. This time the play did not count, as a blocker was called for a holding penalty, and instead of the score being 36-20, the Panthers were backed up 10 yards to their own 13-yard line. The drive would fail, and the Panthers punted the ball, with the Old Town offense starting at the Medomak 31-yard line. The Coyotes used up all their timeouts stopping the clock between plays.

The Coyotes struggled to move the ball, but Closson completed a pass on a long fourth down to the Medomak five to keep the drive alive. They scored on the next play, and tacked on the conversion to make the score 30-28 with 3:18 remaining.

The Coyotes’ second onside kick attempt of the game failed, and Medomak got the ball at the Old Town 40-yard line. The Panthers were able to get a first down and kept the clock running as Old Town had burned their timeouts.

Pease ran the ball for 20 yards to the Coyotes’ 13-yard line on the next play. With Old Town out of timeouts, Simmons took a knee after getting the snap to run out the clock.

Pease was the star of the game, rushing for three touchdowns and 217 yards on 17 carries.

“I was telling myself to just keep running and keep the feet pumping,” Pease said about his second long touchdown run with Coyotes chasing him. “Just look forward and don’t worry what’s behind me. I wanted to help us score every drive.”

While the Panthers’ running game was explosive, Snell was also pleased with the poise showed by senior quarterback Simmons.

“Wyatt was in command, making adjustments on the fly and avoiding mistakes. That’s the type of leadership we’re looking for,” Snell said. “He had a great game today and getting him doing all that is a huge piece for us.”

Snell had good things to say about Old Town’s quarterback.

“When you get a fast running quarterback like that, you know you’re going to give up some plays and it’s a battle to contain him the whole time,” Snell said. “(Defensive lineman) Cole Bales does a heck of a job for us on things that don’t show up on the statistics sheet. Their offense was trying to stay away from him and he was getting double- and triple-teamed. I also thought Grayson Downing did a heck of a job for us at linebacker.”

Despite the last-minute drama, Snell was pleased with the way his defense performed under pressure in their season opener against a feisty opponent. Grady Pease led the team in tackles with seven, Bales and Dostie had four apiece, and Downing and Esancy had three each.

“I told the guys after the game, that we got some playoff-type experience there at the end because good opponents are going to compete until the last whistle,” Snell said. “Guys like Seamus stepped up today with Jaydiin out of the lineup. Some other guys that maybe didn’t get as many plays as they wanted last year stepped in and had an impact today and made the best of their opportunities.”

 

Below are some more bonus photos from the game:

 

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