Document text
6A/5A FB: North Medford stumbles at Bend By Mail Tribune staff Updated: Sep 09, 2022 11:39 PM A A BEND — North Medford struggled to get much going offensively in the early going and Bend used its patient running game to gradually wear the Black Tornado down for a 39-7 win by the Lava Bears on Friday night. Malakai Nutter ran for three touchdowns and Jack Sorenson scored twice, once on a 19-yard pass from Logan Malinowski and then on a 15-yard run that allowed Bend to take a 19-0 lead into intermission. “They just were quick and they did a phenomenal job at the line of scrimmage,” said Tornado coach Nathan Chin of the Lava Bears. “They have a bunch of seniors and they kind of got after us early, quick and often.” North Medford broke a scoreless drought with a 65-yard touchdown catch and run by Connor Cesaro from JT Knobloch-Scott, who came on in the second quarter with the Tornado down 13-0 after senior quarterback Caiden Lacey injured his leg. Lacey’s status was unknown as of press time. “Hopefully it’s not serious and something where he’s only out for a couple weeks like a sprained knee,” said Chin of Lacey. With just over a minute remaining, Knobloch-Scott found Cesaro across the middle and he was able to outrun the defense to the end zone. Knobloch-Scott was an all-conference kicker for Cascade Christian until transferring to North for his senior season. “He’s our punter-kicker but he’s an athlete and that’s why he’s back there,” said Chin of Knobloch-Scott. “He can help us, but when you go to backups like that, the other kids have had all the reps so it just takes time.” North Medford0007—7 Bend613812—39 B — Malakai Nutter 5 run (kick failed) B — Jack Sorenson 19 pass from Logan Malinowski (Covlin kick) B — Jack Sorenson 15 run (pass failed) B — Nutter 1 run (Karpstein pass from Armstrong) B — Nutter 10 run (kick failed) B — Winchester 63 run (kick blocked) NM — Cesaro 65 pass from Knobloch-Scott (Knobloch-Scott kick) GRANTS PASS 35, CALDERA 0: At Grants Pass, senior quarterback Jace Blanchard passed for three touchdowns and the Grants Pass defense limited first-year Caldera to 11 yards of total offense in a runaway win. Blanchard finished 11-for-20 for 170 yards, with Aiden Dietz catching TD passes of 35 and 8 yards and Jackson Tunick adding a 31-yard score. Trevor Reeves raced to 99 yards on 18 carries with one TD, and Gage Blay added a 1-yard TD run. Troy Osborne led all receivers with 68 yards on four catches against Caldera, which is coached by former North Medford head coach Mike Mitchell. The Cavemen limited Caldera to minus-23 yards rushing in a dominant display. Caldera0000—0 Grants Pass141407—35 GP — Dietz 35 pass from Blanchard (Leach kick) GP — Tunick 31 pass from Blanchard (Leach kick) GP — Dietz 8 pass from Blanchard (Leach kick) GP — Blay 1 run (Leach kick) GP — Reeves 7 run (Leach kick) MAZAMA 48, EAGLE POINT 27: At Klamath Falls, Eagle Point fell behind early and was unable to get on the scoreboard until late in the first half as Class 4A top-ranked Mazama came away with the nonconference win. Eagles quarterback Bryton Livingston closed the first half by finding Wyatt Graves on a 31-yard touchdown and opened the third quarter with a 29-yard TD to David Brown. Brown also scored late in the fourth quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run and Kaden Huff found paydirt in the fourth as well with a goal-line run. Huff led the Eagles (1-1) on the ground with 64 yards on 13 totes and Brown added 44 yards on 14 carries. Livingston was 7-for-16 for 86 yards while Graves paced the Eagles in receiving with three catches for 42 yards. Tyson Van Gastel passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more to pace Mazama (2-0), which also got two TD runs from Trevor Anderson. Eagle Point06714—27 Mazama1421130—48 M — Anderson 4 run (Ulloa-Ford kick) M — Anderson 40 run (Ulloa-Ford kick) M — Horton 18 pass from Van Gastel (Ulloa-Ford kick) M — Aguiar 10 pass from Van Gastel (Ulloa-Ford kick) M — Hubble 33 run (Ulloa-Ford kick) EP — Graves 31 pass from Livingston (kick failed) EP — Brown 29 pass from Livingston (Cordle kick) M — Van Gastel 5 run (Ulloa-Ford kick) M — Van Gastel 4 run (Ulloa-Ford kick) EP — Huff 1 run (Cordle kick) EP — Brown 7 run (Cordle kick) Andy Atkinson/Mail Tribune. Connor Cesaro at a recent North Medford football practice.