Winton Woods ended Piqua’s unbeaten season with dominating line play on both sides of the ball and an electric rushing attack to roll to a 38-17 victory at Northmont High School.
“This season was something definitely for the city of Piqua to remember,” Medley said. “It was great to have all these guys to play with for my last year and have the year that we had. It sucks that it didn’t end the way we wanted, but I hope they can redo it next year and do better.”
Medley led the Indians (13-1) to the brink of the state semifinals, a stage they last played on when they won their only state title in 2006. He did it as a two-way player and the Southwest District’s Division II offensive player of the year. But the running back who gained 1,959 yards and scored 36 touchdowns wasn’t himself. He rushed 12 times for 33 yards.
Near the end of last week’s victory over Edgewood, Medley limped off the field on an injured ankle. He said Friday was the best he felt all week, but he also felt slow on the field.
“I was trying to recover from that ankle injury the whole game and it just kept popping,” he said. “It broke me down all week. I never even knew what percentage I was going to be at the whole game. I definitely felt way slower, but you got to play on it. You can’t not play.”
However, Medley and head coach Bill Nees wouldn’t blame the loss on a gimpy ankle. The gave credit to Winton Woods. On defense, the Warriors’ 300-pound defensive tackles clogged the middle that Medley usually bursts through for long touchdown runs. The Indians were held to 52 rushing yards and 175 total yards.
“You watch the film, and you know you’re going to have a little trouble,” Nees said. “So we had the outside zone ready, we had a power game ready, we had a couple boots ready, those type of things. Sometimes you just get out of rhythm.”
The chase was on from the beginning when Piqua botched a punt and gave the Warriors a short field and a quick touchdown. Then the Warriors’ offense found a rhythm that didn’t miss a beat, mostly on handoffs to 5-foot-7 Tyrek Spikes.
Spikes bolted 62 yards to a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. He finished with 230 yards on 28 carries and four touchdowns.
“The concern every day during the week was what you saw,” Nees said. “It was very obvious from the last four weeks what the plan was, and they executed it well.”
Behind a big offensive line, the Warriors ran inside, outside and Buddy Ellery completed the occasional pass (8 of 9, 109 yards). The Piqua defense that shut out three opponents and held five to a single touchdown allowed 345 rushing yards and 454 total yards.
When Winton Woods was its own enemy, the Indians couldn’t stop them. On a first-half drive to a 14-0 lead, the Warriors overcame three holding penalties. On their first possession of the second half, they completed a 19-yard pass on third-and-10 and later scored to lead 31-10.
“You can’t squander stuff like that,” Nees said.
The Indians did, at times, find success. A touchdown drive capped by Sam Schmeising’s two-yard run made the score 14-7, and a 37-yard field goal by Jackson Trombley just before halftime made the score 24-10. Piqua’s last answer was a six-yard touchdown pass from Brady Ouhl to Colten Beougher to trail 31-17, but the Warriors drove to a final score to seal it with six minutes left.
“The character of our players showed quite a bit,” Nees said. “That’s the first time we’ve ever started down that fast. They worked their way back.”
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