No. 1 Irish dominate Panthers

Oct. 8—For the second straight season, South Medford spotted Sheldon a 20-point lead to start their football game.

Only this year, the top-ranked Irish didn't give the No. 8 Panthers any room to rebound in running away with a 49-0 victory in South/Central Football Conference action on Friday night.

Sheldon scored on all six of its first-half possessions against the short-handed Panthers to build a 42-0 lead in dominant fashion and enact a running clock for the final half.

"They started like that last year, too, but we just weren't up to the task this year," said South Medford head coach Bill Singler, whose team played without a handful of injured starters. "We're missing some pieces to this deal and in high school football when you're missing a few bullets, it's hard to replace them."

Anything the Irish wanted to accomplish, they did.

Anything South Medford tried was largely in vain on a night when both teams entered the contest 5-0 overall and 3-0 in SCFC play.

"They got off to a great start, that's a credit to them," said Singler, in his 25th season at the helm of the Panthers. "They're a really good football team. This is as good of a Sheldon team as I've seen in a long time."

Sensational senior quarterback Brock Thomas passed for four touchdowns and ran for two more to pave the way for Sheldon.

On the flip side, counterpart Deacon Edgar waged an uphill battle as he was under pressure from the snap and couldn't find many windows to either run or throw into for South Medford.

Edgar was intercepted by Nikko Klemm on the Panthers' first possession, and later picked off on a tipping and then controlling effort by Luke Leighton and a diving effort by Mana Tuioti.

"They executed at a very high level and they disrupted us immensely on offense," said Singler. "We just didn't have any answer."

South Medford unofficially was limited to 90 yards passing and 173 overall in the first half, while Sheldon racked up 285 yards passing and another 59 on the ground — 45 courtesy of Thomas.

Edgar was 11-for-18 overall for 133 yards and held without a touchdown — rushing or passing — for the first time this season.

Ty Henry led South Medford with three catches for 68 yards, while Andrew Walker had two catches for 26 yards and a 22-yard run and Jacob Forrette had two catches for 27 yards in his first start at receiver.

On the ground, Dylan Espinosa ran for 38 yards on seven carries — most of it coming in the first quarter — but Sheldon's massive defensive line, anchored by Oregon's top-rated and Duck-bound senior Teitum Tuioti and fellow senior Josh Merriman, found its way in the backfield to keep South from gaining ground.

Thomas opened the game with a 66-yard scoring strike to Isaac Peters and the Irish never looked back. Sheldon's first interception led to a 11-yard touchdown pass to Luke Leighton and, after the Panthers turned the ball over on downs, Thomas cruised in from 6 yards out to make it 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Leighton's interception on South's next promising drive was fittingly capped by him hauling in a short pass underneath and outracing everyone to the end zone for a 33-yard score.

Evidence of how much it was Sheldon's night, Thomas even completed a 1-yard pass to himself after his initial offering was rejected by Espinosa but back into the quick-acting QB's lap. The 6-foot, 175-pound Thomas later capped that scoring drive with a 22-yard TD run.

Following the third interception, Cade Welch made a diving grab in the end zone for an 18-yard TD to make it a perfect 6-for-6 for scoring drives in the first half for Sheldon.

"There were not many answers on offense and defense," said Singler. "We didn't put up much resistance either. They were tremendously excited to play us because they haven't played a game in three weeks (winning 41-0 over Sprague, 62-6 over McNary and 56-0 against Roseburg). Their guys have been ahead so much, they were chomping at the bit to play us, and we weren't up to the task."

Sheldon scored with about four minutes remaining as both teams had reserve players in the game.

For South Medford, Singler said it will all be about how his team responds following its first loss after starting the season 5-0 for the first time since 2011.

"It's gut-check time for this team," said the coach, whose team plays at Grants Pass next Friday. "What kind of team do you want to be at the end of the year? Are you going to let one game define you or are you going to rally the troops and find the character and resolve and finish this season strong."

South Medford0000—0

Sheldon212107—49

S — Peters 66 pass from Thomas (Graziano kick)

S — Leighton 11 pass from Thomas (Graziano kick)

S — Thomas 6 run (Graziano kick)

S — Leighton 33 pass from Thomas (Graziano kick)

S — Thomas 22 run (Graziano kick)

S — Welch 18 pass from Thomas (Graziano kick)

S — Parosa 8 run (Johnson kick)

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