By Dan Murphy
Special to JoeInsider.com
Mendon’s offense took to the air Friday night. Junior quarterback Jordan Medich threw four touchdown passes while the No. 2 Hornets flew past Bronson 70-0 at John Schwartz Field.
The Hornets (5-0) connected on three touchdowns passes and opened up a 27-0 lead before his first incompletion hit the turf. The Vikings (1-4) had no answer for the air assault. Medich ended his day 12-of-14 passing for 211 and five scores before watching the entire second half from the sideline.
“They told us before the game we were going to be throwing a lot. I was excited for it,” Medich said.
The first-year starter connected with fellow junior Parker Cupp in the back of the end zone on a five-yard fade pass on the fourth play of the game for his first touchdown. His next two passes also led to scores — a rollout pass to the flat that Elijah Klepper carried 35 yards for a score and a deep post route that senior Kyle Wiswell ripped out of the hands of a Vikings defender near the goal line.
Wiswell’s grab was his second trip to end zone in as many plays. He stepped in front of a slant route thrown by Bronson’s Daniel McMichael one play earlier and took it 37 yards to officially kick off Mendon’s latest blowout victory.
Hornets head coach John Schwartz said it was important to get his young quarterback some work in the passing game after mostly hammering teams on the ground during his team’s first four lopsided wins.
“We wanted to come out and throw the ball because we figured if the score got out of hand it’s not the time to be throwing it,” Schwartz said. “We know he’s capable. It’s his first year at the quarterback spot at the varsity level. He’s a good athlete. We know he’s going to he just needs time to grasp anything. He needs to be in control out there and lead the team down the field and that takes time.”
Medich’s accurate passing, which also included another touchdown pass to Wiswell on a wide receiver screen and a deep pass to Kaleb McCarroll, gave Mendon a 55-0 lead at halftime. They drove into the red zone four times during the running-clock second half, but opted to give field goal kicker Robert Riley some work instead of attempting to punch in a few more scores.
Riley connected on kicks from 19, 22 and 34 yards. He also was 7-for-8 while attempting extra points and took over for Medich at quarterback in the second half.
The rest of Mendon’s offensive onslaught came from a 6-yard touchdown run from Klepper and three total interceptions run back for scores. Along with Wiswell’s return, Cupp and McCarroll returned errant passes for 66 and 46 yards respectively.
The Hornets defense kept their St. Joseph Valley Conference rivals on their heels for the entire game. Bronson didn’t pick up a first down until the third quarter and was held to a total of 28 yards in the game.
Vikings sophomore Kyle Roberts valiantly struggled against the Mendon defensive line, carrying 18 times for 13 yards and finally seeing some cracks of daylight in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Derek Zagon finished the game with a team-high 16 tackles, many of which came from dragging Roberts to the ground.
Mendon moves on next week to play Centerville next Friday night with a chance to take one more step toward what will likely be its last SJV conference title. Bronson has been a regular opponent for many years for Mendon, but might not be on the schedule in future years because of the dissolving conference.
“SJV games are always the best. I’ve looked forward to it since I was a kid,” Medich said. “I’ve watched my cousins previously play them, and I’ve watched every single SJV game. It’s very said it’s falling apart now.”