NORCO — It’s only the first week of the season, but the Julian Medina-to-Blake Wong connection appears strong.
Wong had nine receptions for 167 yards and two touchdowns and Norco held on the defeat Cajon, 35-27, in a nonleague season opener on Friday night.
“We talk every day, during lunch (and) meetings to make sure we’re on the same page,” Wong said. “The best part about Julian is his attention to the details.”
Medina completed 12 of 19 passes for 202 yards and also ran for a touchdown as Norco (1-0 overall) avenged last year’s season-opening 29-7 loss at Cajon.
“We struggled last year against them so to come out here and get a win, it means a lot,” said Wong, who led Norco with 577 receiving yards and five touchdowns last season.
Medina capped Norco’s opening drive with a 15-yard touchdown run, busting through multiple tacklers to cross the goal line for an early lead.
The Cougars added to their lead midway through the second quarter as Medina connected multiple times with Wong before Lee White scored on a 5-yard run to cap a 15-play drive.
Freshman quarterback Marcus Washington fumbled twice and threw two interceptions, but he rallied Cajon (0-1) to three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
“We tried to get him going early, get him some run and give him some confidence,” Cajon coach Nick Rogers said. “He’s a young kid and this is his first time getting after it.”
Intent to get its aerial attack going, Washington missed twice before Norco’s Henderson Carter jumped a route on third down and returned his first of two interceptions 50 yards for a 21-0 lead.
“He made some early mistakes, but our penalties were what was killing us,” Rogers said.
Cajon was flagged 13 times for 130 yards, including two penalties that negated touchdowns.
“The penalties put is in bad situations and made (Washington) have to try to do more than he really needed to,” Rogers said.
Maleek Nolley produced a pair of bruising runs, and Jordan White got Cajon on the scoreboard late in the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run but the Cowboys were unable to convert their two-point attempt.
On the ensuing kickoff, a 70-yard return by Norco’s Joshua Cobian set up Medina to hit Wong for a 15-yard touchdown pass that made it 28-6 going into halftime.
The teams traded turnovers to begin the second half before Medina went deep over the middle to Wong for a 60-yard score and a 35-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Over the final five minutes, Washington ran for one touchdown and passed for two more as Cajon got back into the game after Norco twice turned the ball over deep in its own end.
“Frustrating at the end,” Barlage said. “We need to do a better job of taking care of the football.”
Washington was 18-of-28 passing for 191 yards. He also had 15 carries for 53 of Cajon’s 196 total rushing yards.
Originally Published:
