By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Saturday afternoon the Merrill football team hosted the Rhinelander Hodags for Merrill’s homecoming game. The Jays would get the win by a score of 21-7, giving them their first conference win of the season.
Merrill would take an early lead on the Hodags, scoring a touchdown only five minutes into the game on a Holden Smith nine yard run. It took Rhinelander only 34 seconds to respond, as they scored a touchdown on a one yard run to tie the game.
Merrill regained their lead in the second quarter, with Dominic Leistikow taking in a four yard run for a touchdown. Later in the second quarter Leistikow would find the endzone again to increase the Merrill lead to 21-7.
Leistikow led the Merrill offense, tallying 193 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 28 attempts. Holden Smith also had a good game, rushing for 71 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts.
The Merrill defense was led by Jackson Vander Velde who totaled 12 tackles in the game. Caleb Timm had a solid game with seven tackles, Kole Meyer had six tackles and Piersen Pyan had five tackles and a forced fumble.
With this win Merrill is now 2-5 overall, with a conference record of 1-3. The Jays will continue conference play on Friday as they travel to Medford for a 7 p.m. game.