In the midst of a three-game losing streak and in desperate need of a victory to remain in position to host a playoff game, Madison County got exactly the performance it needed from its offense in a dominant 42-24 win over visiting George Mason on Friday night in a contest that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
The Mountaineers scored on all five of their first-half drives, with four of them lasting only four plays or less. Their longest drive came early in the second quarter following an Elijah Lewis interception and it took 10 plays and four-and-a-half minutes and was capped by Isiah Smith’s 25-yard touchdown run to give Madison a 27-7 lead midway through the second.
Madison led 19-7 after the first quarter despite running just seven offensive plays. After forcing a three-and-out from the Mustangs on the opening drive, Smith got his first rushing touchdown on the Mountaineers’ second play from scrimmage. Mason answered with a touchdown run from Dustin Green to tie the score, but Madison struck back quickly, this time needing only four plays before Chris Smith hit Dre Twyman from 15 yards out for a 13-7 lead with 3:03 remaining in the quarter. Then, on the final play of the period, just one play after a Mason punt, Chris Smith got it done with his legs, dashing 66 yards to make it 19-7.
“It was good to get Isiah’s touchdown at the get-go, and it was even better to sustain it,” Madison head coach Stuart Dean said. “There was no question about it–we needed this game. We had gotten in a rut there, losing three in a row after winning three in a row, so it was great to get some confidence back.”
Smith’s second touchdown pass of the game, a 35-yarder to Lewis, gave Madison a 35-10 lead at the break after the Mustangs’ Ethan Morse had booted a 36-yard field goal.
“Coach had been reminding us all week that we needed to get this win for playoff purposes,” Isiah Smith said. “We came out and did what we had to do.”
The teams traded touchdowns on their first drives of the second half before Madison finally was held out of the end zone in a drive with 2:40 to go in the third quarter when a a fourth-down swing pass from Chris to Isiah Smith came up inches shy of the marker at the Mustangs’ 10-yard line. However, the Mountaineer defense picked its offense right back up, forcing a turnover on downs of its own with 8:14 remaining to erase any hopes of a Mustang comeback.
The Mountaineers got a monster game from their rushing attack. Chris Smith had 121 yards on just seven carries, while Isiah Smith rolled up 111 yards on the same amount of attempts. Isaiah Breckenridge added 71 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown for Madison. Chris Smith completed 10 of 15 passes for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns before being lifted in favor of Lewis with the game safely in hand in the fourth quarter.
“It was good being able to spread the wealth on offense,” Dean said. “It takes all 11, and everyone did a good job tonight, especially the guys up front leading the way.”
Green led the Mustangs on offense with a whopping 274 yards on 29 carries and both of Mason’s rushing touchdowns. Mason added a garbage-time touchdown when Enzo Paradiso hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Creed for the final margin.
Madison will finish its regular season with a trip to district heavyweight Clarke County next.
Friday at 7:30. Mason will play host to Central-Woodstock.
