It was as simple as one team taking better care of the ball than the other. William Monroe was able to run the ball with constistent success, but most importantly, not put it on the turf. And with Madison County struggling with four turnovers on offense and back-to-back special team’s snafus, the Dragons topped their Mountaineer rivals for the first time in five years, 36-19.
“When you have teams that are that close together proximity wise, you’re going to have a big rivalry naturally,” Sanford said. “But then you add the years of history and then you add the fact that next year this is going to be a district opponent, it just doesn’t get any bigger (than this).”
Monroe put Madison in a hole early on in the game after Tony Morris-Cousins returned an interception on a muffed punt for a 14-yard touchdown. Then the Dragons set up a short field goal when the Mountaineers fumbled the ensuing kickoff.
However, just as it did last week, Madison dug out of the double-digit deficit. After the 22-yard field goal, Travis Warren took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to make it 10-6. Just four minutes later Ralph Yates’ 42-yard run gave Madison a 2-point lead which held going into the second half.
Last year, that would have been the end of Monroe. But that was last year.
“That’s the first thing I said in (the locker room),” Sanford said. “Last year’s team folded in that situation. That’s the mark of a mediocre team — team’s that get in that situation and fold are going to be mediocre at best, and our guys fought back and that’s a big step in our program. That’s a huge step.”
With their first possession of the second half, the Dragons bounced right back when Doug Sizemore broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown run to put Monroe out front by four.
Not to be outdone, Madison came right back with a big play of its own as Dustin Farmer hit Rashad Bolden on a quick slant. Bolden took the short reception all the way for a 46-yard strike, and with a PAT the Mountaineers took a 3-point lead.
But that would be it for the Madison offense. Mitchell Morris hit Zach Duprey on a 43-yard bomb on the Dragons’ next possession for the fourth and final lead change of the game, this one coming midway through the third quarter. From that point on, Monroe put its faith in its runners. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Logan Forloines extended a 4-point lead to 10 on his 14-yard run. After Madison turned the ball over on downs, the Dragons put together one last drive with Sizemore almost single handedly operating the offense. With 3:49 to play, the junior running back wrapped the game up with his second touchdown of the game, this time a 1-yard run to make it a 17-point contest, much to the delight of the Monroe fans.
“That’s the way we want to have our offense — just long drives just pounding the ball between the tackles,” Sizemore said.
For Madison, the issue is simple. This team wants to fix the turnover problems because the defense has carried its share of the load in both of the Mountaineers first two games.
“It all goes back to us with the turnovers, shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Madison coach Stuart Dean. “We’d have some success and then shoot ourselves in the foot and have to start all over. Our defense kept fighting and competing the whole game. Our offense put them in some bad situations and they still fought hard all four quarters, so we’re still proud of what the defense did.”
In the first quarter the Mountaineers had the ball inside the Dragons 15-yard line and fumbled only to follow that up with another fumble, this time inside the 30.
Warren and Bolden each had solid games at receiver with 59 yards on five catches and 93 yards on three catches respectively. Farmer had a game high 207 yards on 10 of 19 passing.
For Monroe, Sizemore had 181 yards from scrimmage on 27 rushing attempts for 161 and one catch for 27 yards. From beginning to end, Sizmore got the job done working the ball inside.
“I’m not the fastest guy so I’m not going to get out on the edge too much,” Sizemore said. “I’m going to try and line you up and run you over and that’s perfect for the offense we run.”
Forloines finished with seven carries for 53 yards before giving his team a scare when he went down on his last attempt and clutched his knee. However, after a visit from the training staff he was able to walk off the field on his own power. Morris passed for 92 yards with five completions on 10 attempts. The senior quarterback also ran for 41 yards on six tries.
Monroe (2-0) travels to Louisa County on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Madison (1-1) heads to Nelson County also on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
