Saturday, December 4, 2021

Madison County rolls past Chiefland

Madison County plays Chiefland High on Friday.

CHIEFLAND – In a battle so old, a game between the Cowboys and Indians resulted in a 37-0 attack as the Madison County Cowboys ended the Chiefland Indians season on Friday night.

Madison County (11-3) will meet Hawthorne (10-0) for the Class 1A Championship on Saturday, December 11th at 7pm at Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee.

The Indians almost got away with an early stop when the cowboys missed a 33-yard field goal on the 4th and 13th. A penalty flag against the Indians after the kick brought Madison County into a 4th and manageable situation, which caused coach Mike Coe to send his offense back onto the field.

On the 4th and 5th from the 8-yard line, Madison County’s junior quarterback Jamie Hampton joined up with senior Delvin Boatman in an uncharacteristic passing game for the Cowboys.

Chiefland saw a short 40-yard field after a nice return at kick-off. The Indians marched 34 yards for nine carries from three different ball carriers before the cowboys stopped the drive and forced Chiefland to line up for a 23-yard field goal that missed.

The Indians’ luck worsened when Tommie House, Madison County’s senior Tommie House, broke free on an 80-yard sprint into the end zone to give the Cowboys a 13-0 lead in the first quarter.

“We knew who they were,” said Chiefland trainer Adam Gore. “We knew the style they liked to play. When they get a turnover or a special team touchdown they seem to get better and play more confident as a result.”

After House’s trip to the end zone, the Cowboys and Indians swapped punts before Chiefland gained some momentum in the form of an interception when Hampton was intercepted by freshman East Jones.

But the happiness of the Indians quickly came to an end. Chiefland sophomore Dakota Fisher coughed up the football dribbling across the field before being picked up by Madison County junior Latoris Young, who returned him 70 yards for a touchdown and gave the Cowboys a 20-0 lead in the first half helped.

“If you flip the ball this late in the season, you will be beaten,” said Coe. “Because everyone is so good.”

When Chiefland came out of the locker room, he continued to see drives stalling in the Madison County area.

The Indians’ inaugural second-half possession ended at the Madison County’s 32-yard line after Clint Thomas, Chieflands junior quarterback, threw a pass that fell incompletely.

The Cowboys quickly took advantage of sales at Downs as they marched 69 yards in four games to score a scoring drive that was crowned by a 4-yard touchdown carry from Hampton and gave Madison County a 27-0 lead .

The drive was highlighted by a 59-yard rush from House, which ended the night with 198 rushing yards and a touchdown at 13 carries.

“You’re not getting enough recognition,” Coe said of the Cowboys’ offensive front. “And Tommie just got better every week. And he played a little sick tonight so I’m proud of him, but our O-Line deserves” a lot of credit. “

On the track, the Cowboys drove to 10 more points with a 32-yard field goal from Keoni Nelson in their sophomore year and a 1-yard touchdown rush from Junior Jaohn Jackson.

Meanwhile, Madison County continued to smother the Indians, who averaged 39 points per game, to advance to the state’s semi-finals on Friday night.

“They really make you play with your eyes,” Coe said of Chiefland’s insult. “I’m really proud of our defenses and their eyes.”

The Friday night shutout was the third of the season for the Cowboys and the second in a row – something Madison County hopes to continue next week as it prepares for a fight with Hawthorne in the Class 1A state championship game.

Next week’s State Title match between the Cowboys and Hornets will be a rematch of last season’s semi-final matchup when the Hornets eliminated the Cowboys 18-14.

“Nobody will choose us to win,” said Coe. “We’ll have our work to ourselves, but you just have to go play. We’ll show up. I promise you that.”

Chiefland will now look to build on his 11-2 season, which is quite a turnaround from his 2-7 campaign in 2020.

“I get the easy part,” said Gore. “I watch. I haven’t really turned anything. The kids turned it. They got used to playing with a lot of physical effort and physicality. And really, really, that kind of turned us around.”

The post Madison County rolls past Chiefland first appeared on Daily Florida Press.

from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/madison-county-rolls-past-chiefland/

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