Madison hands Lebo 1st loss, 40-30
Mary Ann Redeker
Saturday, October 7, 2006
One onside kick to open the second half of the game was crucial in creating momentum for the Madison Bulldogs, as they went on to hand the Lebo Wolves their first loss of the season in a 40-30 thriller Friday night.
“That was the big play of the game,” Madison coach Fred McClain said. “We kind of rolled the dice. I was nervous about it, but we got the ball back. That play really helped get us going in the second half.”
After the Bulldogs put up 16 points in the first quarter, the Wolves answered when junior Blake Jones hit senior Bryant Linsey for a touchdown, and Jones rushed for the two-point conversion to make it 16-8.
Madison took that 16-8 lead into the half, with Lebo set to receive the football at the start of the third quarter.
Sophomore Michael Luthi, who recovered the onside kick for Madison, said the Bulldogs wanted to come back and get the ball first to create momentum for the second half.
“It was a good play that we ran last year in the playoffs, and we were able to get the ball back,” Luthi said of the onside kick. “Coach figured we had a good chance to get the ball back and the momentum back if we used that play.”
On the next drive, the Bulldogs’ offensive line created the holes Luthi needed to break through for a 24-yard touchdown run with 10:05 remaining in the third quarter. The two-point conversion was good as Madison claimed a 24-8 lead.
The Wolves wouldn’t give up, however, as Linsey took the ball on the first play of the next drive on a run to the right and then cut across to the left side of the field for a 40-yard touchdown.
Both teams continued to put up points, with Madison holding a 32-24 advantage with 4:17 remaining in the game. The Wolves took over on downs from the Bulldogs and went for pay dirt on a fourth-and-5 call.
The Madison defense held, as numerous Bulldogs blitzed Jones, who overthrew junior Brandon Speer as the ball fell just off his fingertips.
“We played some man coverage in the secondary,” McClain said. “We brought an extra linebacker on the blitz. We’ve got some fast D-linemen — speed guys — and they made a great play.”
The Bullogs then scored when senior Jordan Stout converted on a third-and-9 pass, which set up first-and-goal at the Wolves’ 2-yard line. Luthi scored the touchdown and the two-point conversion to give the Bulldogs a 40-24 lead with 2:08 remaining in the game.
“Lebo really took Jordan Stout out of our offense some,” McClain said. “It left some other things open for us. We didn’t do a heck of a lot, but what we did, we did pretty well. We completed some important passes at critical times.”
Lebo had its chance for a comeback, but Madison’s defense came up big with three sacks on the Wolves’ last drive. Linsey scored on the drive, but Jones was sacked on the conversion play to make the score 40-30.
“Lebo played hard right down to their last second,” McClain said. “That two-point play at the end was important, If they would have made that play, it makes the onside kick that much more important.”
McClain credited the efforts of both teams in the high-scoring game.
“It was a classic high school football game,” he said. “It was exciting from start to finish. The ’Dogs played hard tonight, and we had our backs to the wall. We were not going to be denied. Lebo gave us everything we could handle.”
Luthi said he was proud of his team’s efforts in the contest.
“We didn’t stop playing,” he said. “We knew we had to win this game, because if we lose now, we’re done. Our defense kept making plays and played hard until the end.”