Madison — It took nearly 24 hours to make it official, but the Madison Bulldogs did indeed defeat the Hartford Jaguars.
In a game that began on Thursday night but was postponed to Friday afternoon because of lightning and heavy rain, Madison and its quarterback, Jordan Stout, ran all over Hartford to the tune of 403 total yards to just 147 by Hartford, with Madison eventually winning 50-12.
“I think our kids really came out mentally prepared after the delay, and we brought the energy level we needed to have,” Madison coach Fred McClain said. “We have developed some weapons with Michael Luthi and Josh Barker at fullback, our two halfbacks, Donovan Hamilton and Kevin Metzen, and our tight end, Jacob Stewart.”
Play resumed Friday at 3:30 p.m. with Madison holding a 22-0 lead with 4:51 left in the second quarter.
The situation was slightly precarious for Madison (8-1), as Hartford (6-3) had the ball at its own 34-yard line, and the Bulldogs had to kick off to start the second half.
A Hartford score would have tightened the game considerably, but the Madison defense held Hartford to just three yards once play began, and the Jaguars had to punt.
After just a 10-yard Hartford punt, Madison drove 47 yards in six plays to score on a 1-yard TD run by Stout — the third of his four rushing touchdowns — to take a 30-0 lead into halftime.
“Being down 22-0, that was hard, and we didn’t start real well,” Hartford coach Les Stein said. “We didn’t execute well.”
Things didn’t get any better for Hartford after halftime, as the stingy Madison defense held the Jaguars to a three-and-out to force another punt.
The Madison offense again went to work picking apart the Hartford defense, as Madison needed all of four plays to find the end zone again on another 1-yard touchdown run by Stout, which made it 38-0 after the two-point conversion was good.
Stout finished with 153 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 15 carries while passing for 70 yards.
“With the weather and the field the way it was, running the ball, you couldn’t plant very well,” Stout said, “so I just told myself before the game that I was going to run the hardest I’ve ever ran and try to knock some people over.”
Hartford had its best drive of the game on its next possession, going 63 yards in 11 plays to finally get on the scoreboard after a 9-yard TD run by quarterback Scott Gardner, who got into the end zone after he reversed his field and broke free of the arms of Madison’s Michael Luthi.
But Madison scored twice more — a 4-yard TD run by Caleb Hamilton and a 1-yard score by Ben Dains — before Hartford could score again, and Madison came away with the blowout victory.
“We spent a lot of time on defense,” Stein said. “We were on the field to much. (Madison) played a lot of ball-control offense, and they’ve got a good football team.”
With the win, Madison advanced to the State playoffs, where it will face Marmaton Valley (9-0) on Tuesday in Moran.
“This is a big accomplishment for us to go to the playoffs,” Stout said. “Since we lost to Waverly three weeks ago, we’ve been looking at every game like it’s a playoff game, and we’re glad to be going.”
Hamilton 28,
Elk Valley 12
On Thursday night, the Hamilton Tigers finished their season with just their second victory of the year — a 28-12 win over Elk Valley.
Jeff Smith ran for an 18-yard touchdown and caught another while Beau Smith passed for two touchdowns in leading the Tigers past Elk Valley.
“My team is full of heart. There’s no quit in them,” Hamilton coach Brett Dannels said. “I don’t think you could make them quit. We were competitive in 90 percent of games.”
Charlie Schlotterbeck got the scoring started for Hamilton, as he ran it in from 30 yards out and then ran in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.
A 12-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Shawn Galindo made it 14-0.
Jeff Smith caught a 9-yard TD pass from Beau Smith in the fourth quarter after a 45-minute weather delay to provide the game’s final score.
Hamilton ends its season at 2-7 overall.