Madison — A physically and emotionally exhausted Fred McClain had a request before he’d talk about Madison’s hard-fought 42-34 victory over Goessel on Saturday in the regional round of the 8-Man I state playoffs.
“Can we take a knee?” the Madison coach asked.
An understandable request — and considering the drama that Madison helped create for itself at the end of the game, something of an ironic one.
In a classic high school playoff game pitting 8-Man I’s two top-ranked teams, the No. 1 Bulldogs had faced not only a rare fourth quarter, but an even rarer — as in, never before — fourth-quarter deficit. Trailing 34-30 with their season on the line, they were facing their first real challenge, and the question that always nags teams that are used to steamrolling everyone: When you’re finally in a close game, how will you respond?
Madison’s response, in two words or less: Michael Luthi. And in the end — after a last-play hail-Mary from Goessel quarterback Austin Unruh barely hit the end-zone grass under a diving Craig Banman — that response was good enough to move Madison two wins away from a state title.
Consider the Bulldogs finally and resoundingly tested.
“I knew we were gonna play four quarters here today, and I didn’t think about it,” McClain said. “It didn’t even cross my mind (that we wouldn’t).”
Madison did itself no favors against a worthy opponent. A slew of penalties helped Goessel, and the Bulldogs turned the ball over three times, including a fumble by quarterback Henry Ott in the third quarter on a drive in which Madison, leading 30-20, likely could have put the game away with a TD.
When Travis Fensky scored for Goessel on a one-yard run with 6:31 left in the game to give the Bluebirds a 34-30 lead, Madison fans had reason to be truly worried for the first time all year.
But Luthi and his line had been their usual stellar selves — the powerful tailback had already run over and around Bluebird defenders for 160 yards and three TDs — and the Bulldogs were about to get a gift. They covered a curious onside kick attempt at the Goessel 38, then put the ball in Luthi’s hands. He carried for 29 yards on Madison’s next three plays. Two plays later, on 2nd-and-16 from the Goessel 19, Luthi took a toss left, looked to throw and found Reece Childers at the 1-yard line. Luthi finished the drive with a one-yard run to make it 36-34 Madison with 3:45 left, and the score stayed there after the Bulldogs’ two-point try failed.
Madison’s defense stopped the Bluebirds on their next drive at the Goessel 27 — ending with a pass knockdown by Wade Elwood on 4th-and-12 — and the Bulldogs took over there with 2:40 remaining.
Luthi carried three more times for 11 yards to pick up what looked to be the decisive first down — Madison could either run the clock out, or come very close to doing so, with a few kneel-downs. With under a minute and a half to play, quarterback Henry Ott took a knee at the Goessel 16-yard line.
But on the next play, instead of lining up in “victory formation” again, the Bulldogs lined up in a two-back set.
“We figured we had to run one more play,” McClain said. “So I ran an inside play just to keep the clock running.”
Luthi ran down the left sideline, and used second and third efforts to push himself into the end zone with 32.5 seconds left.
The Bulldogs — who don’t kick extra points and missed the subsequent two-point try — had added an insurance score to make it 42-34, but now Goessel would get the ball back with a chance to tie it.
“Actually, after I scored, I was like, “Aw shoot, we’ve gotta get this two,’” said Luthi, who finished with 218 yards rushing on 32 carries. “And then, we didn’t. But we’ve just gotta play a full game.”
Goessel took over at its 19 with 27.2 seconds left, and Unruh found Kendall Voth open deep down the left side. The Bluebirds grounded the ball at Madison’s 33 with 5.5 seconds and one play left.
Unruh launched a pass that went off a leaping Voth’s hands a few yards outside the end zone and fell backwards, where Banman made his desperate dive, barely missing an amazing catch. Madison and its fans celebrated wildly, relishing the regional championship and a spot in 8-Man I’s final four.
Madison will travel to Baileyville B&B (11-0) on Saturday to play for a spot in the state title game.
“It was a hell of an effort by a bunch of young kids,” McClain said. “They really pulled together when it counted, and probably did something they’re gonna remember for the rest of their lives. I mean, this ain’t a state title or nothing, but that was a pretty special moment.”
Saturday at Madison
Goessel (10-1) 8 12 0 14 — 34
Madison (11-0) 8 14 8 12 — 42
First quarter
MAD — Luthi 1 run (2-pt pass)
GOE — Banman 4 run (Unruh run)
Second quarter
MAD — Luthi 2 run (run failed)
MAD — Hamilton 6 run (Luthi run)
GOE — Voth 33 pass from Unruh (pass failed)
GOE — Smucker 19 pass from Unruh (pass failed)
Third quarter
MAD — Luthi 1 run (Luthi run)
Fourth quarter
GOE — Banman 20 pass from Unruh (Stultz pass from Unruh)
GOE — Fensky 1 run (run failed)
MAD — Luthi 1 run (run failed)
MAD — Luthi 16 run (run failed)
GAME STATISTICS
GOE MAD
First downs 16 16
Rushes-yards 37-116 49-267
Comp-Att-Int 15-28-1 4-7-1
Passing yards 185 55
Total yards 301 322
Fumbles-lost 4-1 4-2
Punts-Avg. 1-31.0 2-35.0
Penalties-yards 2-30 12-63
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — GOE: Banman 10-45, Fensky 14-39, Unruh 13-32; MAD: Luthi 32-218, Hamilton 5-48, Ott 12-1.
Passing — GOE: Unruh 14-27-1, 175 yards, Voth 1-1-0, 10 yards; MAD: Ott 2-4-1, 10 yards, Luthi 2-2-0, 45 yards, Hamilton 0-1-0.
Receiving — GOE: Banman 6-67, Voth 3-65, Fensky 3-15, Hiebert 2-19, Smucker 1-19; MAD: Childers 3-58, Hamilton 1-(minus-3).