Henry Ott embodies the tone set by the leaders of this year’s Madison football team: Go out on the field, do your job, shake hands and go home. No need for anything extraneous.
The quest for a 2008 8-Man I state title is serious business at Madison, and Ott, the Bulldogs’ junior quarterback, is a no-nonsense guy. You’ll see palm trees surrounding Madison’s campus before you see Ott pulling any NFL-style showmanship, like high-stepping downfield or legally changing his name to Siete, his uniform number in Spanish.
“When he’s doing something,” Madison coach Fred McClain said, “there’s no joking around.”
McClain says the Bulldogs who provide senior leadership — including stars Michael Luthi, Caleb Hamilton and Wade Elwood — have helped make this an easy year for him as a coach, but he lumps the junior Ott in as a key leader as well. A first-year starter at QB who also starts and excels at cornerback, Ott isn’t one of the more vocal guys on the Bulldogs — but, McClain says, “when he talks, people listen.”
“(I) just try to do whatever Coach tells me to do,” Ott said. “Hustle everywhere, set an example.”
Listed at 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds in Madison’s game programs, Ott’s admittedly closer to 5-6. But he’s not intimidated by any of the significantly larger players he faces. As McClain puts it, “If he’s 155, his heart weighs about 149.”
“He’s real good about making sure the little things are done right,” McClain said. “If I say, ‘Make sure Luthi cheats a little bit to the right on this play, he’ll remember that. In the middle of a game, (he’ll) say, ‘This is where you’re supposed to cheat a little bit over.’ ...
“Just little things that he remembers. (He) just helps positioning our backs a little bit, or we want bigger line splits on a certain play, right in the middle of the game, he’ll say, ‘Hey, we need to split to the right a little bit more, open up those splits a little bit.’”
This weekend’s trip to Baileyville for the substate playoffs is as important a time as any for the Bulldogs to stay serious and focused. Not only are they just two wins away from Madison’s first state football title since 1984, but they just got done with their first challenge of the year, a tight 42-34 victory last Saturday over a very game Goessel team.
Ott had a rough second half, with two fumbles and an interception on three straight second-half possessions, turnovers that helped Goessel come from behind and forge a 34-30 lead with 6:31 to go. It was the first fourth-quarter deficit Madison had faced all year.
But Ott kept positive, knowing the Bluebirds had been unable to stop Luthi all game long, and two Luthi touchdowns in the last four minutes gave the Bulldogs the points they needed to advance.
“I was kind of upset with myself for putting the ball on the ground and throwing a pick,” he said. “But I knew Michael was running real hard, and he was just running ’em over. So I knew if we didn’t turn the ball over, we could drive the field on ’em.”
With an 11-0 record identical to Madison’s, Baileyville — led by quarterback Kyle Haverkamp and running back Ryan Huerter, who have combined for 37 rushing touchdowns — represents another big obstacle. If Ott can help lead the Bulldogs past the Falcons, Madison will be moving on to Newton on Nov. 22 to play for that state title — the only one of four goals that still needs to be crossed off Madison’s preseason list.
“It’d be great,” Ott said. “It would be a reward for how hard we practiced, and all the preparation we put in and effort, time. It would be great for the seniors.”