The Madison High School football team will be in familiar surroundings Saturday as the Bulldogs attempt to win their second straight 8-Man Division I state championship.
The Bulldogs are 7-0 in playoff games the past two seasons. And if Madison beats South Gray Saturday, it will become the first team to win back-to-back 8-man Division I championships since Coldwater in 1994 and 1995.
Kick-off is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at Fischer Field in Newton. Neither team has lost this season. Madison is 12-0. South Gray is 11-0.
A year ago Madison capped its playoff run by defeating Hill City 52-44 in the title game at the same stadium in Newton.
Madison coach Fred McClain said the familiarity from playing in the championship game a year ago would be helpful leading up to this year’s title bout.
“We are aware of what’s going on,” he said. “We know the field and the locker room. Those are good things because we will be more relaxed.”
McClain said he anticipates the team will still be a little nervous Saturday, but less so than a year ago. The same goes for the coaches.
“Some of us have coached a long time without having a chance to play in this game,” he said. “Last year there were some nerves going in. This year it won’t be quite as nerve wracking going back to it, but it’s still a big deal to be in the game.”
McClain gave the players Monday off and started preparing for South Gray on Tuesday. The team practiced Wednesday at Emporia High School to get a feel for a turf field.
The Bulldogs will have a meal and load the busses tonight and then take off for Newton at 6:30 a.m. Saturday for the 11 a.m. kick.
“We are not used to playing on Saturdays,” McClain said. “We did have to play a Saturday game at Burden earlier and we did a good job. We’ll try to treat this as a normal game. We are loading the bus Friday so we can get a good night sleep and not have to worry about remembering to bring everything in the morning.”
Madison has defeated Rock Hills 46-8, Central Burden 50-18 and Lakeside 52-6 to reach the title game. South Gray opened the playoffs with a 60-12 win over Pretty Prairie and later beat Central Plains 52-6 in the quarterfinals and held off Osborne 42-38 in the semifinals.
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