Mustangs trample Tigers, 35-14
The Madison Academy/Lauderdale County rivalry in football is both physical and bitter. The two teams have played close, intense and meaningful games in the past few seasons and the Friday night contest was no different.
The game started miserably for the Mustangs with a three-play drive that would net negative eight-yards. However, on the punt, the Tigers would fumble the ball, giving the Mustangs great field position. They would take advantage, as Khyle Jackson would sprint into the end zone from eighteen yards out giving the Mustangs an early 7-0 lead.
The Tigers would answer quickly as they moved the ball into scoring position and tied the score at seven all. This would be the score at the end of the first quarter.
The Mustangs continued their drive in the second quarter and electrified their home crowd with a long touchdown pass to Nick Haas from Hunter Olive bringing the count to 14-7.
On the very first play of the drive, freshman Kerryon Johnson broke a 70-yard touchdown run to push the Mustang lead up to 21-7. Another Tiger fumble gave MA the ball back with four minutes remaining in the half, but they were unable to add to the lead. The game would enter halftime with the Madison Academy Mustangs leading 21-7.
The second half began with the best possible set of circumstances for the Mustangs. A fumble on the Tigers’ first play from scrimmage and Johnson’s second long touchdown run quieted the Lauderdale County crowd and made the score 28-7.
Lightning may not strike twice very often, but on this night, it struck three times as Johnson took off again to put the Mustangs ahead 35-7 at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter would see the Mustang offense transition to a ball-control, clock-draining game plan. The Tigers would add a touchdown, but in the end, the Mustang defense was too much. A Haas interception would seal it, moving the Mustangs into the fourth round and ending the season of Lauderdale County. The final would stand at 35-14. A great individual performance was turned in by Johnson and the team defense by the Mustangs was simply dominating. The Mustangs advance to the semi-finals.
