Mustangs defeat Colbert County

Kiki Matthews rushed for 163 yards with a touchdown on 17 carries in Madison Academy’s 20-13 win over Colbert County. (Contributed/Paulette Berryman)

By Mike Easterling

For the Record

HUNTSVILLE – Madison Academy’s defensive line, weary from Colbert County’s grinding rushing attack, had one last hurrah Friday night.

In a game featuring two Class 3A high school football teams flush in tradition — the nouveau riche Mustangs and the old money Indians — the front made a big push to thwart a threat and preserve No. 1 Madison Academy’s 20-13 home victory.

Colbert County drove to the Mustangs’ 11-yard line trailing by seven points in the fourth quarter, but was stopped on fourth-and-one in the game’s last threat with 5:33 remaining.

“We were tired, but they were tired,” Mustangs coach Eric Cohu said. “We made a big play. They measured it and from my vantage point they came up three or four inches short.”

Madison Academy (4-1, 3-0 in Region 8) got 163 yards on 17 carries from Kiki Matthews with Auburn commit Malik Miller out for the second straight week with a hip injury.

While the Mustangs have won all of their three state titles in the last three seasons, the Indians (1-3, 1-2) won the first of five in 1972.

Madison Academy got a 2-yard run from Jordan Garrett to make it 6-0 in the first. A 63-yard run by Matthews and Sean Dorney’s extra point made it 13-7 at halftime.

Grayson Edgemon’s short TD pass to Cole Tomlinson made it 20-13 with two seconds left in the third.

Madison Academy now welcomes a bye date.

“It’s a perfect time for a week off,” Cohu said. “That was a physical game.”