Madison Academy falls to Tanner

BY SCOTT WRIGHT/FOR THE RECORD

Madison Academy fought hard, but the team fell to Tanner 7-13 Thursday night.

The Tanner defense was just a bit better in the end, holding the Mustang offense to only one play of more than 10 yards and only seven points. The Mustang offense never seemed to find a rhythm and struggled all night to make even three to four yards.

A first half with only 34 total yards followed by a second half that fell short of fifty yards, with the exception of Kerryon Johnson’s 83-yard touchdown.

Fred Rich and Hayden Stephens led the Rattlers Thursday night with Stephens scoring on a long touchdown run in the third quarter and Rich claiming the only turnover of the night by intercepting Mustang quarterback Justin Wimberly.

The Mustangs found brief electricity in the legs of Johnson on an eye-opening 83-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, but it was not be enough to defeat the 2A powerhouse, Tanner Rattlers.

The Mustangs will host Lauderdale County next Friday night for its first region game, while the Tanner Rattlers will square off against the Red Bay Tigers.

The Madison Academy Mustangs entered the 2012 season on the highest note possible short of winning a state championship.

The Mustangs against tough competition in the previous season and came within a matter of inches from winning the coveted blue map in Tuscaloosa last December. The Rattlers, could say the same thing, with the only exception being the classification.

Last year Madison Academy had finished as the state runner-up in class 3A while the Tanner Rattlers had come up short in the class 2A final against Elba.