Madison Academy throttles Winston County 56-7 in first round

Wide receiver Jaelin Ferdinand (6) goes to over to KeKe Matthews after Matthews’ touchdown in the second quarter of Madison Academy’s 56-7 romp over Winston County. (Record Photo/Nick Sellers)

By Nick Sellers | Staff Writer

MADISON – It took Madison Academy (10-1, 7-0) all of two plays to jump ahead 7-0 against the visiting Winston County Yellow Jackets (5-6) Friday.

Mustang quarterback Blake Coward lasered a pass to Cole Tomlinson, who did the rest with his legs for a 56-yard touchdown.

Winston County drove down the field in its opening possession into Madison Academy territory, but Kerryon Johnson sacked the Yellow Jacket quarterback for a 5-yard loss on third down. Winston County missed the field goal try at 6:59 in the first quarter, and the Mustang ground game proceeded to take over en route to a 49-0 halftime lead.

“Certainly the defense keeping them out there was huge,” Madison Academy coach Eric Cohu said.

The Mustangs amassed 474 yards on the ground. Johnson scored the next two touchdowns – a 78-yard run and 19-yard run in the first quarter – and junior Malik Miller added a 32-yard touchdown catch and 67-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Johnson also scored one from the other side of the ball, when he took an interception 35 yards to paydirt in the second quarter. Johnson had two picks on the game.

“We came out from the start and showed we could dominate a game from start to finish,” Johnson said. “That’s really the thing going forward in the playoffs is just not trying to have any weaknesses that the future teams could expose.”

Madison Academy next faces Piedmont, a team that gave the Mustangs fits in last year’s playoff quarterfinals. Madison Academy won that game 34-33 in overtime.

“It’s going to be a huge game because they’re one of the best programs in the state,” Cohu said.

The Piedmont Bulldogs downed Pisgah 34-6 in the first round.