By: Brett Barnes
The Milton-Union football team traveled to Madison on Friday night for a contest that not only would establish a pecking order in the SWBL
Buckeye Division, but also would amount to huge computer points as both teams entered play with identical 3-1 records. When the scoreboard finally rested, the road team had emerged victorious 35-19 in a hard hitting, exciting contest from start to finish.
Just two plays in, lightning struck. The Mohawks fumbled a pitchout, and Josh Booher recovered for the Bulldogs giving them first and ten at the Madison 18-yard line. Jake Finfrock took the first handoff and scampered virtually untouched for a quick strike 6-0 lead. Nick Fields added the extra point, and the Bulldogs led 7-0 on a five second scoring drive.
When lightning strikes, thunder soon follows, and that thunder came in the form of Madison running back Jeff Clemons. Madison drove the ball 12 plays, 79 yards 12 in 4:41. Clemons carried the ball eight of those plays, mostly grinding powerful inside runs, and he capped the drive off with a 6-yard touchdown run. Following Tom Tipton’s PAT, the score evened 7-7.
Following a quick M-U three and out, the Mohawks took over on their own 36-yard line, and Clemons broke free. A 66-yard run took the ball all the way to the Bulldog 1-yard line where Tre Owens scored on a QB sneak. The PAT was blocked, but the Mohawks had seized momentum and led 13-7.
Again the Dogs had to punt, and Clemons continued his huge first half with a 38-yard run all the way to the Bulldog 37-yard line. Two plays later with the defense keying on Clemons, the Mohawks countered with a Brandon Mize 25-yard TD scamper. This time the Mohawks went for two but were stopped by a shaken Bulldog defense. It was all ‘hawks 19-7.
Head Coach Brett Pearce had warned his club about the Mohawks offense throughout the week, “They have had some long TD’s on offense, so we needed to make them work for any points they score and not let them get easy ones.” With 9:09 remaining in the second quarter, no one could have predicted that the Mohawks would not score again.
The Bulldog offense had to get something going, and they turned to Senior running back Jake Finfrock to light a spark. It took the Bulldogs just three plays to get into the end zone. Finfrock scored on a beautifully blocked 54-yard scamper, and with the Fields PAT, it was 19-14.
Again, the Mohawks began to drive, but on fourth and six from the Bulldog 41-yard line, a completed pass came about a foot short, and after the measurement, the Bulldog sideline exploded. Great field position turned into a six play drive helped by a Mohawk roughing the passer penalty. The final play of the drive, Finfrock willed himself into the end zone from 26-yards out, and Fields ended the first half scoring with the extra point. Madison had held the ball for 17:18 seconds in the first half and had 235 yards total offense, but inexplicably they trailed the football game.
The third quarter was a battle of field position with the only opportunity to score coming from the Bulldogs after an eight play drive to start the half. However, a Field’s thirty-five yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. The Bulldogs were held to just thirty-three yards in the quarter, and Madison fared no better with just twenty-five yards in the third.
Madison had the ball to start the fourth quarter, but had to punt, and the Bulldogs’ misfortune in the third turned to gold in the fourth. The steady diet of running plays to Finfrock ceased with Clay Minton and Tyler Brown joining the party. Brown ran for ten yards, and Minton hit for
21 yards during the nine play drive. The drive came down to a fourth and goal from the 15-yard line. Quarterback Cody Hollon dropped back to pass and found Minton on a well-conceived screen for the first Bulldog touchdown pass of the year. Fields again was true, and the score stood 28-19 with just 7:02 remaining.
Madison fumbled on its next possession, and the Bulldogs sealed it with Tyler Brown. Brown accounted for 49 yards including an 11-yard power run for M-U’s fifth touchdown of the evening (Fields PAT), and a final score of 35-19.
The Madison Mohawks were unable to score on their final seven possessions of the football game. “We made some interior changes halfway through the second quarter,” stated defensive coordinator Tim Antonides. “The field conditions were tough for us and our slanting, so we went
back to our base defense, and we just read our keys and tackled better.”
With the win, M-U is 4-1. Madison falls to 3-2. M-U hosts Carlisle next Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
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