Madison runs wild in victory over Nelson

MADISON — On “Sea of Blue” night at Eddie Dean Field Friday, it was Madison County’s ground game that led to a 35-0 victory over visiting Nelson County.

Though their backfield wasn’t at full strength, the Mountaineers ran all over the Governors, tallying 252 yards on the ground.

“It goes back to an entire team effort,” said Mountaineers coach Stuart Dean. “We had a great week of practice, we were consistent all week in practice, we had great intensity all week at practice and it paid off on Friday night.”

Logan Terrell led the Mountaineers backfield with 105 yards on 13 attempts and two touchdowns, his second consecutive 100-yard game.

Madison County’s Devon Boone didn’t dress out for the game due to a shoulder injury he sustained last week in the win against William Monroe. Junior Ralph Yates picked up the slack, taking 10 carries for 62 yards and a score.

“Ralph came in and picked it up along with Jerod (Williams) and Logan (Terrell),” Dean said. “They hit the holes really hard — probably the hardest they’ve hit them this year.”

Williams pounded out 72 yards on 11 carries with a pair of touchdowns.

“We’ve been playing together since we were in Little League, so we know each other like that,” Yates said about the three rushers.

The Mountaineers’ air attack was led by quarterback Dustin Kirby, who threw for 107 yards on 8-for-12 passing.

“That’s something we’ve been wanting to work on,” Dean said. “Become a balanced offense. Dustin did a good job got out of there, made some good reads and completed some passes.”

The Madison receiving corps was led by Dustin Shifflette, who finished with four catches for 86 yards. A.J. Butler had two catches for 38 yards.

The big pass of the night came off the arm of Terrell, as he heaved a halfback pass to Shifflette, who ran it all the way to the cusp of the goal line for a 44-yard gain in the third quarter. Terrell then finished the drive with a 1-yard score.

On the other side of the ball, Madison County held the Governors to 74 yards of total offense, 61 of that on the ground. Nelson County was led by Trey Barnett, who finished with 59 yards rushing on 12 carries.

While the Mountaineer secondary didn’t intercept five passes like last week, the defense held the Governors to 13 yards through the air.

Madison County (3-0) goes on the road to Luray next week, while Nelson County (0-3) travels to Central-Lunenberg.