Mountaineers run past Rams

MADISON — It was the Madison County underclassmen that carried a senior-laden squad to a 28-7 victory over visiting Strasburg Friday night.

The Mountaineers entered the game shorthanded when running backs Logan Terrell and Devon Boone and defensive end A.J. Butler did not dress for the game.

“Violation of team rules,” Mountaineers’ coach Stuart Dean said regarding the three seniors.

Junior Ralph Yates and sophomore Jerod Williams carried the load for the Mountaineers’ rushing attack.

Yates had 14 carries for 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the night, while Williams had eight carries for 28 yards and an interception on defense.

“Jerod and Ralph are kind of the same type of back — they just are wide open, hit the hole hard,” Dean said. “Jerod did a great job playing both sides of the ball offense and defense.”

On the defensive side of the ball, juniors Terez Terrell and Bradley Meadows led the way with 11 and eight tackles, respectively.

“Eleven as one,” senior Chris Fincham said. “Somebody’s not there, somebody else has to step up, it’s all about the team.”

The Mountaineers allowed 130 yards on the ground and a 46-yard run by the Rams’ Bradley Hough late in the fourth quarter kept the Madison defense from a shutout.

“We knew Strasburg was going to be a little more balanced attack then what we’ve seen the past couple weeks,” Dean said. “But we still wanted to be good run stoppers the more we saw it the better we got at it.”

The seniors in the passing game would not be outdone, as Dustin Kirby threw for 163 yards on 13-of-16 passing and two touchdowns, both to senior Antonio Childress. Childress finished the night with 7 catches for 121 yards.

“[We] came to play,” Dean said. “Got after it in the first half — did what we needed to do. Played good on offense and defense — exactly where we wanted to be.”

Madison County (8-0, 2-0) travels to its final road game of the regular season Friday at Manassas Park.