Mountaineers top Governors in opener

MADISON – When Madison County faced Orange County in a benefit game last week at Porterfield Park, the Mountaineers probably didn’t expect the actual benefit to come seven days later.

Madison, looking like a team that had worked out the early-season kinks before taking the field last night at Booster Park, dominated the line of scrimmage from start to finish in a 28-8 win over Nelson County.

“I thought our defense as a whole played superb tonight and that’s something we’ve been working on this preseason – being able to stop the run consistently,” said Madison County head coach Stuart Dean.

Mission accomplished.

The Mountaineers held Nelson to 127 yards of total offense – 88 coming on the ground – on a night that saw Madison’s defensive line and linebackers consistently making plays in the Governors’ offensive backfield.

“I really hope that this is the worst performance our offensive line has all year, I really do,” said Nelson coach Tim Crawford.  “We got dominated.  They’ve got a good football team but we didn’t make it very hard for them.”

As well as the Mountaineers’ defense played, the MCHS offense looked just as sharp early on as the home squad jumped out to a 21-0 lead at halftime.

After A.J. Butler broke a 45-yard return on the opening kickoff, Madison needed only four plays to find the end zone on a bruising 5-yard run from running back Logan Terrell to set the score at 6-0 after a missed extra point.

Madison found paydirt again early in the second quarter when junior quarterback Will Taylor found Ryan Banks on a 56-yard touchdown pass on a fade pattern down the right sideline.  The Mountaineers scored less than two minutes later on a 23-yard strike from Taylor to Sam Utz to make the score 21-0.  A Nelson County failed fake punt attempt deep in their own territory gave Taylor and the Mountaineers a short field on their third scoring drive of the night.

“We’ve improved every week in the preseason and Will probably had his best game throwing the ball tonight.  He made some good decisions and good reads,” said Dean of his signal-caller who went 8-of-16 for 127 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception.

Nelson (0-1) finally got on the board early in the second half thanks to a Madison miscue.  Madison punter Dylan Shifflette watched a snap fly over his head and into the end zone before falling on the ball, giving Nelson a safety.  The Governors made the most of the opportunity and scored on their next possession when quarterback Mark Wells plunged in from five yards out to make the score 21-8.

Madison running back Devon Boone capped the scoring with a 17-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice for the Mountaineers (1-0).

Nelson, which was playing without injured running back and linebacker Trevor Martin, who was injured during practice on Wednesday.  The Governors’ top running threat in the first half, Trey Barnett (10 carries, 44 yards) saw limited action in the second half after both legs cramped up early in the third quarter.

Boone led the Madison County rushing attack with 11 carries for 85 yards and a score while Terrell added a touchdown on 13 carries for 51 yards.

Wells accounted for 69 yards of offense for Nelson but turned the ball over three times, two coming by interceptions.

Madison will face William Monroe next week while Nelson looks to bounce back against Buckingham County.