By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Madison County, under the direction of senior quarterback James Graves, usually generates offense through the air.
Friday night at Eddie Dean Field against visiting George Mason, however, the Mountaineers got the job done on the ground in a 28-6 Homecoming victory over the Mustangs. Senior Larry Turner led the charge, bulldozing his way over the Mason defense for 133 yards and two scores on 17 carries, while Isaiah Smith added 97 yards on just five carries with a touchdown.
“I think the big thing is the way [Mason] played us defensively,” Madison head coach Stuart Dean said. “Whenever Isaiah and Dre [Twyman] were out there they would put guys there to cover them. We just took advantage of what they were doing.”
The first quarter featured both teams coming up empty after long drives into opponent territory. George Mason took the opening kickoff and marched all the way down to the Madison nine-yard line, but the Mustangs lost 18 yards in the next three plays and came up well short on fourth-and-goal. The Mountaineers got down to the Mason 13, but a holding penalty nullified a touchdown pass from Graves to Twyman and Madison ended up faltering on fourth down early in the second quarter.
Both teams’ offenses woke up in the second frame. After the Mountaineer defense forced a punt, Twyman took a slant from Graves 57 yards on the second play of the drive to put Madison up 7-0 with eight minutes left before halftime. It was one of only seven completions for Graves on the night, but production through the air was largely unnecessary for the Mountaineers.
“Tonight was one of those special nights,” Turner said. “It was Homecoming, everyone was hype.”
The Mustangs answered just as quickly, needing only two plays to find the end zone as D’Montae Noble scampered 49 yards for a score. The Mustangs botched the snap on the extra point, keeping Madison in the lead 7-6.
Turner scored the first of his two touchdowns with barely a minute left before halftime, rumbling 33 yards to give his team a 14-6 lead at the break. On the second play from scrimmage in the second half, Smith raced 54 yards to push the lead to 21-6, giving Madison full control of the game.
“You have to have control and keep moving the ball downfield to keep them from getting going,” Turner said. “I just wanted to do whatever I could to help the team.”
Turner finished off his big night by going in from 11 yards out with just over six minutes remaining in the game for the final margin. On the Mustangs’ final drive of the game, Madison defensive tackle put an exclamation point on the strong defensive effort as Kenyon Smith sacked Mason quarterback Sam Selby on fourth down, giving Madison the ball to run out the clock. After Mason’s opening drive, the Mountaineer defense allowed just three first downs the rest of the way.
“Our defense did a really good job of getting pressure, getting on the other side of the ball and not letting them get going,” Dean said.
Madison (2-3) hits the road next Friday to take on Bull Run District foe Clarke County in a 7:30 p.m. contest.
