Madison collected a second win over former Western Reserve Conference opponents when the Blue Streaks traveled to Eastlake and beat the North Rangers on Friday, 27-13.
After a scoreless first quarter, it was the Rangers who would strike first. With a short field after stopping a fake punt, North would tack three up on the board with a 26-yard field goal from Daniel Tadic just four seconds into the second quarter.
On the ensuing Madison drive, the Blue Streaks established the run game. Carson Alley called his own number to convert two third downs and take it in from 28 out to give Madison a 6-3 lead with 7:45 left in the half.
“He’s a competitor,” Madison Coach Mike Gilligan said about Alley. “I mean, I can’t say anything other than that. The kid’s just got more heart than anyone I’ve coached.”
After forcing a North punt, Madison would again threaten deep in Ranger territory. This time, they gained a large chunk of their yardage on quick hitters to Mac Steele and Knolan Albert.
North’s drive would get off to a quick start when Zack Rummel found Isaac Wilson for 20 yards across midfield. However, a sack from Joey Sanchez would get the Blue Streak defense off the field on third, and a blocked punt by Daniel Combs would set them up just outside the red zone.
“We called it our Ranger unit,” Gilligan said about the block formation. “Every week, we do something a little different that we think gives us a shot. We had an opportunity to call our block and the kids executed.”
Madison would strike quickly, as Alley would find Knolan Albert for the 22-yard score. A successful extra point would give Madison a 10-point lead with just under a minute left in the half.
The Rangers would take over lacking time, but not lacking fight. North would get across midfield and set up a school-record 50-yard field goal for Daniel Tadic as the half ended to make the score 13-6.
The first drive of the second half would see the Blue Streaks defense get off the field with another Sanchez third-down sack.
“Overall, I think we got beat up front more than anything,” North coach Shawn Dodd said of the battle at the line of scrimmage. “We have to do a better job in the trenches on both sides of the ball.”
With the ball back, Madison would continue to find success on the ground and dominate the time of possession with James Poe carrying the load and hitting pay dirt to make it 20-6 with 1:21 left in the third.
“Coach Martin did a really good job preparing our guys for the fronts they run,” Gilligan said of the rushing attack. “It’s preparation and execution more than anything.”
The Blue Streaks would force a punt early in the fourth and a nice return from Alley would set them up in Ranger territory. Poe picked up where he left off on the previous drive and scored from 28 yards out, increasing Madison’s lead to 27-6 with 9:40 left to play.
North again responded.
This time, Rummel found Jayden Teague on fourth-and-five and later hit Reon’tae Lowery out of the backfield for a 24-yard touchdown with 6:10 remaining.
“I was proud to see the fight from our guys at the end,” Dodd said. “If we get that onside kick, who knows if we capitalize after that or not. But, just seeing some resiliency at the end, just to continue to battle, I was proud of that.”
The ensuing onside kick attempt would give the Rangers a chance to reclaim possession, but Madison’s hands’ team did its job off the high bounce. The Rangers regained possession after a punt, but Madison held off the North offense down the stretch.
Madison, who improved to 2-1, opens Chagrin Valley Conference play next week at West Geauga while the Rangers, who dropped to 1-2, host Brush in their Western Reserve Conference opener.
