GLENCOE, Alabama -- On the day the trailer for the new Star Wars movie was released, Madison Academy produced a sequel worthy of a Hollywood ending.
Nathan Geis drilled a 34-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining to send the Mustangs to a fourth straight Class 3A championship game appearance with a 31-28 victory over Glencoe.
Top-ranked and two-time defending state champ Madison Academy (13-1) appeared to be in trouble late in the game. Third-ranked Glencoe (13-1) tied the score at 28-all with 6:44 to play when Dylan Stone hit Andrew Willis for a 13-yard score on fourth down.
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The Mustangs fumbled the ensuing kickoff at their own 27, but Glencoe couldn't capitalize, losing seven yards before ultimately turning the ball over on downs.
Madison Academy used a nine-play march to move just inside the Yellow Jacket red zone and put the game on Geis' foot. The drive was highlighted by a Malik Miller 20-yard run to the Glencoe 40 in which he dropped a defender near the line of scrimmage with a textbook stiff arm.
Stone led Glencoe, running for 98 yards and two TDs (58 yards, 1 yard) on 15 carries, and completing 7 of 10 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown.Play of the game: Glencoe went for it on fourth-and-15 from the Madison Academy 34-yard line with 4:04 left in the game. The Mustangs held Stone to an eight-yard completion to force a turnover on downs, setting up the drive that resulted in Geis' game-winner.
By the numbers: Madison Academy's Kerryon Johnson ran for a game-high 173 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown, on 19 carries. The Mustangs did not attempt a pass in the second half. Besides the final score, Madison Academy's only lead was 28-21 on Miller's highlight-reel, 28-yard run in which he used back-to-back spin moves to elude defenders with 17 seconds left in the third quarter. Glencoe's Thomas Ozmint ran for 124 yards and a 17-yard score on 32 attempts, but was held to just 20 yards in the second half. Madison Academy has won 35 straight Class 3A games, including 14 straight postseason games. Mustang coach Eric Cohu earned his 75th win in six seasons leading the Mustangs. He's 75-10 overall.
Game ball: Miller overcame a fumble on the opening possession to run for 160 yards and two touchdowns (51 and 28 yards) on 16 carries. He also caught a 35-yard score from Blake Coward.
Coachspeak: "The fake punt was a surprise. I did not call it," Cohu said of Johnson's 25-yard run to the Glencoe 31 that set up a touchdown in the third quarter to tie the score 21-21. "The center got confused on the call. That's why Kerryon dropped the ball. Nobody was expecting that. I'd like to take credit for it, but that was a play that Kerryon capitalized on and showed how good of a player he is."
They said it: "That was huge. We put pressure on our offense line," Johnson said of the winning drive. "We said we've got to go down the field, score and go to Auburn. They did their jobs and blocked their tails off."
"We knew what we had to do," Miller said of the winning drive. "We didn't want to score too fast and give them time to come back. We got in a running formation, got five yards a play and ran some clock off."
Next week: Madison Academy faces No. 2 Dale County (14-0) for the 3A title at 11 a.m. Thursday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn.
Source: http://highschoolsports.al.com/news/article/-6685542658055496178/madison-academy-31-glencoe-28-nathan-geis-34-yard-field-sends-mustangs-to-fourth-straight-3a-title-game/
