Madison Prep overwhelms Ferriday in quarterfinals
Published 2:17 am Saturday, November 26, 2016
BATON ROUGE — Dominique Jackson celebrated with teammates and the Ferriday High School sideline erupted after the running back slipped in for a 2-point conversion giving his squad an 8-7 lead over No. 2 Madison Prep early in the first quarter of Friday’s LHSAA Class 2A quarterfinals game.
But it was all Chargers from there.
Madison Prep scored the next 36 points, including 15 in a three-minute spurt following Jackson’s score, and cruised to a 43-24 win over the No. 10 Trojans.
“Hats off to them; they came to play,” Ferriday coach Dwight Woods said. “They’re tough.”
“They’re going to be a tough out for everybody.”
Madison Prep (13-0) has now won 25 of its past 26 games and will face St. Helena High School in the semifinals next week.
Ferriday (9-4) was undone by mental and physical mistakes and fell victim to the Chargers’ big-play ability.
Ferriday outgained Madison Prep 447 yards to 321.
“We knew we were going to have some opportunities with all the people they were (blitzing),” Woods said. “We hit them with some traps early. … We knew we were going to have some opportunities, we just had to make the most of them. We had our chances, but came up short on them.”
On two separate occasions, the Trojans mishandled the pitch on option plays which resulted in long scoop and scores.
“It’s routine; we run it all the time,” Woods said. “Twice we put it on the ground. It’s just one of those things. It’s the playoffs, and things happen.”
The first mishap came late in the first quarter after a Milak Hampton gashed the Chargers rush defense with a 79-burst up the middle but was dragged down at the 1. Two plays later, quarterback Ronald Williams’ pitch to Hampton fell to the ground and was picked up and returned 97 yards by the Chargers’ Bryan Savoie.
The Trojans responded with a 1-yard scoring by Jackson, but Madison Prep took charge from there.
Tyresse Walker had two scoring runs, and Brandon Carter added a scoring run in the first half.
Williams was whistled for intentional grounding, and Madison Prep controlled a 29-8 halftime advantage.
“They’re big and powerful up front,” Woods said. “We left points on the table and didn’t finish. It’s been a long time since we’ve been here. We don’t know how to finish yet.”
In the second half, Walker scored his third touchdown, scampering around the left end for a 29-yard score on the opening possession.
Then the Chargers put the game completely out of reach after Tyron Delmore picked up a botched option pitch and bolted 75 yards for a score.
Williams connected with Carlos Collins for long scoring passes late — 47 and 31 yards.
“They always fought and never quit, even when they were down,” Woods said. “They fought all the way through.”