Madison Academy loses heartbreaker to Randolph

MADISON — The Mustangs of Madison Academy (0-2) were handed their second straight loss of the young season this past Friday against Randolph School (1-1) in a 32-31 heartbreaker.

It all came down to a failed 2-point conversion attempt by Madison Academy who had fought back to nearly win the game with just one minute remaining.

Zyan Williams was taken down behind the line of scrimmage to dash all hopes of a Mustang comeback bid.

Much of the game was defined by the strong play of Randolph senior quarterback William Mitchell who used his legs to berate Madison Academy for chunks of yardage.

The Raiders were marching down the field early on when disaster appeared to strike as Mitchell fumbled the football near the Mustang 2-yard line.

But the pigskin was scooped up with relative ease by Will Perkins who took it the rest of the way for the score to make it 6-0 Randolph with 5:45 to go in the opening quarter.

While the Madison Academy offense found it difficult to move the ball early in the game, Randolph continued to advance down the field with Mitchell’s legs.

The Raider quarterback found the end zone himself this time on a 3-yard TD dive to make it 12-0 Randolph late in the first quarter after a failed 2-point try.

The Mustangs came to life in the second quarter when Josh Williams rattled off a 34-yard run that put Madison Academy in a good position to strike.

Alex Crider’s 7-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jaiden Etienne 29 seconds into the second quarter slashed into the Randolph advantage to make it 12-7.

Randolph was able to put the pressure back on the Mustangs by going to the air with the Mitchell to Noah Gaunt connection that worked wonders for the road team.

A 17-yard Mitchell to Gaunt play pushed the Raiders to a 19-7 lead with 3:56 remaining in the first half.

Once Madison Academy got the ball back, the Mustangs ended up turning the pigskin over on downs with 2:09 on the clock.

Randolph promptly burned Madison Academy with a 67-yard TD strike from Mitchell to Gaunt for a 25-7 lead.

The Mustangs needed to make something happen fast or this game appeared to be essentially over before the midway break.

Crider lobbed a ball downfield for a man, but Gaunt stuck out a hand to knock it away to prevent the likely touchdown.

The Mustangs were forced to punt with 1:15 on the clock and Randolph had an opportunity to maybe score again before halftime.

Mitchell and Gaunt got back to work for the Raiders, but Gaunt coughed the ball up and Josh Williams of the Mustangs was there to fall on the abandoned football.

The tables were turned and Madison Academy took advantage with a touchdown with just 4.9 remaining in the quarter.

Crider connected with Zyan Williams on an 11-yard pitch and catch to make it 25-13 Raiders at halftime.

Randolph got a little tricky to open the third quarter with a short kick that the Raiders were able to fall on and catch Madison Academy napping.

Lefebvre Watson collected the final points of the game for Randolph with his 4-yard touchdown carry at the 11:45 mark of the third quarter.

It was 32-13 when the Mustangs began to difficult process of trying to come back against the Raiders.

Madison Academy turned to Josh Williams who gashed through the Randolph defense with powerful runs for chunks of yardage.

Williams pushed through the wall of humanity from two yards out to make it 32-19 Raiders with 9:01 left in the third.

The Mustang defense also played a key role in the rally by holding down the Raider defense to nothing the rest of the way.

A Randolph turnover on downs handed the ball back to Madison Academy with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Josh Williams continued to grind between the tacklers for valuable yards as Crider linked up with the sure-handed Kahleel Green for 37 yards.

Williams took it the rest of the way for another touchdown that made it 32-25 at the end of the third quarter.

The energy around the stadium had begun to shift as Randolph appeared to be holding on more than running away with this contest.

The home fans had stopped talking and started cheering for the Mustangs who could smell that fear on the other sideline.

Randolph needed a score to shut down this hope that was fueling the Mustangs with time trickling down in the fourth quarter.

Mitchell cocked and threw a ball deep down the field for Gaunt, but Kahleel Green rose up and took it away for his second interception of the game with 5:13 on the clock.

The hourglass was going the wrong way as the Mustangs moved down the field desperately trying to score once more for a chance to tie or take the lead.

Crider spotted Green in the back corner of the end zone and he let the ball fly.

The pigskin spun high down the field as the players ran underneath it battled each other.

The lights of the stadium danced over the ball with a rotating flicker as Green put his hands up to keep it away from Randolph.

The rally attempt was a beautiful thing even though it came up short for a Madison Academy team still trying to find its footing.

When Zyan Williams was tripped up on the 2-point conversion that failed, all the Mustang ball carrier could do was bury his facemask in the grass and limp off the field defeated.

Madison Academy looks to right the ship this coming Friday on the road against Kate Duncan Smith DAR (1-1) at 7 p.m. in Grant, Ala.