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Dibbon Marris • Courtesy Photo Madill senior defensive tackle EJ Holliday (75) and a teammate tackle McLoud’s Clint Campbell.
Heavy rains and strong winds were just fine with the Madill Wildcats as they beat the McLoud Redskins 57-32 on Oct. 25. Two straight days of heavy rains left the McLoud football field looking more like a marsh. Both players and fans reported muddy socks before the night ended.
The win improved Madill’s record to 3-5 overall, 3-3 in district. Meanwhile, the host, McLoud Redskins fell to 0-8 overall and 0-6 in district.
Madill head football coach Todd Vargas said the rain made for a unique night.
“The conditions were really bad but the kids played hard and we got a good win,” he said. “We kicked some sky kicks and they struggled with it so we kept doing it.”
The visitors got the game started off right with a Mateo Fajardo touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion. This gave the Wildcats an 8-0 lead with 8:35 to go in the first quarter.
The Madill offense didn’t have much time to rest as the Wildcat defense recovered a fumble on the first play of the ensuing McLoud possession. McLoud started on their own 21-yard line when the ball was fumbled by quarterback Coye Campbell.
Following the recovery, Madill took over at the McLoud 24-yard line. On the first play of the drive, a pitch to Trey Gamill resulted in a pickup of five yards. Then, a quarterbackkeeper by Kendall Robertson
gained four more yards. The next play saw senior fullback John Venable break through a hole down the middle and pick up the first down before stumbling at the McLoud 8-yard line.
On first and goal, Venable was stopped after gaining one yard. Following a fake handoff, Kendall Robertson took the ball seven yards into the endzone with 6:22 to go in the half. However, the score was negated by a penalty on Madill for a chop block. Another chop block penalty on the next play moved the Wildcats back to the McLoud 19-yard line. However, the ‘Cats went back to John Venable who scored a touchdown on 2nd and 19 with 5:56 to go in the first quarter. Senior Fajardo’s kick was good to make 15-0 in favor of Madill.
The following kick off bounced from the hands of a McLoud player. But they recovered at their own 28. Then a pass by McLoud’s Cote Campbell was intercepted by Asa Robertson at the McLoud
29. Robertson returned the interception nine yards to the McLoud 20. On the next play, Kendall Robertson found Asa Robertson over the middle for a touchdown. Once again, Fajardo connected on his kick and Madill went up 22-0.
Vargas said McLoud took away the Wildcats ability to get the ball to Venable for much of the first half.
“They took the fullback away for the most part and gave us the edge,” he said. “We got the ball up to the edge on the outside. We’ve got some good athletes and we scored a lot of points because of that.”
On their next drive, McLoud started at their own 35 and it was Clint Campbell’s turn against the Wildcat defense. An inside run by Campbell gained three yards. On the next play, Campbell would get seven yards. He then scamped for 11 more to get to McLoud’s
45. Campbell eventually got the ball into Madill territory before a fumble set McLoud back six yards to the Madill 49.
After a Madill penalty for encroachment, the ball moved to the Madill 32. Then, Clint Campbell reeled off a 23-yard run to take the ball to the Madill 9. Four plays later, the Redskins would get on the board. On fourth and goal from the Madill 3, Coye Campbell punched in a short run for the score.
Campbell. McLoud’s Wes Olds followed with a two-point conversion run to cut Madill’s lead to 22-8.
On kick return, there was a penalty against a McLoud player putting the ball on the McLoud 47. A false start against Madill brought it back to Madill 48. Then, Fajardo went left for a gain of five to the McLoud 43.
The drive continued into the beginning of the second quarter. On the next play, Asa Robertson outran everyone down the right side of the field for a 43-yard touchdown run. Fajardo’s extra point attempt was no good and the score remained Madill 28, McLoud 8.
Two drives later, McLoud got its own second quarter touchdown. This time it was Coye Campbell with a 36 yard-touchdown score. However, a fumble on the snap meant the extra point attempt was no good. Following the score Madill led 22- 14.
It wouldn’t take long for the Wildcats to reassert themselves as two plays later Asa went to the house again.
This time the senior took the ball 66 yards for a touchdown run. He did so in style while sprinting past defenders along the right sideline. After Fajardo’s kick Madill’s lead was 35-14.
Vargas said Asa Robertson had a big night.
“He had some good runs for sure,” Vargas said.
On the next kick, McLoud had another return attempt. This time, the fumble was recovered by Madill who set up at the McLoud 40.
Two plays later, Gammill took a pitch 40 yards for a touchdown with 2:56 to go in the second quarter. A two-point conversion attempt by Fajardo was no good leaving Madill with a 41- 14 advantage.
Just before halftime, the Wildcat defense was challenged. An encroachment penalty moved the ball to the McLoud 43.
On first and five, Coye Campbell broke free for a 16- yard gain to the Madill 41. Coye Campbell ran again for another six yards to the Madill 35.
Coye Campbell would have runs of eight, six and 11 yards that would put McLoud on the Madill 11-yard line with nine seconds to go in the first half. But the defense held strong by forcing an incomplete pass by Coye Campbell and stuffing a quarterback run on the final play of the half.
Early in the third quarter, McLoud was able to score.
Coye Campbell got his third touchdown on a six-yard run 7:07 to go in the third quarter. However, his pass to Olds for a two-point conversion was no good leaving the score Madill 41, McLoud 21.
As if on cue, the Wildcat offense struck back almost immediately. This time it was Venable with a ten-yard touchdown run with 3:48 to go in third. The Wildcats got two more with a pass from Kendall Robertson to Asa Roberton to make it 49-21.
Once more, Coye Campbell keep running when the ball was back with the McLoud Redskins. And again, he scored; this time on a 32-yard run with 15 seconds to go in third. But another McLoud misstep meant the two-point try work and left the score Madill 49, McLoud 26.
The scoring continued as Venable went 39 yards for another touchdown run with 9:13 to go in the fourth quarter Madill added a two-point conversion when Kendall Robertson connected with freshman River Shaw to make it Madill 57, McLoud 26.
McLoud’s Coye Campbell would get his fifth touchdown of the game with 23 seconds to go. The three-yard score was followed by a two-point conversion attempt that was broken up by Madill’s Ryan Shahan.