Madison Central blitzes VikingsJaguars use 36-point fourth quarter to pull away, knock off Warren Central 50-28

Published 12:25 am Saturday, October 6, 2012

One big play sparked life into Warren Central.

Another sucked it away just as quickly.

Ferderrick Ross returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter — Madison Central’s second score in less than a minute — and the Jaguars went on to score 36 points in the final period to beat Warren Central 50-28 Friday night at Viking Stadium.

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Warren Central had stormed back from a 14-point halftime deficit to tie the game. Then Madison quarterback Jake Schwartz scored on a 13-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter, Ross got the pick-six 39 seconds later, and the Vikings never recovered.

“We had a bad play, then once that happened, all of our momentum went down and we started playing bad at the end of the game,” said WC running back Aaron Stamps, who rushed for 40 yards and two TDs. “We had them, then we let them take it.”

Daniel Goodspeed rushed for 156 yards and one touchdown for Madison Central (5-2, 3-0), while Schwartz threw two TD passes and ran for another score. Schwartz’s 12-yard TD pass to Keith Williams midway through the second quarter put the Jaguars ahead 14-0 at halftime.

Warren Central, though, used some trickery to invigorate an offense that ran more plays (19) than it gained yards (16) in the first half. On the second play of the third quarter, Carlisle Koestler threw a hitch pass to Kourey Davis, who then pitched it to Marcus Ragan. Ragan hit the corner and outran the defense for a 58-yard touchdown play that shifted momentum 180 degrees.

WC forced Madison to punt on the next possession, then went 82 yards in 11 plays for a tying touchdown. Koestler threw a 10-yard TD pass to Davis with 4:36 left in the third quarter to knot the score at 14.

Schwartz’s spinning, twisting touchdown run put Madison back on top with 11:48 left in the game. Three plays later, Koestler tried to loft a swing pass to Stamps. Ross, who had been blitzing, alertly peeled off into coverage, made a leaping interception and then ran down the field untouched for the touchdown and a 30-14 lead.

“I shouldn’t have even thrown it. I saw him blitz-peel, and I threw it anyway. That was stupid,” said Koestler, who completed 11 of 20 passes for 127 yards in the game, with one touchdown and the one interception.

Stamps scored on a 4-yard run on WC’s next possession, as well as on a 1-yard run with less than two minutes to go, but the Vikings never again made it a one-score game. Madison recovered two onside kicks and a fumble on one of WC’s kickoff returns, and cashed in on the short field each time.

“It got to the point where it was desperation, and we started calling all-out blitzes and trying to make something happen to give us a chance to come back,” WC coach Josh Morgan said. “The score is not reflective of how tight it was.”