The Madison Bulldogs “weathered the storm” last Friday night at Brookville, as the Bulldogs took down Ell-Saline, 14-12.
Head coach Nathan Teichgraeber stated that the plan for the Bulldogs going into the “mud bowl” was to rely on the “big boys” up front to give them a chance to control the line of scrimmage.
“With the running game, the middle of the field was a muddy muck, so we knew the best grass to run on would be along the sidelines and not in the middle of the field. Calling plays on offense, we tried to utilize the field outside the hash marks. Dallas Thompson, our Offensive Coordinator, did a great job of getting us favorable looks into the boundaries, and our backs did a nice job of protecting the football on runs,” he stated. “We knew as the game wore on, that the conditions would worsen and the balls would be hard to handle on quarterback snaps and punt snaps.”
The teams were tied after the first at 6 and the Bulldogs would be the only team to score in the second with a 13-yard pass from Colton Isch to Octavian Dean. The point conversion attempt was good and the Bulldogs led 14-6 at halftime.
“We showed ‘Bulldog Tough’ for the entire hard fought 4 quarter game. Ell-Saline was one of the best teams in the state all season, and we knew it would take a tremendous effort to win, and the boys delivered when it counted most,” stated Coach Teichgraeber.
Although Madison allowed the Cardinals to find the end-zone in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs held Ell-Saline on the two-point conversion and ultimately won the game 14-12.
It was shared that the biggest adjustment for the Bulldogs was in the kicking game. “Snapping the ball for a punt became crucial, because both teams had punts blocked in the game. We had plenty of clean towels, and clean balls to rotate throughout the game, and a lot of credit for that goes to our junior high managers, who always had the balls and towels ready when we needed them,” stated Teichgraeber.
“It was a great night to be a Bulldog last Friday... We are happy with the performance and outcome, but not satisfied. We told the team to enjoy the moment, enjoy the night but, we are turning the page to Clifton-Clyde in practice for the coming week,” stated Teichgraeber. “They are a formidable opponent, and at this point in the playoffs, everyone is really, really good. We can’t afford to pat ourselves on the back too much, because we have the Sectional Championship game coming back to Madison for the 1st time since 2021. Our team needs to focus on what got us here, and we need to have a great week of practice and correct the things we saw on film from last week,” he concluded.
Clifton Clyde is one of the best and most consistent 8-man programs in the state. “We look forward to hosting the Sectional Championship back home, at Mc-Clain Field, next week. We need a rowdy crowd in place to support the boys as they have made tremendous strides this season,” stated Coach Teichgraeber. “We hope the Dawgs are hungry this week and are ready to get after it in front of the home crowd.”
Kick-off is slated for this Friday, Nov. 15, in Madison at 6 p.m.
Leading Passers Colton Isch 3 - 1 - 0 - 13 yds - 1 TD Leading Rushers
Isch 24 - 81 - 1 TDs Cruz Leiser 16 - 20 Leading Receivers Dean 1 - 13 - 1 TD
