By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
MADISON – If double dipping is an unsanitary crime against society, Madison was guilty of a George Costanza offense. The Cubs took a bite, dipped into the end zone again, and chewed up Bedford North Lawrence.
Ending the first half with a touchdown on the final play, and opening the second half with a long, deflating drive to take the lead, Madison captured the momentum and never relinquished it, blasting to a runaway 47-18 victory over the Stars in the series finale on Friday night.
Madison quarterback Matt McCarty, doing an impressive Joe Burrow impersonation with his accuracy and deadliness, threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns, while favorite target Jake Dyer snagged 8 passes for 165 yards and a score, powering the Cubs to only the sixth win over BNL in a rivalry that began in 1974.
Trailing 12-6 late in the second quarter, Madison drove 74 yards for a score to end the half, then marched 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown to begin the third quarter. In the latest football terminology, that’s called “double dipping.” To use another Seinfeld phrase, the Cubs (now 4-4 while chasing a rare winning season) were real, and they were spectacular during a second-half blast.
The Stars (1-7) kept pace for a half, then crumbled when Madison found its offensive groove.
“We had some good stuff going,” BNL coach Derrick Barker said. “Then we lost the momentum. Simple things, we couldn’t do.
“The more aggressive they got, the less we did. So there’s not a lot of good things to say about that, starting with me, starting with coaching. We have to make a lot of changes going forward, do some things differently.”
Start with the good stuff. BNL struck on its first drive, when quarterback Dayson Kirby hit Dax Short behind the defense for a 41-yard touchdown. After Madison answered with McCarty’s 32-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Dyer, the Stars forced two turnovers (Noah Strauser’s fumble recovery and Cutler Chastain’s interception) and converted the latter into the second score. Kirby lofted a perfect 25-yard strike to Jaden Gilbert in the left corner of the end zone for a 12-6 advantage.
“We shot ourselves in the foot, fumbling the ball, throwing an interception,” first-year Madison coach Charles Benintende said. “It was sluggish on our part.”
The last drive of the half was crucial. Madison took over with 2:38 left and used every second to go those 74 yards. McCarty found Dyer down the middle, with Dyer making a sensational diving catch for 27 yards (on 3rd-and-11), then connected with Dyer again for 17 more.
Madison called its final timeout with 13 seconds left, and McCarty found James Schafer for a first down at the 2. Although the clock showed all 0s, the officials reset the time to 3 seconds and stopped the clock to set the chains for a first down. Madison lined up and got the snap off, with Joseph Stanley plowing home up the middle for a 12-12 deadlock.
“The score was huge, to give us a boost,” Benintende said. “And we thought we could score first in the second half. Once we did that, the defense let their hair down.”
Madison’s first drive of the third quarter featured two fourth-down conversions and concluded with McCarty’s quick pass to Stanley from 5 yards. The Cubs added another score early in the fourth, with Dyer’s 55-yard catch-and-run burst setting up Taytem Anderson’s 4-yard TD run for a 26-12 lead, then clinched the outcome with Schaefer’s 3-yard score with 5:42 left.
The Cubs added to the BNL misery with Peyton Stewart’s 90-yard interception return for a touchdown with 3:46 left, and reserve running back Jackson Dean exploded for a 74-yard breakaway touchdown with 2:13 remaining. That came one play after BNL’s Ben Conner caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Beau Allender.
Madison scored five touchdowns in the second half. Benintende just smiled when asked about his intermission speech.
“We had to get them focused, and they came out to play like we thought they could play,” Benintende said. “They were going to punch us, give us everything they had in the first half. Then we thought we should be able to separate ourselves in the second half.
“We thought we were the better football team, and we let them hang around. When you think you have a good football team, the more you let someone hang around, the more they think they can win.”
McCarty completed 19 of 23 passes, and Madison totaled 453 yards. That was despite the two turnovers and 11 penalties. That was despite three sacks (two by Brady Byers).
“We just couldn’t tackle,” Barker said. “Once again, we couldn’t get off the field on third and fourth down.”
Kirby was 13 of 21 for 158 yards, with Gilbert catching 6 for 71 yards. However, BNL could not balance that with a running game as the Stars were limited to 24 rushing yards.
The Stars will finish the regular season next week with Columbus East. The Olympians crushed Jeffersonville 52-6 while moving to 5-0 atop the Hoosier Hills Conference. BNL will also learn its postseason fate when the IHSAA announces the sectional pairings on Sunday.
Bedford NL 6 6 0 6 – 18
Madison 6 6 7 28 – 47
First quarter
BNL – Dax Short, 41 pass from Dayson Kirby (kick failed), 9:41; M – Jake Dyer, 32 pass from Matt McCarty (kick failed), 4:43
Second quarter
BNL – Jaden Gilbert, 25 pass from Kirby (kick failed), 6:55; M – Joseph Stanley, 3 run (run failed), 0:00
Third quarter
M – Stanley, 5 pass from McCarty (Wyatt Overpeck kick), 6:25
Fourth quarter
M – Taytem Anderson, 4 run (Overpeck kick), 8:58; M – James Schafer, 3 run (Overpeck kick), 5:32; M – Peyton Stewart, 90 interception return (Overpeck kick), 3:46; BNL – Ben Conner, 13 pass from Beau Allender (pass failed), 2:34; M – Jackson Dean, 74 run (Overpeck kick), 2:13
Team statistics
BNL – First downs 11 (3 by run, 5 by pass, 3 by penalty); Rushing 29-24; Passing 16-32-1-190: Total yards 214; Fumbles 2 (lost 0); Penalties 10-79
M – First downs 16 (8 by run, 7 by pass, 1 by penalty); Rushing 30-172; Passing 20-24-1-281; Total yards 453; Fumbles 2 (lost 1); Penalties 11-120
Individual statistics
Rushing – (BNL) Kirby 5-(-20), Ira 7-16, Horton 7-(-9), Gilbert 4-22, Hildum 6-15; (M) Stanley 9-19, Schafer 5-48, McCarty 4-(-15), Dyer 6-29, Datson 1-1, Anderson 3-17, Dean 1-74, Copeland 1-(-1)
Passing – (BNL) Kirby 13-21-1-158, Ira 1-5-0-8, Allender 2-6-0-24; (M) McCarty 19-23-1-263, Dyer 1-1-0-18
Receiving – (BNL) Short 4-65, Axsom 4-30, Gilbert 6-71, Hildum 1-11, Conner 1-13; (M) Dyer 8-165, Reynolds 4-25, Stanley 4-16, Schafer 4-75
