In addition to advancing to the championship game with a 6D North Region tournament blowout semifinal victory the night of Nov. 19, the Madison Warhawks also tied a team record for the most single-season wins with 11.
Top seed and host Madison (11-1) defeated the No. 5-seed South Lakes Seahawks (6-6) by a 48-0 score in that semifinal for the high-school football team’s 11th straight victory. The defending champion Warhawks next play and host the second-seed Centreville Wildcats (10-2) in the region final on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. in Vienna for the chance to win their fourth region title in program history and second in a row for the first time.
Madison defeated Concorde District rival Centreville, 21-17, during the regular season.
In the semifinal victory over South Lakes, Madison led 7-0 after the first quarter, then 27-0 at halftime and 41-0 after three periods.
South Lakes gained 246 total yards, but Madison’s defense forced four turnovers, one an interception return of 53 yards for a touchdown by Kevin Chadwick. The Seahawks never penetrated deep into Warhawks’ territory.
“The offense set the tone tonight getting the early lead, but the defense was all business,” Madison senior linebacker Ryan Salvosa said. “We had 11 guys getting to the ball, and we wanted the shutout.”
The shutout was Madison’s fifth this season.
Michael Delgado had Madison’s other interception, and Kyle Porter and Orion Luera had fumble recoveries for the Warhawks on defense. Austin Wysocki broke up a pass and made multiple tackles along with Salvosa, Delgado, Eric Anderson, Tobias Walker and Jack Green. Marcus Young and Anderson had sacks.
“South Lakes has some good players, and we made some good plays on defense,” Madison coach Justin Counts said.
On offense, Madison gained 360 total yards with sound efficiency and a balanced running and passing attack behind an offensive line of center Tyler Whittle and linemen Ciaran Sullivan, Edrees Noory, Grant Boody and Kevin Gaston.
The Warhawks ran for 193 yards, led by 77 from Alex Jreige, including a 16-yard scoring run. Jreige also had one catch for 12 yards. John Hurley ran for 33 yards on a reverse on the team’s first offensive play. Alex Carlson and Roger Stone each ran for 21 yards and Anagelo Jreige for 14.
Warhawks’ quarterback Connor Barry was 8 of 9 passing for 130 yards and two touchdowns and Mac Lewis 3 for 3 and one score. Darren Knicely had five catches for 61 yards and a 21-yard scoring pass from Lewis. Sonny Endicott caught a 20-yard TD pass from Barry to open the game’s scoring and Daniel Jacobs had a 44-yard touchdown reception from Barry, who added a six-yard scoring run. Nick Larson scored on a two-yard run for Madison.
Connor Sevy booted five extra points and Carter Casto one.
On special teams, Hurley had a 67-yard kickoff return and Benji Frederick a 25-yard punt return.
“We played well and we ran and passed well,” Counts said. “We really focused on not having self-inflicted mistakes, like penalties and turnovers.”
Madison had one turnover on a lost fumble.
For South Lakes, runningback Anthony Giordano had 107 yards rushing and caught three passes for 17 yards.
NOTES: Madison won 11 games three other times prior to this season. The first was in 1978 under coach Chuck Sell, the second in 1996 when Dennis Worek was the coach and the third in 2016 under Lenny Schultz . . . Alex Jreige has 1,361 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns this season through 12 games, and has more than 3,000 yards rushing during his four-year career as a Warhawks’ running back . . . Dating back to the 2019 season, Madison has played seven straight home playoff games, with a 5-2 record during that contest, including a 2-0 mark so far this season. The Warhawks will host an eighth straight postseason contest Saturday, Nov. 27 in the 6D North Region tournament championship game. If Madison wins that contest, it will then host a first-round Class 6 state playoff clash for their ninth straight such home postseason tilt.