3 takeaways from Madison County’s Rural state championship win over Hawthorne

Cowboys turn tables in state final rematch, Hornets fall short in bid for three-peat

Madison County blows out Union County to return to Rural state championship game on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 on Boot Hill at Madison County high school / Liam Rooney/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Rural state championship game featured a rematch of last year’s final between Madison County and Hawthorne on Friday night at The Villages’ home field, The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium.

The Cowboys played stifling defense and held off a late comeback attempt by the Hornets, who were seeking a state championship three-peat. This time around Madison County got the job done, earning a state title with a 21-14 victory.

High School On SI gives you three takeaways from the Rural state final between the Cowboys and Hornets.

1. Madison County held down Hawthorne’s offense

Hawthorne finished the game with 132 yards of total offense, but it was much worse prior to the final two drives which accounted for 92 yards. The Hornets managed just 46 rushing yards, averaging 1.4 per attempt, and converted only 2 of 12 third downs, both of those coming on the second-to-last possession.

The defense delivered Madison County’s first score, on a fumble caused by De’Andre Arnold and recovered by Ryshard Miller, who returned it 60 yards for a touchdown.

But the perhaps the biggest play of the game was provided by Johnny Norwood. In the fourth quarter, the senior nose guard used brute strength to strip the ball away from a running back. As the ball hung in midair, Norwood was able to grab it and run 31 yards before stumbling down at the Hawthorne 12-yard line.

The Cowboys made it count, on 4th-and-11 scoring on a 13-yard run by quarterback L.J. Crumity, who somehow bounced off a tackler well short of the first down and found his way to the end zone. That made it 21-6 with 8:02 to play.

Norwood had four tackles, including one for a loss, a sack and he also blocked a punt.

2. The game got off to a wild start

Though it turned into a low-scoring, defensive battle, the first few possessions of the game featured some wild momentum swings.

Dacarion Debose started the game by returning the opening kickoff 42 yards to midfield. Hawthorne got to the Madison County 38, but a holding penalty and a sack by Norwood and De’Andre Arnold stymied the drive.

A beautiful punt by Josue Knapp pinned Madison County back to its own 3, yet a 34-yard run by Jason McDaniel immediately got them out of trouble.

Then the next play Octavious Hodge intercepted a pass and returned it to the Madison County 21. That’s when Miller recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. The Cowboys would never relinquish that lead.

3. Hawthorne didn’t go down easily

Considering Hawthorne had won two straight state championships and only had two losses over the last four seasons, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Hornets found a way to battle back.

When Hawthorne turned the ball over on downs on its own 31 with 7:08 remaining, Madison County was on the verge of closing the game out. Instead a missed field goal ended the drive.

The Hornets then went 80 yards on 13 plays in 3:27. Keenon Johnson scored on a 2-yard run and Hawthorne seemed to have converted a 2-point conversion on a pass from Adrian Curtis to Demetrius Brown. However, that was wiped away by a penalty and Curtis was injured on the play.

Backup quarterback Richard Roundtree Jr. was forced to step in for the pivotal second 2-point try and wasn’t looking when the ball was snapped. Still the freshman managed to scoop up the ball and find Dacarion Debose in the end zone to make it 21-14 with 19 seconds on the clock.

Then Debose recovered the onside kick, providing Hawthrone one last chance on the Madison County 47 with 17 seconds left. A bad personal foul penalty on a hit out of bounds gave the Hornets the ball on the Madison County 20 with nine seconds remaining.

An incomplete pass gave Hawthorne a final play with three seconds to go. Curtis couldn’t corral a bad snap and ended up getting sacked as he fell on the ball to end the game.

---

Follow High School On SI throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!

Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.

Download the SBLive App

To get live updates on your phone — as well as follow your favorite teams and top games — you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App