"We're pretty good too:" No. 3 Madison County proves why it could be ranked higher

Madison County coach Price Harris knows where much of the attention has gone in Class 1R.

Williston and Hawthorne are ranked No. 1 and 2 in the FHSAA and USA Today Network polls, but the Cowboys sit right behind them at No. 3.

“We’re pretty good too,” Harris said Friday.

And boy, the Cowboys displayed that Friday as they crushed Chiefland 44-2 on the road.

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Postgame, Chiefland (4-5) coach James Corbin said the Indians' three-week break, due to American Collegiate Academy forfeiting last week, hurt them early on.

QB issues also have plagued Chiefland this season after Matthew Goodale went down on September 22.

Thomas Pettigrew earned the nod under center, and those offensive problems reared their ugly head.

On the second drive, a snap went over Pettigrew’s head. MC (6-1) recovered in the scuffle in the end zone. This extended the lead to 14-0 less than three minutes into the game after the Cowboys scored on their first drive.

The first half followed a similar theme as Chiefland’s offense failed to produce. Its defense scrambled to make stops as MadCo often started with excellent field position.

Indian RB Osten Jones is one of the best backs in 1R with 1,161 yards through eight games, but Corbin elected to throw more than normal.

Part of this was due to Madison County’s defensive game plan to shut down Jones, but Corbin acknowledged he yearned to take some pressure off the back.

“Madison is going to be a really hard team to go blow-for-blow for, so we wanted to open things up and see what we could do,” Corbin said.

On the other side, the Indians emphasized shutting down MadCo’s elite RB – Jason McDaniel, but fortunately for the Cowboys, John Christian stepped up.

The senior ran for three scores (61, 41 and 31 yards) and nearly 200 yards total.

“We believe we got three-to-four really good backs,” Harris said. “John Christian being able to do the things he did tonight really took some pressure off our offense.”

Christian’s three TDs helped put MC up 31-2 at the half, and an early third quarter score from McDaniel enabled the running clock.

Despite CMHS’ under .500 record, Corbin remains confident in its playoff chances. Three of the Indians losses came to Williston, Newberry and now MC, among the three best in 1R.

“It’s only going to make you better and gives our kids better exposure when it comes to recruiting,” he said.

Chiefland ends the regular season at Frostproof (5-3) next Friday, while Madison County travels to Rickards (Tallahassee) (2-6).

Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun. Contact him at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Madison County crushes Chiefland in Gainesville area Week 10 HS football