MADISON — As well as the Madison Area Memorial High School football team played in Friday’s 47-8 win over Winthrop-Monmouth, coach Scott Franzose reminded his team it was just one game, and the Bulldogs have bigger goals.
“It’s about building a program,” Franzose said to his team after the game.
The program the Bulldogs are building is in good shape. Ahead 6-0 after a quarter, Madison scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to build a 27-0 halftime lead.
“We just started playing football the way we can play it. (Winthrop) beat us off the ball (in the first quarter). They played more physical. They had momentum, and we played soft, to be quite honest,” Franzose said. “We finally got our act together and played hard.”
Eric Wescott’s 6-yard touchdown run with 9:12 left in the second gave Madison a 14-0 lead. A Sean Whalen 39-yard touchdown run made it 21-0, and Whalen caught a 79-yard TD pass from Evan Bess for a 27-0 lead.
“Our line did a great job protecting our QB and helping our running backs get to the second level. Once we get to the second level, it’s up to us to make the right reads and do our jobs,” Whalen, who ran for two touchdowns and caught a pair of Bess touchdown passes, said.
Whalen had 105 yards rushing and 120 receiving on four catches. The Ramblers knew the shifty back was a threat on every play, and tried to limit his touches by punting out of bounds. The game plan was to execute long drives to keep the ball away from the Bulldogs, Winthrop-Monmouth coach Dave St. Hilaire said.
“We knew they could score,” St. Hilaire said. “What we wanted to do was slow the game down and have long drives. But when you don’t get first downs, it kind of takes that game plan and throws it out the window.”
Winthrop-Monmouth had one drive deep in Madison territory in the first half, but it ended when Bess intercepted Keegan Choate at the Bulldog 10.
Bess was 8 for 8 for 181 yards passing, and ran for a score. Wescott ran for two touchdowns
The Ramblers got on the board with 1:12 left in the game, when Ian Steele scored on an 11 yard run.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.