MADISON TOWNSHIP — Friday was Senior Parents Night for fall sports students at Ram Field.
What better way for the youngsters to strut their stuff in front of their elders than to ring the victory bell for the first time in two years?
The Madison football team did exactly that by romping to a 35-24 victory over Wooster in the Ohio Cardinal Conference opener.
This marked the Rams’ first home victory since Oct. 7, 2022 when they blanked Mount Vernon 35-0. Coach Brent Besancon’s team knocked off the Yellow Jackets again last year 38-0, but haven’t won since.
That changed in convincing fashion against the Generals.
(These photos are courtesy of Bernie Fernandez www.eMediaSuite.com; www.Eat419.net; www.Eat330.com; www.OhioPaparazzi.com; www.GreatSportShots.com; www.StudentLoanKiller.com; www.DebtLiberator.com)
Madison was close to breaking through for an initial win earlier this season. There was a strong first half at Shelby in the season opener. The Rams led River Valley 14-0 at halftime a couple of weeks ago. But both games ended in defeat.
This time senior Cameron Kuhn wasn’t about to let opportunity slip away.
Kuhn willed his team to victory with two touchdown passes, a huge fourth-quarter interception on defense, and the game-clinching 2-yard TD sweep around right end.
“Cam is very experienced, and cool under pressure,” Besancon said.
Madison students, as hungry for victory as their team, rushed the field as the clock expired and congregated around the victory bell, chanting, dancing and celebrating.
“It was amazing,” Kuhn said of seeing his classmates roar onto the field. “It gave me chills. We’ve been building to this for a long time.
“This was a great crowd. I’m glad we got this one here. We haven’t won here in two years.”
Another Madison senior, Khris Adkins-Tolbert, got the Rams (1-3 overall, 1-0 in the OCC) off on the right foot early. He took a quick handoff, smashed into the line, spun away from a bevy of tacklers and sprinted off for a 71-yard touchdown bolt.
Less than four minutes later, Camden Moysi hauled in a deep pass from Kuhn down the far sideline and streaked all the way for an 83-yard touchdown. That gave Madison a 14-0 bulge with 5:26 showing in the first quarter.
But Wooster didn’t fold.
The Generals (1-3, 0-2) controlled much of the second quarter. Julian Franklin finished a long march with a 2-yard TD run to slice the gap to 14-7.
Madison answered quickly when Moysi twisted backward for a superb 13-yard touchdown catch over a Wooster defender to push the bulge back to 20-7.
Yet again the visitors responded on Hayden Meese’s 5-yard scoring jaunt to make it 20-14 with just 27 seconds left in the half.
The Rams pounced when Wooster fumbled the second-half kickoff, and Ja’Karri Favers finished the ensuing drive with a 1-yard TD plunge. Kuhn hooked up with Eli Lewis on the conversion pass to push the margin back to 28-14.
That’s when the Generals made a push.
A.J. Litkowski scored on a 1-yard run to pull his team within 28-21 midway through the third quarter. Wooster kept the momentum though the early part of the fourth period, when Jake Rickett’s 25-yard field goal cut the deficit to 28-24 with 11:20 to play.
“We’ve been lacking consistency,” Besancon said. “There was a spot their late in the third quarter, they had the momentum. It was nice to see the Madison Rams rise up to the challenge.”
Kuhn did exactly that.
Wooster set up shop in Madison territory midway through the fourth quarter, and seemed poise to steal the win. But Kuhn stepped in front of a Generals’ pass for a crucial interception.
He then piloted a time-consuming march before capping it with his own scoring dash at the 2:28 mark to finish it.
“We need to play solid football for 48 minutes,” Besancon said. “We’ve had some spots, but tonight we got closer to that.”
Both teams moved the ball well on the ground.
Madison ran for 210 yards, led by 177 from Adkins-Tolbert on 20 carries. Meanwhile, Wooster gained 201 yards rushing, thanks to Franklin’s 187-yard performance.
Kuhn was 10-of-12 passing for 163 yards, 2 TDs and an interception. Moysi had five catches for 123 yards for the Rams.
Madison returns to action next week at West Holmes.
Wooster travels to Lexington on Friday night.