It’s a little premature to call it a renaissance, but it’s a start.
Rookie Madison coach Kobi Johnson picked up his first career victory Friday when the Rams dumped River Valley 20-7. Kaleb Gordon rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns and Colton Adkins returned an interception for a touchdown.
“I was really happy for the kids. They went out and played their tails off for 48 minutes,” said Johnson, a 2013 Madison graduate. “To see their hard work pay off, I was extremely excited for these kids.
“They deserved that victory and hopefully we can build off of it moving forward.”
Madison piled up 235 yards of offense on the ground. The Rams have begun to establish an offensive identity.
“We definitely want to be physical up front. That’s just Madison’s brand of football,” Johnson said. “We want to run the ball and be physical and control the clock, but at the same time be aggressive and take our shots when they are there.”
Madison will go for a second consecutive win Friday at Ontario. The Rams haven’t won back-to-back games since Week 2 and Week 3 of the 2016 season.
“We have a lot of respect for Ontario. It is a quality program,” Johnson said. “We’ll get a good week of preparation in and go over there and see where we stand.”
The Rams are 0-3 against the Warriors. The teams only began playing in 2022 — a scheduled 2021 meeting was canceled because of COVID.
Learning Curve
Speaking of Ontario, it didn’t take long for highly-regarded sophomore Trey Remy to settle in at quarterback. In just his second career start, Remy threw a pair of touchdown passes in a 37-6 win at Norwalk on Friday.
In his first start, a 36-16 loss at Lexington, Remy threw four interceptions and completed just 9-of-29 passes for 100 yards.
“He (had) some growing pains,” Ontario coach Aaron Eckert said at the time. “He’s done a great job at practice, but it’s just a little bit different out here on Friday night.”
Ontario (1-1) lost a wealth of talent to graduation. If Friday’s performance is any indication, the new-look Warriors are beginning to find their way.
“For us, it’s kind of a race to maturity,” Eckert said. “We’ve got to grow up fast and we’re doing it on the fly.”
‘Expectations are a Good Thing’
Hillsdale returned just about everyone from last year’s Division VII state runner-up team and the Falcons have lived up to lofty expectations through the first two weeks.
Hillsdale (2-0) has outscored its two opponents 73-14 after Friday’s 31-0 win over Lucas. The defense is allowing 193.5 yards per game, while the offense is averaging 318 yards a game.
“Expectations are a good thing,” Hillsdale coach Trevor Cline said. “We understand there’s a lot of expectations, but for us, we understand that all that matters is finding ways to get better each day.
“All the noise outside the locker room, that stuff doesn’t matter.”
Hillsdale will host backyard rival Loudonville (2-0) on Friday. The Redbirds have outscored opponents 108-16 after scoring 72 points all of last year.
“That’s a big rivalry game for us,” Cline said. “We need to make sure we go into that game with focus … because in 2022 we went down there and they took it to us and shut us out (a 14-0 Loudonville win).
“That game is always going to be a tough game.”
A Line in the Sand
The way Mount Vernon coach Mark Weber sees it, enough is enough.
The Yellow Jackets took the short trip down Ohio 13 to Newark on Friday and came home with a resounding 24-7 win over the Wildcats. The win avenged last year’s disheartening 36-14 loss.
“It’s their desire to be the spark and the change, because all they’ve heard is how they can’t and they can’t and they can’t, and we hide in the shadows and we hide in shadows,” Weber said. “They’re finally like enough, we’re done with it.”
Quarterback Mason Richards completed 7-of-9 passes for 45 yards and rushed for 80 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Landon Dawson ran for 84 yards on 10 carries.
Mount Vernon limited Newark to 119 yards and five first downs. Luke Mullins made seven tackles, while Dawson and Darrin Monahan each picked off a pass.
The Yellow Jackets will try to make it two in a row when they visit Delaware Hayes on Friday.
The Pacers will likely be without senior running back Favour Akih, an Ohio State recruit. Akih suffered a high ankle sprain on the very first play of Hayes’ season-opening loss to Buckeye Valley.