Chatham Falls to Rival Madison in Semifinals

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2

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4

Final

Chatham (7-4)

0

0

0

0

0

Madison (10-0)

7

8

0

14

29

The football team fell to rival Madison, 29-0, in the semifinals of the North 2, Group II playoffs at Ted Monica Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Although the final score may not it indicate it, the game was much closer than scoreboard portrays.

Chatham forced three punts—including one three-and-out—had three sacks, recovered a kickoff, recovered a fumble and held a team that was averaging just over 43 points a game coming in to just 29 points, 14 of which came in the final four minutes of the contest.

For a full photo gallery from Saturday's game, click here.

The defense hung tough on Saturday, and senior quarterback Sammy Failla finished 2-for-8 for nine yards and added three yards on four carries with one fumble.

Sophomore running back Thomas Guida took some snaps in the Wildcat formation and tallied 19 yards on four touches, while senior running back Dylan Adams had three yards and a fumble on three carries and also dropped a pass down the field that would have been a sure touchdown in the first quarter.

Junior running back Vincent Ziccolella tallied 20 yards on eight carries and senior wide receiver Colin Brown had two catches for nine yards in defeat.

The offense had its work cut out for them, going up against a Madison defense that has allowed opponents just 11 points per game coming in.

The game started off in Chatham's favor, as a short kickoff was recovered at Madison's 38-yard-line. However, a botched snap and three broken plays would force Chatham to punt.

"It wasn't an onside kick, we just decided we weren't going to kick to [Justin Goodwin]," head coach Don Morgenroth said. "We worked all week just doing a short kick, and that's what we wanted."

The Cougars held their opponent to a punt on the ensuing possession but were forced to punt as well after getting the ball back.

On Madison's next drive, trouble struck. Goodwin, who had 215 yards from scrimmage and three scores, broke a 40-yard TD run to give the Dodgers a lead with 54 ticks left in the first quarter.

Chatham was forced to punt again on the following drive and Goodwin added a 57-yard TD run, which made it 15-0 after a two-point conversion early in the second.

"The big plays hurt us and that was just one or two misalignments," Morgenroth said.

The Cougars played solid defense for the next two quarters, but struggled to get anything going offensively.

Madison got the ball back with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the half, and the Cougars finally got to Goodwin, who fumbled on the first play. Starting at their own 30-yard line, the visitors marched to midfield but the drive stalled there and they were forced to punt.

"Our plan was to just put our athletes on their feet, and for the most part we did a great job against [Goodwin]," Morgenroth said. "I really commend our defense. We had a couple of breakdowns on allignment, which hurt us, and he got some big runs off of our corners getting caught inside. We said we were going to put people on their feet and try to avoid him getting through that first line, and I thought for the most part they did a good job."

Another huge defensive stop came in the waning moments of the half. A Goodwin reception brought the ball to the goalline with six seconds left. A touchdown would have given the home team a 22-0 lead heading to the locker room, but the "D" stood tall and denied Goodwin entry to pay dirt as time expired.

"Our kids did a great job, they ducked down and yelled out their gut check," Morgenroth said. "They showed their gut check, unfortunately the offense couldn't get it going."

Chatham ran only seven plays in the third quarter, but held Madison scoreless -a feat in and of itself- and had two sacks in the process. The final margin came from a 1-yard score from Madison QB Carson Lassiter and a 30-yard TD from Goodwin, both coming late in the fourth quarter.

Senior Matt Babakian and juniors Chris Peters and Will Weichert each finished with three tackles, including one sack. Senior Nick Ball and Brown had three tackles apiece, while senior Nick Palmer had two.