CLASS 3A STATE FINAL PREVIEW: A clash of a preseason prediction to come true

The Class 3A Final will once again pit Madison County vs a South Florida powerhouse that is national ranked and has been talked more about then anyone has fingers to count with. However, things could be quite different this year in terms of the turnout on this game and most hope it will not be a blow out. Only time will tell if the boys from rural Madison will have the desire to win this one or if the boys from Fort Lauderdale are just that powerful that no one can stop them.

MADISON COUNTY COWBOYS
Head Coach: Mike Coe
Current Overall Record At School: 37-4
Years as Head Coach: 3 years
Assistant Coaches:
Rod Williams – Defensive Coordinator
Richard Vester – Running Backs / Special Teams Coordinator
Mike Granto – Defensive Backs
Greg Ray – Inside Linebackers
Keith Solomon – Outside Linebackers
Jim Ertzberger – Quarterbacks
Daniel McKnight – Wide Receivers
Bobby Hutchinson – Offensive Line
Andrew Tillman – Defensive Assistant
Peter Jackson – Offensive Assistant

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES: 7th appearance in the state finals having won 2 overall titles.
1998  – CLASS 4A: lost to Glades Central, 33-28
2001 – CLASS 2A: d. Clewiston, 21-14
2003 – CLASS 2A: lost to Chaminade, 27-0
2004 – CLASS 2A: lost to Immokalee, 43-9
2007 – CLASS 2A: d. Tampa Catholic 28-7
2011 – CLASS 3A: lost to Delray American Heritage, 30-3

FORMATIONS:
Offense:  Wing-T
Defense: 3-3 Stack

OVERVIEW OF MADISON COUNTY:
Madison County is making a return to trip to the finals and is looking to correct the mistakes that cost them a chance to bring home the hardware for the frist time since 2007. While injuries were a key issue last year as well in to Madison County getting defeated by American Heritage, things are looking a lot better coming into this game, although head coach Mike Coe has tried to downplay somethings and looking at his team as the underdog.

Looking at the scoring sheet by quarters, the Cowboys have scored nearly 39 points per game while they have only allowed opposing teams to score nearly 10 points per game. Madison County seems to score its most points in the third quarter while the second quarter is very close behind.

Offensively, the Cowboys are a run first team under the Wing-T formation where to date they have rushed for 4,139 yards while passing has only totaled out to 1,364 yards.

Defensively, Madison County has intercepted passes on 12 times while only recovering fumbles 9 times to date.

LEADING PLAYERS:
Scoring:
FB Keyon Bruton – (18 TDs)
QB DJ McKnight –  (15TDs)
ATH Shedrick Williams – (8 TDs)

Rushing:
FB Keyon Bruton – 161 attempts – 1,253  yards – 16 TD’s – 7.8 Avg Per Carry – Longest Run: 83 yards
HB Deonshay Wells – 59 attempts – 673 yards – 6 TD’s – 11.4 Avg Per Carry – Longest Run: 82 yards
ATH Shedrick Williams   – 46 attempts – 466 yards – 5 TD’s – 10.1  Avg Per Carry – Longest Run: 76 yards

Passing:
QB DJ McKnight  – 140 attempts – 72 completions – 3 interceptions – 1,364 yards passing – 15 TD’s – Sacked 6 times

Receiving: 
WR Neal Brown –  20 catches – 312 yards – 6 TD’s – 15.6 yards per catch – Longest reception: 47 yards
WR Tre Arnold – 17 catches – 316 yards – 1 TD’s – 18.6 yards per catch – Longest reception: 59 yards
ATH Shedrick Williams  – 10 catches – 201 yards – 1 TD’s – 20.1  yards per catch – Longest reception: 43 yards

Punting: 
DL Brandon Crawford – 26 punts – 1,181 yards – Average Punting Yards 45.4  – Longest Punt 56 yards – 11 punts inside the 20

Kicking:
K Zach Money – 47  PAT attempts – 44 PAT’s made – FG Attempts 11 – FG Made 4 – Longest Field Goal 43 yards

Returns:
ATH Shedrick Williams  – Punt returns yards 365 – Kickoff return yards 421

Tackles (Combined):
DL Brandon Crawford  – 91 tackles – 15 tackles for a loss – 12 sacks
DB Javarus Jones – 78  tackles – 4 tackles for a loss – 2 sacks
LB Eddrick Williams  – 78 tackles – 14 tackles for a loss – 2 sacks
LB Chris O’Hara – 89 tackles – 10 tackles for a loss – 3 sacks

STARTING LINEUP:
Information was provided in team data sheets as released by the FHSAA. Starting lineup can be subject to change.

OFFENSE:

DEFENSE:

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL SUNS
Head Coach: Roger Harriott
Current Overall Record At School: 69-12
Years as Head Coach: 7 years
Assistant Coaches:
Ryan Schneider – Offensive Coordinator
Chad Wilson – Defensive Coordinator
Alexandros Korakakos – Special Teams Coordinator
Jerry Johnson – Linebackers
Henry Colombi – Defensive Backs
Kevin Beard – Wide Receivers
Joseph Firmin – Defensive Line
Daniel Luque – Offensive Line
Nicholas Rella – Special Teams Assistant
Sal Lutwak – Kicking Coach
James Lance – Running Backs
Mike Kahn – Time Clock and Game Coordination
Brian Shechtman – Discipline Coach

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES: Second appearance in a state final.
2010 – CLASS 2B lost to Trinity Catholic 56-55 (3 OT)

FORMATIONS:
Offense: Not provided
Defense: Not provided

OVERVIEW OF UNIVERSITY SCHOOL:
University School is still relatively consider a youngin’ when considering the age of programs that have been in existence, but age of the program does not matter for the Suns. With the Suns ranked nationally by multiple services including the likes of MaxPreps, this team is one team that everyone has to keep their eye out on for all 48 minutes of play because you might not know what they will pull out of the bag next.

Scoring has been a big advantage for University School where they have averaged nearly 43 points per game this season while they have only given up just nearly 8 points per game. Although University School only ended up playing 8 regular season games this year (2 games canceled due to weather) it has not stopped them at all.

Offensively, University School appears to very balanced with rushing yards totaling so far to date a 2,187 yards while passing yardage holds currently at 1,919 yards.

LEADING PLAYERS:
Scoring:
QB Mike White  – 120 points (20 TDs)
RB Jordan Scarlett  – 126 points (21 TDs)
K/P Ilan Kruss – 59 points (53 PATs & 2 FGs)

Rushing:
RB Jordan Scarlett – 158 attempts – 1,282 yards – 21  TD’s – 8.1 Avg Per Carry – Longest Run: N/A
RB LaJuan Hunt  – 100 attempts – 809 yards – 14 TD’s – 8.1  Avg Per Carry – Longest Run: N/A

Passing:
QB Mike White – 225 attempts – 154 completions – 2 interceptions – 1,908  yards passing – 20 TD’s – Sacked 6 times

Receiving: 
WR Jordan Cunningham –  49 catches – 731 yards – 8 TD’s – 14.9  yards per catch – Longest reception: N/A
WR Dionte “DJ” Taylor – 32 catches – 491 yards – 6 TD’s – 15.3  yards per catch – Longest reception: N/A
WR Emanuel Soto  – 23 catches – 195 yards – 4 TD’s – 8.5  yards per catch – Longest reception: N/A

Punting: 
Andre DiRocco  – 23 punts – 771 yards – Average Punting Yards 33.5 – Longest Punt N/A  – 5 punts inside the 20

Kicking:
K/P Ilan Kruss – 58 PAT attempts – 53 PAT’s made – FG Attempts 2 – FG Made 2  – Longest Field Goal N/A

Returns:
Not available

Tackles (Combined):
LB Skai Moore – 89 tackles – 21 tackles for a loss – 5 sacks
DL/LB Brandon Boyce  – 63 tackles – 16.5 tackles for a loss – 6 sacks
DE/LB Nick Internicola   – 55 tackles – 17.5 tackles for a loss – 6.5 sacks
LB Cody Schooley  – 54 tackles – 3.5 tackles for a loss – 0 sacks

STARTING LINEUP:
Information was provided in team data sheets as released by the FHSAA. Starting lineup can be subject to change.

OFFENSE:

DEFENSE:

OUR THOUGHTS: 
This game has national ranking implications for University School as they look to finish the season perfect which would be a first in school history. While Madison County has called themselves the biggest underdog in history of a state final, they might not be as big underdogs as they think. The Cowboys are healthier coming into this game compared to last season, plus the talent level is a higher level this year and we think they will be able to compete against University School. However, with the amount of talent that University School has this could get ugly at the same time if Madison County falls apart early. Overall, we feel this is the year that University School will capture their first state title in school history.

OUR PREDICTION:
University School 45, Madison County 17