Class 1A State Championship Preview: Blountstown vs. Madison County

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CLASS 1A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Blountstown Tigers (11-1) vs. Madison County Cowboys (13-0)

GAME TIME, LOCATION & TICKET INFO

When: Thursday, December 7

Where: Camping World Stadium, Orlando

Kickoff: 1:07 p.m. EST

Tickets: $12 General Admission, $17 Reserved Seating — purchase online at ticketmaster.com

RADIO, TELEVISION & ONLINE INFO

Pregame Show: Varsity Sports Network/NFHSNetwork.com (FREE) — LIVE at 12:00 p.m. EST

Game Broadcast: Spectrum Sports, Channel 1147 in Spectrum coverage areas

Online Stream: Boxcast TV via Spectrum Sports ($9.95 fee to watch)

Radio Broadcast: Blountstown – WYBT 98.1 FM, 1000 AM & WYBT.com

Social Media Updates: @FlaHSFootball on Twitter — Entire game

Halftime Recap: Florida HS Football Facebook Page — LIVE at Half

Postgame Recap: Florida HS Football Facebook Page — LIVE following the game

Postgame Show: Varsity Sports Network/NFHSNetwork.com (FREE) — LIVE at 30 minutes following the Class 4A State Championship Game

ABOUT BLOUNTSTOWN

Head Coach: Greg Jordan

Road To Orlando: d. Jefferson County, 49-8 (Regional Semifinals); d. Port St. Joe, 41-21 (Regional Finals); d. Baker, 41-21 (State Semifinals)

Last State Championship Game Appearance: 2013 (Class 1A)

Playoff History: Blountstown is 31-21 in playoff games including three state championship finishes in 1973 (Class 2A), 1976 (Class 2A), 1977 (Class 2A), and two state runner-up finishes in 2004 (Class 1A), and in 2013 (Class 1A)

Rankings: Received votes in the final Associated Press Florida high school poll; No. 5 in Joe Pinkos’ end of regular season rankings

Top Players To Watch: QB Trent Peacock, Jr.; FB/FS Denzel Washington, Sr., WR/DB Jamal Howard, Sr.; RB/WR/SS Treven Smith, So.; DB/WR Kevon Godwin, Sr.; LB Jar’Keavis Bess, Sr.; LB/TE Alex Buggs, Sr.; LB/FB Kentrell Lawson, Jr.; DT Ja’marius Engram, Sr.,

The Skinny: The ground and pound is the name of the story behind the Tigers’ offense with 3,544 yards and 48 touchdowns scored on the ground compared to just 1,147 yards passing and 14 touchdowns coming through the air game … The offense is led by Trent Peacock (67-94, 1,141 yards, 14 TDs, 3 INTs; 75 carries, 383 yards, 5 TDs) and Denzel Washington (119 carries, 999 yards, 16 TDs) … Peacock’s favorite targets in the passing game is Treven Smith (16 receptions, 230 yards, 4 TDs; 43 carries, 343 yards, 4 TDs) and Jamal Howard (16 receptions, 279 yards, 5 TDs; 6 INTs on defense) … Defensively the Tigers have only intercepted 12 passes (four which have been returned for touchdowns) during the entire season and have registered 24.5 sacks … The defense is led by Kentrell Lawson (118 total tackles, 3.5 TFL), Jar’Kevais Bess (107 total tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 FF), Alex Buggs (100 total tackles, 11.5 TFL, 6 sacks, 7 FF, 2 FR, 1 blocked punt, 1 blocked field goal), Kentrell Lawson (118 total tackles, 3.5 TFL), Kevon Godwin (61 total tackles, 2 TFL, 6 INTs), and Ja’marius Engram (67 total tackles, 10 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 4 FF, 1 FR, 1 blocked punt)

ABOUT MADISON COUNTY

Head Coach: Mike Coe

Road To Orlando: d. Union County, 50-6 (Regional Semifinals); d. Dixie County, 62-7 (Regional Finals); d. Pahokee, 28-10 (State Semifinals)

Last State Championship Game Appearance: 2012 (Class 3A)

Playoff History: Madison County is 50-19 in playoff games including two state championship finishes in 2001 (Class 2A), 2007 (Class 2A), and five state runner-up finishes in 1998 (Class 4A), 2003 (Class 2A), 2004 (Class 2A), 2011 (Class 3A), 2012 (Class 3A).

Rankings: No. 1 in the final Associated Press Florida high school football poll; No. 1 in Joe Pinkos’ end of regular season rankings

Top Players To Watch: QB Tre Adams, Sr.; RB/CB Derrick Staten Jr., Sr.; RB Treyon Henderson, Sr.; SB/LB Monterrious Fleming, Sr.; LB/SS Travis Fead Jr., Sr.; LB Jonathan Alexander, Sr.; DT Terray Jones, Sr.; CB/ATH Travis Jay, Jr.

The Skinny: The biggest strength for the Cowboys might just be it’s offensive ground attack, which has generated over 4,000 yards alone of over 5,300 total yards of offense. That ground attack has been able to put points up on the board with 51 touchdowns … The leaders of the offense include Tre Adams (58-93, 1,201 yards, 9 TDs, 1 INT; 86 carries, 699 yds, 10 TDs), Derrick Staten Jr. (107 carries, 1,254 yards, 17 TDs; 31 receptions, 613 yards, 5 TDs) and Treyon Henderson (172 carries, 1,106 yards, 9 TDs) … Defensively speaking, the Cowboys have intercepted the ball 18 times (4 being returned for touchdowns) and has produced 12 sacks on the season … Leaders for the defense include Monterrious Fleming (100 total tackles, 10 TFL, 1 INT, 1 FR, 1 FF), Travis Fead Jr. (65 total tackles, 7 TFL, 1 INT, 3 FF), Jonathan Alexander (132 total tackles, 28 TFL, 1 sack); Terray Jones (71 total tackles, 20 TFL, 2 sacks, 4 FR, 1 FF) and Travis Jay (54 total tackles, 1 TFL, 8 INTs).

GAME OUTLOOK

Looking on paper you could say Madison County and Blountstown are similar in the terms of the way they play: Ground and pound and no apologies. However, that is where the similarities are likely to end it. Looking at both teams schedule for the entire season. Madison County has played some solid football programs in higher classifications, all the way to Class 7A teams to be exact. That cannot be said for Blountstown which they only played two teams above their classification which were in Classes 3A and 4A. At the end of the day, Madison County’s defense could be more stifling which could mean trouble for Blountstown early, especially if Tigers defense allows the Cowboys to dominate early on offense. The game in the trenches will show here.

WHO THE COMPUTERS PREDICT

We take a look at the computers and their predictions for the 2017 FHSAA State Championship games:

Joe Pinkos’ Forecast: Madison County by 21

USA TODAY High School Sports Score Predictor: Madison County 42, Blountstown 20

THE EXPERT PICKS

We gave our media pickers the biggest challenge of the year by not only predicting the winner of each state championship game but the actual score of each game as well. Here are their picks:

• Joshua Wilson, FloridaHSFootball.com: Madison County 45, Blountstown 21
• Will Turner, FloridaHSFootball.com: Madison County 38, Blountstown 21
• Bill Hammel, Irish Bill’s Twist On Sports: Madison County 41, Blountstown 20
• Mike Ridaught, The Prep Zone: Madison County 42, Blountstown 24
• Marty Pallman, The Prep Zone: Madison County 42, Blountstown 7
• Larry Savage, Gainesville Sun: Madison County 42, Blountstown 13
• Corey Davis, DuvalSports.com: Madison County 28, Blountstown 13
• Doug Pugh, Big County Preps: Madison County 42, Blountstown 14
• Jake Perper, Prep Sports Scouting: Madison County 30, Blountstown 17
• Joel Hillsman, Total Sports Coverage: Madison County 31, Blountstown 24

PREDICT THE WINNER: Who wins the Class 1A State Championship between #Blountstown and @MadCoFball?

— FloridaHSFootball.com (@FlaHSFootball) December 6, 2017

NEW: Class 1A State Championship Preview: Blountstown vs. Madison County with game outlook and predictions! @MadCoFball @ZacBrayLex @FHSAA #flhsfb https://t.co/cxgfIX0Uyo

— FloridaHSFootball.com (@FlaHSFootball) December 6, 2017