By By DONALD WRIGHT
Sports Writer
The Northview High School Chiefs ran into a stumbling block Friday night in their quest for a state championship.
They played host to a tough, tenacious team in the Madison County High School Cowboys. The Cowboys mounted 489 yards of total offense in their 49-6 upset of the third ranked Chiefs.
The Cowboys used a massive running attack and piled up 396 yards on the ground in 46 attempts.
They were led by Mikhal Kornegay who had six rush attempts for 121 yards and three touchdowns and Torrance Washington who rushed the ball 14 times for 86 yards and three touchdowns. Eleven different Cowboy rushers touched the ball in the massive onslaught.
The Chiefs' offense sputtered all night and only managed 153 yards in total offense against a speedy Cowboys' defense.
Kyle Williams had an unusual night as he completed only 11 of 26 passes for 127 yards with one touchdown and five interceptions. The running game also struggled as they were only able to gained 26 yards on 24 rushing attempts. Leonte Wright played very little because of an injured elbow and O'Neil Dubose gained only 65 yards on 12 carries.
One of the biggest stats in the game was the penalties. There was a total of 31 penalties in the game. Madison County had most of the penalties as they were flagged 23 times for a loss of 215 yards. Despite the problems with the penalties, the Cowboys were still able to hold the Chiefs to one scoring drive while scoring seven touchdowns of their own.
The game started with the Cowboys getting the opening kick off. They wasted little time driving the ball 56 yards in just four plays. The first score of the game came on a three yard dive play from Washington. With the extra point, the Cowboys had an early 7-0 lead.
Northview answered quickly, though, as they went straight to the air. They drove the ball 73 yards in five plays aided by a couple of Cowboys' penalties.
Williams connected with Jonathon Andrews on a 30 yard bomb. The extra point was blocked, though, and the lead was now 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Things went downhill from that point for the Chiefs in the second quarter. The quickness of the Cowboys' running backs took over. They scored on their next three possessions while shutting down the Chiefs' offense.
What started off as a close contest erupted into a 28-6 half-time lead for the Cowboys.
The Chiefs were looking to get back on track to begin the third quarter. They received the kick off, but fumbled it at their own 20-yard line.
The Cowboys' wasted little time in converting the turnover into more points. It only took them four plays to get back in the end zone.
Washington again provided the offense and scored from nine yards out to make the score 35-6.
Northview was again unable to get back on track offensively or defensively as the Cowboys were able to score two more times in the third quarter.
Turnovers were again the big issue for the Chiefs as they gave the ball to the Cowboys several times deep in their own territory. At the end of the third quarter, the lead had grown to 49-6.
The Chiefs were able to move the ball some in the fourth quarter but were unable to get back into the end zone.
The tenacious Cowboys' defense stiffened when it needed to and pushed the Chiefs' offense back several times.
The Cowboys also were unable to put any more points on the board and the game ended with a final score of 49-6.
The Chiefs have nothing to hang their heads about. They turned an 0-10 program into a state championship competitor in just two years.
They won their first play off game in school history last week.