MASON — The longer-than-expected wait for a playoff return is almost over for Madonna.
Earlier this week the West Virginia Supreme Court settled the disputes that caused a one-week delay of the football playoffs and set the rankings back to what they originally were when the regular season ended.
When the dust settled, Madonna wound up in its original position at No. 14 and is set for a trip to take on No. 3 Wahama on Saturday afternoon. The opening kick is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
“After a certain point, we didn’t care who we ended up playing, we were just ready to play,” first-year Blue Dons head coach John McCune said. “The kids were getting anxious and so were the coaches. We were kind of in purgatory there just waiting around to find out who we were going to play.
“We’re excited that it’s Wahama and we have a chance to go try and shock the state.”
The unbeaten White Falcons are a high-powered, high-scoring offense. They have scored 45 or more points in every game, and, have scored more than fifty in every game since scoring 48 in Week 2. They average 56.9 points per game and have scored 63 in each of their last two outings.
“The biggest thing you notice about them right away is speed — they have a whole lot of speed,” McCune said. “They have scored 60-plus points five times and 50-plus three more times, so they know how to score a whole lot of points. They score in bunches.
“We have got to limit the big plays, tackle well, and try to control the clock. We have to try and match their speed with our speed. We have done well against speed teams all year, our speed has been an advantage for us. The big bruising teams have been what’s hurt us, but Wahama is very fast.”
Wahama’s running attack leads the high-powered charge with 3,687 rushing yards and 60 rushing scores as a team, an average of 368.7 yards and six touchdowns per game.
That attack is led by senior Connor Lambert, who has video game-like numbers of 1,748 yards, 34 touchdowns and averages 19.2 yards per carry, while also catching six touchdowns and averaging nearly 30 yards per catch.
“He has 4.4 (40-yard dash) speed I’ve been told,” McCune said. “Seeing him on film doesn’t even do him justice, an opposing coach I talked to told me he’s much faster in person than it shows on film. They put him in a few different spots and get him the football a lot of ways, throw it, pitch it, hand it off to him … we have to know where he’s at at all times.”
McCune knows it’s going to be a matter of his team slowing the Falcons down because stopping them is not likely.
“We know they’re going to get yards, we have to limit the big plays,” McCune said. “We have to keep them from getting the big plays and win in the red zone, make them drive and win the battles when the field gets condensed. And, we’re going to have to score some points. We’re going to need our best offensive output of the season to be in the game in the fourth quarter. Even if our defense can hold them in the 30s, that would be their lowest output of the year so we’re going to have to score.”
The first playoff trip for the current group of seniors and the program in several years has the Madonna community and team excited.
“I’m excited for the boys to get a chance to measure up with a great Class A team,” McCune said. “The boys are very excited. We’re taking it day by day. The alumni have been great, they’ve donated not only money but also their time and meals. This senior class hasn’t had a playoff game. The Madonna community is excited to be back in the playoffs and supports these boys. The people around the program are thrilled that Madonna football is back where it used to be year-in and year out — in the playoffs.
“The boys are bought into playoff football, it’s a different style of football where every play could be your last.”
