Staff writer
The Peabody-Burns High School Warriors lost Friday at Madison, 68-20. Next up for the team is a senior night, must-win home contest Thursday with Lebo.
Christian Gard returned the opening kickoff to the Warrior 18-yard line. Seth Topham caught a short pass for the only positive yardage in four downs. Austin Savage punted on fourth-and-10. With no return, the Bulldogs’ offense started at its own 30-yard line.
Madison scored the first points in the contest on a 10-play drive. Tommy Morris, Lucas Larsen, Gard, Hunter Pickens and Braxton Kyle all recorded tackles, but the Bulldogs put up six with 7 minutes, 32 seconds on the clock in the first quarter.
The next PBHS offensive series looked promising with big first downs gains from Morris and Gard, but a penalty combined with two incomplete passes stalled the drive at midfield. Savage gained 7 yards on third down, but a fourth-down incomplete pass gave the ball back to Bulldogs’ offense.
Madison scored on the first play from scrimmage on the next series with a 42-yard touchdown run down the left side of the field. The conversion run was successful. With 6:08 on the clock in the first, PBHS trailed 14-0.
Kyle touched the ball first on the next series with a kick-off return to the Warrior 15. Pickens ran a keeper for a new first down. Gard followed with a first-down gain of 10 yards to get the team into Madison territory. A 6-yard gain on second down turned costly when Savage went out of the game with an injury.
Gard caught a 26-yard pass and PBHS had first-and-goal at the 3. A penalty moved the team back 5 yards to the 8. Two incomplete passes were followed by a touchdown reception by Topham. The conversion pass failed, but PBHS was on the board 14-6 with 4:47 in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs’ next drive covered 55 yards and ended with a 19-yard run for the touchdown. The conversion run added two points. Madison led 22-6 with 1:40 left in the opening period.
PBHS moved the ball on the next series with a run by Pickens and catches by Topham, Kyle, Gard, and Morris. The drive ended early in the second period at the Madison 15-yard line when the Bulldogs intercepted a tipped pass.
On their first play from scrimmage, the Bulldogs added a 65-yard rushing score. They tacked on a two-point conversion and led 30-6 with 11:13 left in the half.
Lucas Larsen came up with the ball on the short kickoff and returned the ball to the Bulldogs’ 19. A third-down Pickens-to-Kyle pass reception added 6 for the Warriors. The PAT pass failed. PBHS cut the lead 30-12 with 9:45 left in the second.
Madison scored twice in the next six minutes of the ballgame. Two rushing touchdowns made the gap 46-12 with 3:32 left in the half.
With a touchback on the kick-off, PBHS offense began at its 15-yard line. Kyle took over as quarterback with an injury to Pickens. Topham advanced the ball 15 yards with a catch. Morris got the team into Madison territory with a reception. Topham moved the sticks again with a catch at the Bulldogs’ 25. Morris added 6 points with a 20-yard scoring run. Topham added two points with a pass reception. With 2:31 left on the clock, the score favored Madison, 46-20.
With one minute left in the first half, the Bulldogs added one more rushing score. The gap at the break was 54-20.
After the half, an abbreviated third quarter contained two more scores for Madison. With the 45-point rule in effect, the game ended three minutes into the period. PBHS was defeated, 68-20.
Pickens was 10-for-21 with 139 passing yards. Kyle was 8-for-11 for 97 yards and rushed five times for 17 yards. He also caught three passes for 38 yards. Topham had nine receptions for 106 yards. Morris caught four passes for 59 yards and ran twice for 22 yards. Savage caught one pass for 9 yards. Gard had 26 yards receiving and four runs for 20 yards.
Gard led the team with six tackles. Morris followed with five. Pickens, Larsen, and Kyle each recorded four stops while Jayden Miller, Keifer Larsen and Xavier Jabary each added two. Colten Terronez had one tackle.