By Travis Coleman
Contributing Writer
Twitter – @tcole2025
The Williston Red Devils had a very rough night in Madison County on Friday.
The Madison County Cowboys dominated in all three phases of the game, imposing their will on the Red Devils all night, and making life miserable for any Williston player that had the ball in their hands. The final score of the game ended up being 46-6, and it could’ve been far worse, in what was a very lopsided game.
Madison County was dominant on both offense and defense. Senior quarterback Travis Jay threw for two touchdowns and ran for a few more in what was an offensive explosion for the FSU commit. Williston was as prepared as could be for the rushing, but when the first offensive play for the Cowboys was a 60-yard touchdown throw, for a team that only averages 37 yards per game passing, it spelled bad news for the Devils.
Jay had one run in particular that stood out from the rest. Dropping back to pass, he had enough time to scan the field before feeling the pressure around him. He then proceeded to elude three or four Williston defenders, and tip-toe the sideline on his way to the endzone.
It was more of the same on defense for the Cowboys. They bottled up senior Williston running back Quinyon Mitchell all night. The speed on that side of the ball is insane for the Cowboys. Mitchell runs a 4.4 second forty yard dash, and he was being chased down left and right like it was nothing for the opposing team.
Senior quarterback CJ Strange did all he could to give his team a chance. Strange was running for his life most of the game, with Madison running through the Williston offensive line as if it was a turnstile.
Considering that, he played as good as you can expect a quarterback to play under the circumstances. The one big mistake was a just missed touchdown pass to senior Jermon Collins on a deep ball. Strange overthrew him by a few inches. He did record one touchdown to Collins on the last play of the game to prevent the shutout, however. Collins made a great, leaping catch over two defenders to secure the pass as the clock expired.
Next Friday, September 21, Williston will be playing at home against the Newberry Panthers. After an 0-3 start against a trio of good teams, playing a Newberry team that lost 54-6 to Madison County should provide a great opportunity to secure a win for the Devils.
Madison County’s next game will be against Columbia (Lake City) on the same day. Columbia happens to be undefeated too, and should pose a threat to the Cowboys’ 17-game winning streak.
