The Avery Vikings used three Adam Pate touchdowns and a strong defensive performance that forced a pair of turnovers in defeating the Madison Patriots 22-14 on a cold and wet night for football at MacDonald Stadium.Avery got on the board first after a huge special teams play. A snap over the head of Madison punter Blake Moore resulted in a quick kick which was blocked by Avery's Zac Hall. The Vikings recovered the football at the Patriots' six yard line. Adam Pate did the honors of putting the Big Red in the end zone three plays later on a four-yard scamper. The PAT was blocked but Avery led 6-0 midway through the opening period.
The Patriots answered with a score on its ensuing possession, helped by a 70 yard run by Patriots halfback Cameron Garrison. Fullback Corey Heath Miller plunged across the goal line from two yards out to put Madison on the scoreboard. The two-point conversion attempt was successful, giving the Patriots the 8-6 advantage.
Avery took its next drive deep into Madison territory, but the Patriots defense held on a fourth down play to gain possession of the football. The Avery defense pushed Madison back, with help from Madison penalties, to force a Madison punt attempt inside the Madison 5 yard line. Instead of allowing the time in the first quarter to expire, allowing Madison to kick with the wind at its back, Avery head coach Darrell Brewer took a timeout with five seconds left to force the Patriots to kick against the wind from its own end zone.
Rather than attempting to kick in a swirling wind or risk a second punt block, Madison punter Moore took the long snap and ran out of the back of the end zone for a Viking safety, tying the score at 8-8 on the final play of the opening quarter.
"We took the timeout to make them punt to us in the wind," Coach Brewer said after the win. "We knew the wind would then be in their faces, but I never figured they’d give us a safety. But that was important in tying the game at that point.”
Following the Madison free kick, Avery took the lead back, using its pounding ground game to drive downfield over five plays. Pate capped the drive with a one yard quarterback sneak, his second touchdown, to put six on the board for the Big Red. An unsuccessful two-point conversion try left the Vikings with a 14-8 lead with 9:48 left before halftime.
The scores were crucial to the Vikings, if only to emphasize to Madison that Avery was set on continuing its dominance over the Patriots. "I think no matter what our records are, I think that Madison is used to losing to Avery County," Coach Brewer stated. "Once we began building momentum, it's like they were thinking in their minds "Here we go again.""
Holding on to the football was difficult in the poor playing conditions, as Madison fumbled and lost the football twice during the quarter. Avery was unable to capitalize on the turnovers, however. The best chance for Avery to pad its lead came in the half's closing seconds, but the Vikings ran out of time to run a play at the Madison 15-yard line as the half ended. Avery had to settle for an six-point edge at intermission.
The Vikings extended their lead with the first possession of the third period. Driving 80 yards over eight rushing plays, the Big Red marched downfield. A 38-yard run by running back Chase Arrowood highlighted the drive, with Pate finishing it off with a one-yard touchdown run. A successful Arrowood conversion run pulled the Big Red ahead 22-8 at the 8:16 mark.
"Chase really runs the ball hard. He always has. He is just a hard-nosed carrier of the football, and he's the kind of runner you want all your backs to be," Coach Brewer stated.
A key element of Avery's success Friday night was its defense. The Vikings held the Patriots to a single possession in the third quarter, forcing them to turn the ball over on downs following a fourth down incompletion. Although the drive consumed six minutes of clock time and 12 plays, the defense made a stand which proved vital.Madison managed to score a touchdown on a three yard run by Miller with only two seconds left in the game. The two-point conversion failed, providing the final margin of victory at 22-14.
Avery won the turnover battle among other areas to come away with victory Friday night. "I think the turnovers were huge. We put the ball down three times and lost only one," Coach Brewer elaborated. "I knew with the weather that turnovers would be important, and I think we did a good job of protecting the football."
Also key to the win was the performance of senior quarterback Adam Pate, who rushed for 46 yards on 18 carries and scored three times in the game. "Adam has been a key to us all season. Our success kind of goes along with him, and when he went down, it was hard for us to recover from that," Coach Brewer said of his quarterback. "He's one of those kids who is a playmaker and is the kind of kid who, any time he touches the ball, he's a threat to score."
Avery improves to 2-7 on the season and will travel to Burnsville to take on Mountain Heritage on Halloween night.
