The Hawthorne football program has set the standard in its classification, advancing to five consecutive state championship games and at one point winning 27 straight games.
But on Friday night in the FHSAA Rural state championship game at The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium on the campus of The Villages Charter School in Middleton, a quest for a third straight state title was taken away by Madison County.
The Cowboys, who have been to six of the last eight title games, made enough big plays to secure a 21-14 win in a defensive battle between the two small school giants.
“No matter what the score is, we’re always going to put up a fight,” said Hawthorne senior running back Keenon Johnson, who finished his career with over 4,600 yards rushing. “The defense, they put up a fight and they got us the ball back plenty of times. The defense, they just showed up big time.”
It wasn’t until the final play of the game though that Madison County was able to corral its seventh state title in program history.
Down 21-6, Johnson (26 carries for 107 yards) scored on a 2-yard run with 19 seconds to play to bring the Hornets within nine. Senior quarterback Adrian Curtis completed the 2-point conversion pass to senior wide receiver Demetrius Brown, but the play was called back due to a false start.
Curtis got injured on the play and came out, but freshman quarterback Richard Roundtree Jr. went in and threaded the needle on an 8-yard 2-point pass play to senior wide receiver Decarion Debose to make it 21-14.
The Hornets got the onside kick, as Debose recovered it at the Madison County 47-yard line.
Curtis reentered the game and completed a 12-yard pass to junior wide receiver Darian Bowie, who was hit late out of bounds, which put the ball at the 20-yard line.
Following an incomplete pass, Hawthorne had one last chance with three seconds to play, but a bad snap forced Curtis to fall on the ball to end the game.
“I love the way our kids continued to fight and, to be completely honest, I really believed we were going to score that last touchdown with the Hail Mary play and we were going to go for two, I really believed that,” said Hawthorne coach Cornelius Ingram. “We knew we couldn’t turn the ball over and we had some key turnovers that shifted the game, but defense was still lights out. Tough loss but I’m definitely proud of the way the season went for our guys.”
Madison County (10-3) turned two turnovers into points, the last of which proved to be the difference in the game.
With Hawthorne approaching midfield and trailing just 13-6, Madison County senior Johnny Norwood had a strip and return to the Hawthorne 12-yard line.
It appeared the Hornets’ defense might hold, but on 4th-and-12 at the 14-yard line, junior quarterback LJ Crumity broke several tackles and found the end zone. Senior Jason McDaniel ran in the 2-point conversion for a 21-6 lead with 8:02 left in the game.
The other big turnover was early in the game.
In the first quarter, following an interception by senior Leland Johnson, Hawthorne had the ball at the Madison County 21-yard line.
However, on the first play, a pass in the right flat from Curtis to sophomore wide receiver Ryheem Mooree was fumbled and Madison County junior Ryshard Miller scooped up the loose ball at the 40-yard line and returned it 60 yards for the score and a 7-0 lead with 7:40 to play in the opening quarter.
Hawthorne answered though, converting three fourth down plays on its next possession, including a 6-yard touchdown pass from Curtis to Debose on 4th-and-goal. The Hornets missed the extra point, but they were within one, 7-6, with 11:34 to play in the half.
It capped a 62-yard drive that consumed eight minutes off the first half clock.
“We were confident,” Ingram said. “Our offensive linemen were confused in the first half with some of the things we were trying to do but that drive was huge. We were confident we were going to go for it. We were confident that we could run the ball. Of course, Debose made a great catch on fourth down, but a team like that you can’t make mistakes and mistakes did hurt us.”
Mistakes were costly, but the defense kept the Hornets in the game.
Madison County threatened to take a two touchdown lead late in the first half after blocking a punt and taking over at the Hawthorne 15-yard line with 2:02 to play in the second quarter.
However, the Hornets stopped the Cowboys as the final play of the half was an incomplete pass in the end zone.
“I thought we prepared very well, especially for this game,” said Hawthorne defensive coordinator Cedderick Daniels. “We watched film and knew everything they were doing so no matter where the ball was spotted we were confident that we could stop them. The one thing we didn’t want to do was give up a touchdown going into halftime.”
Hawthorne’s season ended at 10-2 and as state runners-up for the third time in the last five years.
“I felt like we overachieved,” Ingram said. “We dealt with some injuries early on in the year, even going into the game we had some key injuries right away that kind of threw off some personnel stuff that we wanted to do, but I felt like we were in the game the whole entire time and that’s what it’s about.”
Despite only 132 yards of total offense, Hawthorne still had a chance to win the game late thanks to a defense that allowed just 211 yards of total offense.
“We knew it was going to be a defensive battle all night,” Daniels said. “We got a touchdown at the end and one of the things we kept saying on the sideline was ‘don’t quit, don’t fold, anything can happen.’ We were believing the whole time we were still going to win the football game all the way through.”
FHSAA Football playoffs
Friday, Dec. 6
Area teams in bold
State Championship games
Rural
Madison County 21, Hawthorne 14
Rural Florida Invitational Tournament (Division B)
Fort Meade 21, Dixie County (Cross City) 13
Class 6A State Semifinals
Osceola (Kissimmee) 41, Buchholz 35
