DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Punch and counterpunch.
The South Adams Starfires landed the knockout punch to Friday’s sectional championship game on 4th and 1 while trailing 36-35 with eight minutes remaining at Madison-Grant. Dillan Ramirez took the handoff from Tytus Lehman and looked for the three feet he needed to the left, then sidestepped the initial tackler and found a hole, exploding for a 21-yard touchdown run that was ultimately the final score of the ballgame as the Starfires went home with an improbable 43-36 win.
The way the game had been going, with lead changes, ties and one-point leads, it’s actually quite a surprise that neither team scored in the final eight minutes, but the South Adams defense came up big with a stop on fourth down at midfield with five minutes to go. After an interception on third down deep in Argyll territory, the defense, and specifically the secondary, held their ground as Madison-Grant was forced to throw the ball with little time remaining against a seven-point deficit.
Caiden Neuenschwander makes a spectacular catch in the end zone in double coverage in the third quarter. (Photo by Dane Fuelling)
Tytus Lehman threw for three touchdowns and 417 yards, but also picked up 46 precious yards on the ground with some audacious runs that ended in big hits.
The big hits were coming on both sides throughout the game, which was contentious and hard-fought from both sides. The contest ended with a Madison-Grant coach berating the officials as they left the field.
Facing a team that was always going to look to score with the run, the Starfire defense allowed 372 yards on the ground, but they always had the answer on the ensuing possession. They came up with five fourth down stops in five tries.
The Starfires found their first lead on a pass down the right sideline from Lehman to Wes Summersett, who won a foot race down the side for an 81-yard score. That put the Stars up 21-14 and they nearly took that lead into halftime, but Madison-Grant overcame some poor clock management to make it 21-20 on a score with 11 seconds remaining.
The home team came out of halftime and scored on their first possession, but after that, it was nearly all Starfires.
South Adams scored on their next three possessions and Madison-Grant turned the ball over on downs on three of their next four tries.
The win put a sectional trophy in the hands of the Starfires for the first time since 2021. It is the fifth sectional title for coach Grant Moser.
South Adams used the run to keep Lehman’s passing lanes open. In fact, they scored three rushing touchdowns and the yardage on those three scores accounted for 30 of the 70 yards rushing by the running backs.
Lehman did throw three interceptions, but it came from playing an aggressive passing game. The contest may go down as the best of his career so far after he threw for 400+.
Summersett had seven catches for 143 yards, while Neuenschwander had six catches for 114. Each of them made spectacular catches that kept drives alive.
SCORING SUMMARY
Quarter 1
6:44 – MG – OJ Blackwell 8-yd run, White PAT run good, 0-8
3:22 – SA – Will Patterson 1-yd run, Lehman PAT pass to Wanner good, 8-8
Quarter 2
9:00 – MG – Chad Lamb 52-yd pass from Xavier Yeagy, Blackwell PAT run no good, 8-14
6:43 – SA – Wes Summersett 8-yd run, Garcia PAT no good, 14-14
3:11 – SA – Wes Summersett 81-yd catch from Tytus Lehman, Garcia PAT good, 21-14
:11 – MG – Rosin White 2-yd run, Yeagy PAT run no good, 21-20
Quarter 3
9:01 – MG – OJ Blackwell 34-yd run, Blackwell PAT run good, 21-28
7:45 – SA – Caiden Neuenschwander 34-yd catch from Tytus Lehman, Garcia PAT good, 28-28
1:12 – SA – Caiden Neuenschwander 30-yd catch from Tytus Lehman, Garcia PAT good, 35-28
Quarter 4
10:40 – MG – Rosin White 8-yd run, White PAT run good, 35-36
8:40 – SA – Dillan Ramirez 21-yd run, Lehman PAT pass to Summersett good, 43-36
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