[Belton, TX] The Texas Bullets (2-6) downed the visiting Madision Mad Dogs (3-4) in the final seconds of play on Billy Watkins, Jr.'s 3 point field goal with just two seconds to play. The Bullets responded quickly with the game winner after Madison scored on Coe Bonner's 1 yard run with 32 seconds left in the contest.
Although Texas took the early lead 6-0 on John Henry's 10 yard TD reception pass from Marc Saldana (11-33-3 for 140 yards and two touchdowns), the Madison squad played with more intensity especially on defense as they took a 22-12 lead in to the intermission. For Madison, Kerry Henderson led the way with two touchdown runs of 15 and 2 yards. Texas' only other touchdown came on the a fumble recovery in the Madison end zone after Madison had partially blocked a Watkins field goal attempt. With the ball rolling around the goal line, Michael Kale fell on it for the Bullets score.
"Defensively we came out in the first half and did a good job, but didn't do anything offensively," said Saldana after the game. "In the second half both the offense and the defense worked together to get it done." The best example of that came on Saldana's second rushing touchdown of the night, a one yard plunge that followed noseguard's Scott Reid's interception of an attempted screen pass at the ten yard line which he returned to the one.
"I was in the right place at the right time," said Reid. "It was the same as in high school, but I ran it back 20 yards for a touchdown that time" referring to a play from his high school days where he intercepted a screen pass. The two point conversion pass from Saldana to Tim Cook put the Bullets on top 43-29.
Madison refused to roll over for the Bullets and came back with the next two scores of the fourth quarter including Henderson's third rushing touchdown of game. With Bonner's TD with 32 seconds left it seemed over for the Bullets.
But Texas did not quit, although it took them all four downs to get enough yardage to get a legitimate shot at the game winning field goal. On fourth and 10 from their own 13, the Bullets found success as Saldana hit Lee McCormick for a 17 yard gain. Texas hustled to the line and killed the clock with a spiked ball which set the stage for Watkins' heroics.
Madison made him think about it, though, calling two successive time outs. "We called two time outs to freeze the kid (Watkins), but he put it right down the pipes" said a disappointed but gracious Bruce Cowdrey, Madison's Offensive Coordinator.
Texas Head Coach Wayne Stigler, enjoying his 37th birthday stated, "We did a great job and it was nice to see the defense back on the field and playing up to the level we expect of them. Although down at half time, we came out in the second half and maintained our composure."
On the night, Madison's Kerry Henderson lead all rushers with 163 yards on 25 carries. His longest was his 21 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Bullets' Lee McCormick lead all receivers with 77 yards on 6 receptions including one touchdown. McCormick also tacked on 40 yards in kick return yardage and would have had even more and a touchdown had not one been called back due to an illegal block which had no real impact on the play. Henderson of Madison also had 91 return yards.
Although the Bullets could only hope to slow down the Mad Dogs on the ground, the Texas defense had an outstanding night against the pass holding both Madison quarterbacks to 28 total yards and no touchdowns (4-19-2). Lamont Moore, the league's leader in interceptions going into the weekend added another one to bring his season total to six.
Madison Mad Dogs 6 16 7 15 44 Texas Bullets 6 6 16 18 46 First Quarter Tex- 7:33-John Henry 10 yd pass from Marc Saldana, 2pt pass failed 6-0 Mad-6:29-Kerry Henderson 15 yd run, Drew Christ PAT failed 6-6 Second Quarter Tex- 6:59-Michael Kale fumble recovery in end zone, Watkins PAT failed 6-12 Mad-1:21-Coe Bonner 5 yd run, Christ PAT failed 12-12 Mad-0:42-Madison team safety 12-14 Mad-0:16-Henderson 2 yd run, Bonner 2pt run 12-22 Third Quarter Tex- 12:41-Billy Watkins 35 yd Field Goal 15-22 Mad-10:36-Bonner 4 yd run, Christ PAT 15-29 Tex- 6:41-Lee McCormick 9 yd pass from Marc Saldana, Watkins PAT 22-29 Tex- 1:53-Saldana 6 yd run, Watkins PAT failed 28-29 Fourth Tex-11:15-Saldana 2 yd run, Watkins PAT 35-29 Tex- 9:50-Saldana 1 yd run, Tim Cook from Saldana 2pt conversion 43-29 Mad-9:06-Henderson 21 yd run, Nick Johnson 2pt reception 43-37 Mad-0:32-Bonner 1 yd run, Christ PAT 43-44 Tex- 0:02-Watkins 35 yd field goal 46-44 Team Stats Madison Texas First Downs 12 8 Rushing 9 1 Passing 2 6 Penalty 1 1 Rushing Attempts 34 19 Yards Rushing 193 57 Net Passing Yards 28 116 Passes Attempted 19 33 Passes Completed 4 11 Had Intercepted 2 3 Total Offensive Plays 53 55 Total Net Yards 221 173 Fumbles: Number-Lost 3-2 1-0 Penalties: Number-Lost 8-30 2-26 Missed Field Goal Returns 1-0 2-32 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 10-170 7-105 3rd Down Conversions 3-10 2-12 4th Down Conversions 0-0 2-2 Sacks by: Number-Yards 3-24 0-0 Interception Returns: 3-9 2-13 Possesion Time 30:53 29:07 Individual Stats Rushing-M-Kerry Henderson 25-163-3, Coe Bonner 9-30-3; T-Marc Saldana 6-35-3, John Henry 9-14, Butch Hadnot 4-8 Receiving-M-Derek Schaefer 3-19, Coe Bonner 1-9; T-Lee McCormick 6-77-1, Hohn Henry 3-37-1, Jackie Warren 1-24, Hadnot 1-2 Passing-M-Mike Simpson 4-15-28-0-2, Mark Martinez 0-4-0-0-0; T-Saldana 11-33-140-2-3 Field Goals-M-Drew Christ 0-6 missed 50,42,28,54,57,61; T-Watkins 2-7 made 35,36 missed 48,52,40,57,52 PATS-M-Christ 2-4; T-Watkins 2-4 Kickoff Returns-M-Nick Johnson 4-54, Derek Schaefer 1-1, Anthony Williams 0-24, Kerry Henderson 5-91; T-McCormick 2-40, Henry 2-35, Warren 2-19, Hadnot 1-11 Missed Field Goal Returns-M-Henderson 1-0; T-McCormick 1-6, Bobby Craig 1-26 Interceptions-M-Dan Mlachnik 1-8, Ryan Buchanan 2-1; T-Lamont Moore 1-4, Scott Reid 1-9 Tackles-M-Temple 12, Knott 7, Mlacknik 6, R. Buchanan 6, J. Buchanan 5, Cunningham 3, Reed 3, Salcido 3, Spraggins 3, Christ 2, Martin 1, Bonner 1, Williams 1, Warner 1, Schaefer 1; T-Craig 10, Blake 9, Lloyd 7, Coe 6, Cook 6, Moore 6, Henderson 5, Reid 4, Allen 3, Clayburn 2, Watkins 2, Berry 2, Kale 1, Burk 1 Attendance: 1522
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