One thing remains constant about this season’s 6D North Region tournament-championship football game. The Madison Warhawks will be playing in the high-school contest for a fifth straight year.
Four-time defending champion, top seed and undefeated Madison (12-0) also will be hosting that clash for the fifth time in a row in Vienna, with kickoff slated for Saturday (Nov. 30) at 1 p.m.
Madison qualified for the final by overcoming turnovers, surviving two kick returns for touchdowns and holding on to defeat the visiting and fourth seed Westfield Bulldogs, 35-28, in the Friday-night (Nov. 22) semifinal.
In the region final, Madison will play the No. 2 seed (and also undefeated) Washington-Liberty Generals (12-0). Both are district champions, Madison in the Concorde and W-L in the Liberty.
Madison led the entire game against Westfield, which ended its season 9-3. The Warhawks were ahead 14-0 in the first quarter, then 35-21 in the second half. Westfield rallied to within 35-28 thanks to kick returns for touchdowns of 94 yards by Jay Rennyson on a kickoff and 59 yards by Connor Martin on a punt.
Westfield had a final opportunity, but its possession ended when Henry Maiden had a clinching interception with seconds to play. Westfield also was hurt by two turnovers, and had a punt blocked by Caden Green that set up a Madison touchdown.
The Bulldogs also lost a fumble on the opening kickoff that the Warhawks converted into their first touchdown on a seven-yard run by Matthew Weiler and a 7-0 lead just 86 seconds into the game.
Runningback/receiver Dominic Knicely caught touchdown passes of five and 35 yards from Madison quarterback Cael Yates, who ran for TDs of one and four yards. Julian Hopewell kicked five extra points.
Madison gained 283 total yards. Yates threw for 87 and ran for 68 more. Knicely ran for 74 yards and caught four passes for 75, Weiler rushed for 44 and Harry Lewis had two catches for seven yards.
For Westfield, quarterback Ryan Carlson passed for 194 of the team’s 229 total yards. He threw a 60-yard scoring pass to Malachi Lee, who also had a short scoring run for a second touchdown.
Lee and Kennedy Duda were top rushers for Westfield. Ameer Rafee was a leading pass-catcher along with Lee.
Top tacklers for Madison on defense were Maiden, Green, Luke Salvosa, T.J. George, Graham Gorkowski, Charlie Backman, Jack Ambruzs, Joe Gore, Matthew Vojta and Oscar Espanol. Green batted down a pass and Anthony Lim-Nunez recovered a fumble.
Madison stopped Westfield on fourth downs a couple of key times during the game, with Backman breaking up a pass on a fourth-and-goal on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Madison has won 13 region-tournament contests in a row — all of them at home.
