The Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons kept their hopes for a home playoff game alive Friday night in Owensboro. Joe Gunn’s 51 yard pick-6 in the 4th quarter turned out to be the winning score as the Maroons won a shootout with the Apollo Eagles 42-35.
Gunn’s touchdown with 7:01 to go in the game gave the Maroons a two score lead at the time at 42-28, but Apollo was able to cut that to a one score lead just three minutes later. Niles Board threw a one yard touchdown pass to Landen Bratcher on a wide receiver reverse pass to make it 42-35 with still 4:05 left in the game.
But that would be it as far as a comeback was concerned. Madisonville was able to chew up the clock late with a couple of big pickups from quarterback Kanyon Johnson.
Thanks to the early play of Markezz Hightower, the Maroons were able to build a 20-7 lead in the first half. Hightower scored the first touchdown of the night on a 24 yard run with 10:02 to go in the first quarter, giving the Maroons a 6-0 lead.
Apollo got on the board the very next possession. The Eagles marched down the field, capping off their drive with a 30 yard touchdown on a screen pass from J.T. Edge to Ehmadjai Badger that put the Eagles in front 7-6.
Madisonville’s Markezz Hightower found the end zone for the second time with 6.9 seconds to go in the first, this time on a three yard touchdown run that put the Maroons up 12-7.
Kanyon Johnson scored his first touchdown on a two yard quarterback sneak with 7:10 to go in the half, putting the Maroons up 20-7.
Madisonville-North Hopkins had the ball with a chance to push that lead out even further late in the half, but could not pick up a first down and had to punt the ball away. And thus begun the final moments of the first half, and they were moments that the Maroons, their coaches, and their fans would just as soon like to forget.
Attempting to punt the ball away, Kanyon Johnson lost the handle on the ball. He tried to kick the ball away while it was on the ground but Apollo covered the ball and took over at the Maroons’ 37 yard line. The Eagles drove the 37 yards and cut the lead to 20-14 on a two yard run from Niles Board
On the ensuing possession, the Maroons again could not move the ball and had to punt the ball away. And, disaster struck once again. With two Maroons standing nearby, expecting him to just let the clock expire on the final play of the first half, Niles Board took the ball on the bounce started left and then came back to the middle of the field and 60 yards later he was standing in the end zone, having given Apollo a 21-20 lead going into the locker room at the half.
With Markezz Hightower battling cramps throughout much of the middle part of the game, Kanyon Johnson took the reins of the offense and got the Maroons back into the lead, primarily using his legs to get the Madisonville-North Hopkins offense up and down the field.
The teams traded touchdowns, getting the game to a 28-28 tie with 2:05 left in the third quarter. Travion Stafford scored on a two yard run for the Maroons while J.T. Edge threw a TD pass for the Eagles.
The Maroons then scored 14 straight points, a Kanyon Johnson touchdown run and Gunn’s interception return to take a 42-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
But the Maroons would get enough done at both ends of the field over the final minutes of the game to hold on for the seven point win.
The Maroons finished with 359 total yards, 284 rushing and 75 passing. Kanyon Johnson had 22 carries for 157 yards and Markezz Hightower finished with 18 carries for 81 yards.
Madisonville did have some penalty issues as the Maroons were flagged 12 times for 105 yards.
Apollo finished with 277 yards for the night, 55 rushing and 223 passing.
Madisonville-North Hopkins improves to 6-2 over all and 3-1 in district play. The Maroons are back in Owensboro next Friday to take on the Red Devils.
Apollo drops to 3-5 over all and 1-3 in the district. The Eagles host Marshall County next Friday night.
