There were two things the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons had trouble slowing down Friday night in their key district matchup against the Apollo Eagles. One was the combination of Apollo quarterback Maxwell Johnson and his favorite target, senior receiver Landen Bratcher. The other was turning the ball over.
And, while both were costly, it was the turnovers and Apollo’s taking advantage of those opportunities that were the deciding factors in the game as the Eagles outscored the Maroons 49-40 and handed Madisonville-North Hopkins its first loss of the season.
For the combination of Johnson and Bratcher, it seemed like every time that Apollo needed a big play, the quarterback found his receiver open somewhere on the field. The duo hooked up several times on the night, including the Eagles’ first touchdown of the game.
But alas, even with what Johns and Bratcher were able to do for Apollo, the turnovers were brutal in both number and how efficient the Eagles were in converting after they got the ball. For the night, the Maroons turned the ball over six times, three fumbles and three interceptions. Apollo scored a touchdown on or after each of the first five. The last one was a desperation pass from Alex Richards inside the final minute when the Maroons were trying to pull one last rabbit out of the hat.
The night started off about as bad as it could for the Maroons. After winning the toss and taking the opening kickoff, the Eagles moved right down the field and scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Maxwell Johnson to Landen Bratcher on 4th down and 4 that put Apollo up 7-0 right out of the gate,
It got worse before it got better for the Maroons. On the ensuing kickoff, Madisonville fumbled the ball away with Apollo recovering at the Madisonville 39-yard line. The Eagles found the end zone again on a five-yard run from Johnson, and the lead was out to 14-0, and the Maroons had not run an offensive play.
After the kickoff, the Maroons hit with a big play, this one in the form of a 50 yard run from Markezz Hightower to cut the lead to 14-7 with still 5:15 to go in the opening quarter.
After the initial fireworks, things calmed down a bit for a little while. The Maroons did come up with two interceptions in the first half, one from Ryder Sandidge, the other from Kirk LaGrange, but the Madisonville offense was not able to capitalize on either and that would turn out to be costly in the overall scope of the game.
The Maroons got the ball following a stop of the Eagles with 7:06 to go in the half. On the fifth play of the possession, Ryder Sandidge took a helmet to the hand while rushing the ball. The ball came loose and the Eagles recovered at the Maroon 45-yard line. Sandidge was injured on the play and would not play on offense the rest of the game. He did come back in the game and play defensively.
Apollo drove down the field but appeared to have been stopped when they missed a 37-yard field goal with 1:12 to go in the half. However, the Maroons were flagged on the play, and the Eagles were able to continue the drive. The penalty would be costly for the Maroons as Maxwell Johnson hit Eli Williams for a 14-yard touchdown with 20 seconds left in the half as Apollo pushed the lead out to 21-7.
Alex Richards hit two quick passes to get Madisonville back down the field, and Noah Mays hit a 40 yard field goal as the horn sounded to trim the Apollo lead to 21-10 at the break.
The second half did not start off any better than the first half did for the Maroons. After his team received the second half kickoff, Alex Richards was picked off by John Milburn on the second play of the half and Milburn ran it all the way back to put Apollo up 28-10, and it looked quite dark for the Maroons early in the half.
But give the Maroons their due, they did not go down without a fight. On the very next possession, Madisonville chewed up six minutes of game clock and drove 61 yards, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run from Markezz Hightower to make it 28-17. Hightower’s touchdown run was set up by a 20-yard scamper, and it was that play that pushed him over 5,000 rushing yards for his career.
The Maroon defense came up with a big one on the first play of the next possession. Bryson Shoulders came up with an interception, and the Maroons were right back in business. Madisonville marched the ball 71 yards down the field and, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Markezz Hightower ran 10 yards for his third touchdown of the night, and, after Tre Stafford scored the 2-point conversion, the Maroons had closed to within 28-25.
The Eagles looked as if they were ready to put the game away on the next possession. Apollo drove down the field and got down into the red zone, but on 4th and 9 from the 10-yard line, the Maroon defense came up with a huge stop and got the offense the ball back.
Starting at their own 14, the Maroons began working the ball down the field against a tiring Apollo defense. With 5:39 to go in the game, Kirk LaGrange, who was in at fullback, broke off a 45-yard touchdown run down the left side and, after another two-point conversion, the Maroons had the lead at 32-28 and the Madisonville fans were roaring their approval.
However, the bottom of the bucket then fell out, and it fell out in a big way. A quick seven-play drive finished out with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Ehmadjai Badger, and just like that, Apollo was back in front 35-32 with 3:47 left. But still, it looked like the Maroons had plenty of time.
The Maroons misplayed the kickoff, and Apollo recovered at the Maroons’ three-yard line. One play later, John Milburn found paydirt, and the lead was 42-32. The bad news was not done yet. On the third play of the next possession, Apollo picked off Alex Richards again and ran it back, and just like that, the lead was now at 49-32 with still 2:43 left.
Madisonville went on a quick 84-yard drive and scored when Markezz Hightower scored from one yard out, cutting the lead to 49-40 with 1:24 left. But any hope of a miracle finish ended when the Eagles recovered the onside kick.
Hightower had a big, big night, finishing with 205 yards and four touchdowns. The 205 yards give him now 5,096 yards for his career.
The loss drops the Maroons to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in district play. Madisonville will close out the district schedule next Friday night when the Maroons host Owensboro. The Red Devils are 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the district. If the Maroons were to knock off the Red Devils and Apollo were to win at Marshall County, there would be a three-way tie at the top of the district standings.
