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Madison County Peaking

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 7, 2007

MADISON - In this small town a Hail Mary pass from the Georgia state line, there's more than one stoplight. But during a quick drive around, the count falls short of double digits.

On Friday nights, the brightest lights in town shine over at Boot Hill, the modest home of the Madison County Cowboys. As the Cowboys practiced Thursday in preparation for Saturday's Class 2A state championship game against Tampa Catholic at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, a girls playoff soccer game occupied Boot Hill.

"We got kicked off our own field," said Madison County coach Frankie Carroll with a chuckle.

The Cowboys simply moved to a practice field next door, swatting the mild inconvenience out of the way like they have opponents all season. Madison County (12-1) enters Saturday's game on a roll, cruising past Marianna (41-6), Fort White (41-0) and South Sumter (47-20) to reach its fourth state title game in the last seven seasons.

In last week's victory at South Sumter, junior running backs Chris Thompson and Corey Akins ran for almost enough yards to get them back home. Thompson, being heavily recruited by several Division I schools, gained 297 yards and scored four touchdowns. Akins chipped in 231 yards and three touchdowns.

"Those are two bad boys," Madison County linebacker Harry Reddick said.

Carroll, who grew up a few miles away in Greenville, is thankful Thompson and Akins are on his side as he attempts to win his first state title in three tries. The last time Madison County won a state championship - defeating Clewiston in 2001 - Carroll was an assistant.

He took over the program the next season, and the Cowboys have lost only seven games in the last five years. Five of those losses came to eventual state champions, including losses to Hollywood Chaminade in the 2003 title game, and to Immokalee in the 2004 2A championship.

How does he keep Madison County's football powerhouse at the top in a county that had only 18,033 residents, according to the latest survey by the U.S. Census Bureau?

"We've got 68 kids on the team, but we can only dress 60 of them," Carroll said. "Our kids, they just love playing football. I mean, there's not much else to do in Madison County."

As for Saturday's game against Tampa Catholic, Carroll sees a Crusaders team that is physical up front and can cause his defense some problems despite the presence of defensive back Travis Arnold, who has committed to play at Florida State next season. Of course, the Cowboys are loaded with speed, which can erase mistakes in a blink of an eye.

"We felt like we had a pretty good team coming into the year," Carroll said. "We felt like if we peaked at the right time, we had a chance to win a state title."

Based on the last three weeks, the Cowboys are peaking at the right time.

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