The first meeting of North Alabama’s most prolific private school programs didn’t produce the expected offensive fireworks from the two highest scoring teams in Class 3A.

It took a key defensive stop by Madison Academy in the game’s final moments to secure the Mustangs’ 21-14 victory over Mars Hill in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs at Bill Washington Stadium.

Linebacker Brandon Turner pounced on a Panthers’ fumble at the Madison Academy 4 with 18 seconds remaining after Mars Hill’s offense appeared poised to force overtime. Mars Hill’s second turnover deep in the red zone on a rainy night ended the Panthers’ comeback bid and sent the Mustangs on to the quarterfinals.

Madison Academy (12-0) was ranked No. 2 in the final Alabama Sports Writers Association poll; Mars Hill (10-2) came in at No. 4 after having been ranked No. 1 for seven weeks during the regular season.

Ken Cherry ran for 224 yards and two touchdowns, including an 85-yard sprint on the first play of the fourth quarter, for what proved to be the game-winning points.

Joshua Williams got Madison Academy on the board first with a TD run set up by a Mars Hill fumble at the Panthers’ 11. Williams ran the final eight yards and Donathan Buchanan kicked the PAT with 6:20 to go in the first quarter for a 7-0 Mustangs lead.

Mars Hill responded with nine-play scoring drive set up by Griffin Hanson’s 43-yard kickoff return. Hanson, the Panthers’ starting quarterback for five seasons, tied it at 7-7 with 1:29 left in the opening quarter with a 2-yard sneak.

Madison Academy answered by driving 67 yards in four plays, with Cherry doing all the work himself with his legs. His 7-yard TD run with 23.7 seconds left in the first put the hosts ahead 14-7.

Another Mars Hill threat midway through the third quarter fizzled when Hanson fumbled and Khamoni Merrell recovered at Madison Academy’s 27.

Madison Academy’s defense stopped Mars Hill on downs late in the third quarter. Starting at their 3, the Mustangs need just three plays to pad the lead, with Cherry sweeping right and shaking a couple of defenders on his way to an 85-yard touchdown run that made it 21-7 with 11:47 remaining in the fourth.

Mars Hill clawed back and cut the deficit to 21-14 after recovering a Mustangs fumble at its 45 midway through the fourth. Hudson Higgins scored on a 14-yard run with 6:08 left and Parker Kennamer’s extra point again made it a one-score game.

Star of the game: Cherry had 110 yards on nine carries in the first quarter alone and 121 by halftime. He finished with 224 yards on 18 carries and now has 2,246 yards and 30 touchdowns through 12 games.

Play of the game: Leading 14-7 late in the third quarter, Madison Academy’s Austin Chambers made a solo tackle on the Mars Hill runner on fourth-and-goal from the Mustangs 3. Madison Academy extended its lead to 21-7 three plays later on Cherry’s 85-yard touchdown run.

Stat sheet: Mars Hill – Hanson completed four passes for 74 yards and rushed for 34 yards but was sacked four times. Higgins caught two passes for 49 yards and ran for 44 more on five attempts. Madison Academy – Quarterback Jake Poldiak was limited to 18 yards passing on five completions. Both of his passes in the second half went for negative yardage. Turner had two of Madison Academy’s three fumble recoveries. The Mustangs recorded only two first downs after halftime

By the numbers: 8, total fumbles by the Panthers, including three recovered by Madison Academy. Mars Hill put the ball on the turf four times in each half … 35, points below its season scoring average for Mars Hill. The Panthers entered averaging 49.3 ppg, second-highest in 3A behind Madison Academy … 5, number of 12-win seasons for Madison Academy head coach Bob Godsey, who improved to 231-78 in his career.

Coachspeak: “It was one heck of a football game and just happy to be moving forward. I think we showed some toughness and we showed some grit. Hopefully our guys will gain confidence from getting those stops when we had to.” – Madison Academy’s Godsey

“We didn’t handle the ball … we just didn’t get the plays done when we needed to. We knew it was going to be a great game and we didn’t get it done at the end.” – Mars Hill head coach Darrell Higgins

What’s next? Madison Academy advances to third round for the 10th time in school history where it will take on No. 9 Sylvania. Sylvania beat the Mustangs 48-45 in OT in the second round in 2022.