By james art REXBURG – Welcome to the playoffs Madison Bobcats.
The math of earning a postseason bid may have already been in their favor, but the Bobcats left no doubt Friday night, defeating Highland 42-7 in the teams’ regular-season finale to officially earn the state’s second-place playoff berth from 6A District 5- 6.
It was an impressive game by the Bobcats, who controlled the tempo on offense and were relentless on defense.
The Rams had just four possessions in the first half and the results were punt, punt, punt and turnover on downs.
At the time, the Bobcats had a 21-0 lead.
“I was nervous before the game, but our coaches did a good job of getting us ready,” said Madison’s Bryce Dredge, who ran for 102 yards. “We were prepared.”
What a difference a few weeks make.
Madison (8-1,2-1) fell 35-21 two weeks ago in its big rivalry game against Rigby. The win clinched the conference title for the Trojans and left the Bobcats with two weeks to regroup.
They did just that, shutting out a good Minico team 21-0 last week and then nearly shutting out the Rams, who connected on a short pass from Keaton Belknap to Cedric Mitchell in the fourth quarter.
Madison’s balance was tough to contain as Berkeley Beck caught two touchdown passes and Cash Summers managed two scores. Quarterback Hazen Torgerson had another solid game with three touchdown passes, including the first to Jack Cordero, who also had a 63-yard reception.
Highland (6-3, 1-2) couldn’t recover from the early deficit, and coach Nick Sorrell noted the Rams’ defense struggled to get stops on third down, which ultimately led to long, sustained drives by the Bobcats.
While Madison’s postseason fate is sealed, Hyland finds itself on the bubble.
“It’s a waiting game for us now,” Sorrell said. “Hopefully, we’ve done a good enough job in the first six games to give us a chance.”
The Rams opened the season with six straight wins and were ranked in the media poll.
The bad news for Highland is that the Rams lost three straight games to end the regular season. The good news might be that those games against Rigby, Skyline and Madison probably won’t hurt the team’s strength of schedule, which is part of the formula used in the MaxPreps rankings to determine seeding and who gets in and out of the playoffs.
On Friday, Highland was ranked No. 7 in 6A, with Rigby No. 1 and Madison No. 3. Skyline is the top-ranked team in 5A.
There are two at-large spots for the 6A playoffs. The final bracket could be released as soon as Saturday, but Sorrell noted they could know before then based on Friday’s results and the conference champions who take automatic berths.
“We’re hoping to get three teams from this side of the state in (the playoffs) so we can keep the trophy on this side of the state,” he said.
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