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Mitchell’s Ben Young (22).
MARSHALL — A season ago, the Mitchell football team entered its matchup against Madison on the heels of its first loss of the year.
Instead of digging themselves into a deeper hole, though, the senior-laden Mountaineers recorded a 63-0 win over the Patriots en route to their first-ever regional football championship.
Many names and faces have changed on the Mitchell sideline since then. But after an 8-0 start was blemished by a disappointing 34-7 loss to Mountain Heritage a week ago, the young Mountaineers arrived at Roberts Stadium on Friday night looking to rebound once again.
It wasn’t always pretty. But behind junior quarterback Ben Young’s four rushing touchdowns, Mitchell overcame four first-half turnovers to secure a 35-21 win on the Patriots’ Senior Night.
“The kids have grown up since Week 1, and every week we’ve gotten better in some situations,” said Mitchell coach Travise Pitman about his team’s maturity. “This week shows we can get beat and how we can respond to it.”
Adversity reared its head before Mitchell (9-1, 4-1) took the field, as sophomore Landon Miller and junior Brody Smith, the team’s leading receiver, didn’t dress out because of concussions.
Smith’s absence was apparent on the Mountaineers’ opening drive. A dropped pass and a pair of short runs resulted in a quick three-and-out, and Madison (5-5, 2-3) took over on the Mitchell 44-yard line after a blocked punt.
Junior Ty Snelson ensured the Patriots capitalized on the excellent field position, plunging into the end zone from two yards out for a 7-0 lead. Madison continued to ride the 6-foot, 235-pound fullback, who rushed for 113 yards, including 68 in the first half.
“Since Derek (Gonzalez) went down and we moved (Snelson) to tailback, he’s set the tone just about every game with just how hard he runs,” said first-year Madison coach Benjamin Rhodarmer. “He’s physical and he’s a very smart player.”
With Snelson finding success on the ground, the Patriots seized a 14-6 lead with 1:40 left in the first quarter following Young’s first interception of the night. But the Mountaineers responded with a three-play, 63-yard touchdown drive and a successful two-point conversion to tie the game at 14 entering the second period.
Two of Mitchell’s next three drives concluded with interceptions. Madison failed to capitalize on the takeaways, however, as the Mountaineers’ defense held its ground.
“Our defense has played great all year,” said Young, whose 46-yard rushing touchdown midway through the second quarter handed his team a 21-14 lead entering halftime. “And that’s been great for me because I don’t have to worry a whole lot.”
Any pressure Mitchell felt as the third quarter began was once again alleviated by the defense, which forced a fumble on the Patriots’ third offensive play of the half. Junior Ben Robinson scored on a 5-yard rushing touchdown moments later, giving the Mountaineers a 28-14 lead.
But Madison refused to go away.
On the ensuing possession, senior quarterback Colby Edwards converted on three fourth downs, throwing for 56 yards in the process, before Robinson registered an interception. A three-and-out by the Patriots’ defense then led to Snelson’s second touchdown of the night, which cut the deficit to 28-21 with 7:43 remaining.
As it struggled to do all night, though, Madison’s defense struggled to contain Young on the ground.
The junior quarterback, who maintained his composure despite three interceptions, carried the ball seven times for 90 yards on Mitchell’s final drive and scored from four yards out to seal the victory with 2:05 left.
With the win, the Mountaineers will head into next week’s regular-season finale at Avery County with a chance to finish in a three-way tie with Hendersonville and Mountain Heritage atop the Western Highlands Conference standings.
“We knew we had lost, but we knew that if we won the next two games we would probably end up finishing with a three-way tie,” said Young, who finished with 237 rushing yards. “We look forward to that, but we don’t look back. We look toward the playoffs.”
After registering just four wins over the previous two seasons, Madison showed how far it has come this year in Friday’s loss.
“I’m pretty sure if we went here and asked them they’d line up and play some more tonight because they don’t know the meaning of the word quit,” Rhodarmer said. “They played their hearts out from whistle to whistle. It says a lot about these kids.
“That what I told these seniors is they left a legacy. It doesn’t matter what we do from here with our record or the scoreboard, they’ve left a legacy of playing hard and of coming out and doing things the right way.”
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