Madison Prep pulls away for playoff-opening win over North Wesbter

BATON ROUGE – With only 49 seconds remaining in the first half, North Webster trailed Madison Prep 14-6. For the 29th-seeded Knights, in that moment, they were within reach of the fourth-seeded Chargers.

They may have even been thinking upset.

But Zeon Chriss and his offense had something else in mind.

In those 49 seconds, he led the Chargers on a six-play, 86 yard drive that ended with him hitting LSU commit Major Burns for a 15 yard touchdown as time expired in the quarter; giving Madison Prep a 21-6 lead that turned into a 41-6 opening round victory in the 3A playoffs.

Chriss was responsible for six touchdowns on the night; four through the air, and two on the ground.

Burns caught two of those passes, and helped lead the Chargers’ defensive effort that stifled the Knights’ attack.

Madison Prep opened the scoring on their second drive of the game. Chriss was 2-for-3 passing for 29 yards on the drive, but Benjamin Stewart did the heavy lifting by rushing for 38 yards. His 15-yard carry took the Chargers inside the five yard line. Two plays later, Chriss called his own number, scoring from two yards out.

The Chargers scored again on their next drive, again on a touchdown run by Chriss. This one came on a beautiful 27-yard scamper on fourth down.

North Webster scored its only touchdown on their next possession on an 85-yard scoring strike from Jacquez Thomas to Roc Hawthorne. A missed extra point left the score at 14-6, and set up that late first half drive.

The second half began just as the first one ended; with a touchdown by Madison Prep.

Chriss led the Chargers on an 12-play, 80 yard drive that took 5:45 off of the clock. He ran for 12 yards and passed for 31 more, including a seven yard touchdown throw to Malik Palmer.

The Knights fumbled the ball on the first play of their ensuing drive, giving Madison Prep the ball inside the red zone, at the 15 yard line.

It only took two plays for the Chargers to capitalize. On second and nine from the 14, Chriss found Burns for the second time, giving Madison Prep a 34-6 lead.

The Chargers scored their final touchdown of the night late in the third quarter, on Chriss’ fourth touchdown pass of the night. Joel Williams hauled it in from 28 yards with 3:20 remaining in the quarter.

With the victory, Madison Prep extended its winning streak to 10 games. A streak that has seen them outscore their opponents 331-111.

The Chargers (10-1) advance to face Lutcher next week.

North Webster ends their season 4-7, with losses in each of their final four games.