University holds off Madison Prep, 37-29

BATON ROUGE – No. 1 University Lab scored 21 straight second quarter points and never trailed Friday night after allowing the first points to Madison Prep, surviving a late rally to win a District 7-3A showdown of unbeatens, 37-29.

Derrick Graham capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive off with a one yard score to give University (7-0, 4-0) a 37-13 lead and the final quarter began with No. 3 Madison Prep (6-1, 3-1) seemingly down-and-out.

Instead, star signal caller Zeon Chriss, the UL Lafayette committment who passed for 324 yards and a touchdown, helped the Chargers make things interesting.

Chriss also ran for 87 yards and scored three touchdowns including both scores and one of the two-point conversions to pull Madison Prep to within 8.

The Chargers defense looked to have made a big stop with just over five minutes remaining but a controversial running into the kicker penalty kept the University offense on the field to run out the clock.

“We just ran out of time,” Madison Prep coach Landry Williams said. “The fight was there. These guys and never going to give up and neither would U-High. We dug ourselves too big of a hole to get out of this time.”

Leading the way for the Cubs, quarterback Blake Abney passed for 195 yards and three touchdowns including a 12-yard score to Seth Gale, a 35-yarder to Edan Stagg in the first half and a 59-yard strike to Jason Barnes Jr.

“We finished and found a way to win,” University coach Andy Martin said. “We had to play a full game and they had to play a full game for the first time in a while. I’m telling you, we’re going to look back on this one. This game is going to be cornerstone game that helps us to where we want to be at the end of the year.”

University hosts Parkview Baptist next week while Madison Prep will pay a visit to Baker.