By Ernie W. Webb III
MADISON – Little River and Madison are storied programs with multiple state titles and a long history of making deep runs in the playoffs. That set the stage for a heavyweight slugfest Friday night in the sectional finals of Eight-Man Division I.
The game lived up to the hype, as the defending state champion rallied with two late touchdowns to knock off Madison 38-32. With the win, Little River (11-0) moves on to sub-state against rival Canton-Galva.
Like last week against Burlingame, Little River got off to a slow start, trailing 14-0 and 20-8. The deficit stood at 10, 32-22, four minutes into the fourth quarter.
Though Little River appeared to be on the ropes after Madison recovered an onside kick following a touchdown with 9:53 remaining, it recovered a fumble at the Bulldogs’ 37 to shift the momentum.
Moments later, Little River pulled within 32-28 on an 18-yard pass from Rylan Konen to Braxton Lafferty. A conversion pass from Konen to Grant Stephens cut the deficit to 32-30 with 7:30 left.
Madison (10-1) cornered Little River again on its next possession, picking up a couple of first downs while running nearly five minutes off the clock. But a run on fourth-and-5 came up 2 yards short, giving Little River life.
Taking over at his own 29 with 2:30 remaining, Konen connected with Braden Young on a couple of 11 yards passes and with Stephens on a 10-yard toss to set up the winning score. On first down from the 12, Young raced off left tackle, sprinting into the end zone with 47.9 seconds left to give Little River its first lead at 36-32.
Konen hit Stephens on the conversion, capping a critical theme in the game: two-point conversions. Little River converted on four of five, while Madison only converted once after its five touchdowns.
The Bulldogs got the ball back after a touchback, but Casey Helm lost 5 yards on a sack by Kaden Schafer on first down and threw an interception on a desperation heave on the next play.
Konen kneeled out of the victory formation on the last play of the game to send Little River to the semifinals for the 11th time in school history. The program has won six state championships (1970, 1971, 1981, 1996, 1999, 2020).
Fueled by a loss to Little River in sub-state last year, Madison dominated much of the first half, building a 14-0 lead on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Helm to Drew Stutesman and Helm’s 15-yard run.
The Bulldogs led 20-8 after a 64-yard pass from Helm to Stutesman, but Little River answered with a 4-yard pass from Konen to Lafferty late in the second quarter to pull within 20-16.
Little River tried an onside kick after that score, but Madison recovered with 9.7 seconds left. The Bulldogs moved to the 19 on a 25-yard pass from Stutesman to Lane Darbro with .7 seconds remaining. On the last play of the half, Helm and Darbro connected for a touchdown and a 26-16 advantage.
A 4-yard run by Lafferty made it 26-22 late in the third, and Little River got the ball back six plays later, driving deep in Madison territory early in the fourth. But the Bulldogs came up with a stop on fourth-and-one from the 4, setting up a 72-yard bomb from Helm to Bryson Turner for a 32-22 lead.
With its season on the line, Little River counter-punched with 16 points in the final seven minutes to advance.
Helm was 5 of 9 for 193 yards, while Stutesman had 162 total yards, including 96 receiving. Turner had 108 yards, including 72 receiving and 36 rushing.
Konen threw for 171 yards, while Lafferty had 161 total yards (96 rushing, 65 receiving). Stephens had 65 yards receiving and Young 56 total yards (41 receiving, 15 rushing).
LITTLE RIVER 38, MADISON 32
Little River 0 16 6 16 — 38
Madison 14 12 0 6 — 32
MD – Drew Stutesman 32 pass from Casey Helm (Helm run)
MD – Helm 15 run (Run failed)
LR – Grant Stephens 26 pass from Rylan Konen (Braxton Lafferty pass from Konen)
MD – Stutesman 64 pass from Helm (Run failed)
LR – Lafferty 4 pass from Konen (Braden Young pass from Konen)
MD – Lane Darbro 19 pass from Helm (Run failed)
LR – Lafferty 4 run (Pass failed)
MD – Bryson Turner 72 pass from Helm (Run failed)
LR – Lafferty 18 pass from Konen (Stephens pass from Konen)
LR – Young 12 run (Stephens pass from Konen)
LR MD
First Downs 16 11
Rushes-Yards 32-123 35-105
Passing Yards 171 218
Passing 12-19-1 6-10-1
Total yards 294 323
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 5-1
Penalties 3-20 6-63
Punting 1-29 2-33.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Little River – Lafferty 20-96, Young 5-15, Konen 6-13, Stephens 1-(-1). Madison – Stutesman 11-41, Turner 8-36, Helm 16-28.
Receiving: Little River – Stephens 5-65, Lafferty 4-65, Young 3-41. Madison – Stutesman 2-96, Turner 1-72, Darbro 3-50.
Passing: Little River – Konen 12-19-1 171. Madison – Helm 5-9-1 193, Stutesman 1-1-0 25.