The Madison Warhawks defeat the Westfield Bulldogs in the Regional final 31-7, to advance to the state semifinal game with Freedom Woodbridge Will Palenscar
The Westfield Bulldogs (9-3) traveled to Vienna for a Regional Final game with the Madison Warhawks (11-1) on Nov. 25. The two conference rivals are also two of the most successful programs in the region. Westfield won state Championships in 2003, 2007, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Madison has been runner up in the last two state championships.
As it has been often this season the Madison running-passing combo has been difficult to defend. On Saturday Madison would open scoring when Dominic Knicely scored the first of his 3 touchdowns on the ground with 4:37 left in the opening quarter. Knicely would run through what seemed to be an overcrowding of offensive and defensive linemen, only to find a hole and explode past three Westfield defenders for a 61 yard run.
Down 7-0, Westfield would tie things up when Landon Murphy took a pass from Matthew Jenks for 72-yard touchdown with 9:43 to play in the 2nd quarter. Westfield would not get any closer. Madison would score 24 unanswered points. Dominic Knicely would score his second touchdown with 3:35 to play before halftime on a two yard touchdown run. With 2 seconds before half Madison's Julian Hopewell would kick a 25 yard field goal to give Madison a 17-7 halftime advantage.
In the 3rd quarter Darren Knicely would pull in an 8-yard touchdown reception from Madison QB Cael Yates. With 6:26 to play the lead grew to 24-7.
In the 4th quarter with 7:28 to play in the game Dominic Knicely would add his 3rd touchdown on another 2 yard touchdown run to complete scoring for the game.
With the 31-7 win, Madison will face Freedom Woodbridge (12-0) in the Virginia State semifinal at Freedom Woodbridge at 7 p.m. on Dec. 2. Freedom Woodbridge advanced to the state semi final game after defeating previously unbeaten Battlefield 50-7. Madison played Freedom Woodbridge in the State Championship game last year. Westfield's season ends.