South Lakes to Entertain Unbeaten Madison in Must-Win Game

South Lakes High Coach Jason Hescock said the best thing about being at his team’s practices this week has been watching players who seemed to truly understand their roles.

“I’m seeing a lot of stuff where I say ‘Sure wish we’d been able to do that six weeks ago,’ but I’m glad they’re doing it now,” Hescock said after Wednesday’s practice. “Our goal is to play our best football the last game of the season, and we’re still on track for that goal.”

He also acknowledged that the Seahawks better be ready to play their best game this season on Friday night at 7 because that’s when the unbeaten Madison High Warhawks come to visit South Lakes. The Seahawks broke a losing streak against Madison last year, winning a 12-7 slugfest on the way to a Concorde District championship and the first 10-0 regular season in school history.

This year Hescock looks across the field at Madison and sees a familiar site. “They’re like we were last year … a very senior-heavy team,” he said. “They have eight starters back on defense. They have good players on both sides of the ball, and they see this as being their time.”

Madison comes in off a bye week. The Warhawks defeated Westfield, 26-21, taking advantage of three turnovers and a kickoff return for a touchdown by senior Dominic Knicely. They’ve had two common opponents with South Lakes – Robinson and Chantilly. Robinson beat South Lakes, 27-6, in week 2, then lost to Madison, 37-7, the following week. Chantilly eeked out a 30-28 victory over South Lakes but lost to Madison, 43-13.

South Lakes comes in 2-5 overall, 0-2 in the Concorde and losers of three straight, including the last two on the last play of the game. They must win out and will need help to make the postseason, but a loss to Madison would end all playoff hopes.

On the bright side, the Seahawks are scoring in bunches – they are averaging nearly 38 points per game in the district. On the other hand, they have given up 39 per game. And now they go against a team led by Knicely, a four-star prospect, and Cael Yates, a 3-year starter at quarterback, that produces nearly 34 points per game.

More importantly, Hescock said, they go against a defense that has produced two shutouts and allowed just nine points per game. “They’ve all played that 4-2-5 defense since they were little kids, and they all know where to be, and I think they have their best athletes on defense,” Hescock said. “They’re good on offense. They keep it simple so they can play fast, and they are extremely technically sound. But their defensive guys are dudes. They’re really good.”

Were a Vegas oddsmaker to look at the results so far, Madison would be a four- or five-touchdown favorite in a game the Seahawks have to win. Can they? Their senior leaders think so.

“We have to execute, but we can do it,” said running back Cody Wood, who leads the Seahawks with 13 touchdowns. “They’re going to do their thing,” said receiver Matthew McArthur, who had two catches in the Oakton game. “We have to go full speed every play. Practice and game.”

“We can do it if we get our offense going,” said David Sam, an anchor of the offensive line whom Hescock praised for having a big week in practice. “We need to get the ball into the hands of our athletes with room to work.”

Xvavier Swain, a defensive lineman and one of the Seahawks’ leading tacklers, said his unit understood the urgency. “We were one step away the last two games,” he said. “Last week we put up 47 points and lost by 1. This is do or die. This is competition. This is full effort. Can we do it? I don’t know, but I’d rather take this team on with these guys than anyone else.”

The Seahawks will have to do it without two of their seniors. Will Kouadio, the Seahawks’ top cornerback, was suspended for the last three games of the season for throwing a punch in the Oakton game, and Joey Falls, offensive lineman and the team’s spirit leader, suffered a concussion in practice.

Hescock says if South Lakes is to pull off the upset, he expects it to be a “28-27 type game,” a game of runs where South Lakes survives Madison’s bursts and perhaps gets a turnover or other big play to help.

“It’s about execution,” he said. “We’ve shown in chunks we can do it. We have to do it for a whole game this time. Put everything together. But as I told them, we don’t have to be perfect. Nobody’s ever going to play a perfect football game. We just have to be better.”