By Dennis Atwood — Daily Sports Correspondent

QUICKSBURG — The lead-in chatter to Friday night's game had it that Madison County, with the advantages of size, speed, skilled players, and a 4-0 record, would have an easy time in their game against the smaller Stonewall Jackson Generals. After all, the Generals had lost their star running back, Colton Koontz, for the remainder of the season due to a broken ankle in last week's game.

But the Generals (3-2) ignored that script, demonstrated that skill comes in various sizes, and that determination and drive count for a lot as they jumped ahead 13-0 by the time the second quarter began.

Then, momentum shifted to the Mountaineers who responded with 13 points of their own in the second quarter for a halftime tie; and added 13 more while shutting out the Generals in the second half for a 26-13 win.

"After falling behind by 13 we decided to play and we decided that, even though we were 4-0, our opponents are going to show up and play, not just kneel down," said Mountaineers coach Stuart Dean. "It was a good lesson to learn and it almost bit us in the butt. Our passing game wasn't as sharp as I'd like because the last three weeks we've been running nearly all the time."

Stonewall's first score came on a three-yard run by senior Pete Pendleton, playing his first game at tailback due to the loss of Koontz. The score was on the Generals' first possession and capped a drive with 13 runs in the first quarter. The kick failed and the Generals led 6-0. Pendleton finished the night with 18 rushes for 56 yards.

The Mountaineers (4-1) fumbled the ensuing kickoff return and the Generals recovered it at the Madison County 43-yard-line. After Pendleton gained 11 yards for a first down, he rushed three more times and the first quarter ended with Stonewall facing a fourth-and-4. On the next play, the Generals' freshman quarterback, John-Michael Pirtle, found junior running back Ethan Hirsh wide open on the right sideline and connected on a 27-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good and Stonewall was writing its own script ahead 13-0 with 11:45 remaining in the second quarter.

"We're not a one-dimensional team. We work well together and I thought we started out great," Pirtle said. "I scrambled the best I could against their big defenders. The touchdown toss to Hirsh was the designated play, but it was terrific that I saw he was uncovered."

Pirtle was 4 for 7, for 127 yards and a TD.

Madison County then overcame any shock or surprise they were experiencing by mounting a nine-play drive built on two passes and six rushes shared by junior running backs Logan Terrell for 17 yards, and Devon Boone for 34 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 13-7. The Mountaineers overcame a four-yard loss on a sack by senior guard Mikie McCabe, with the Generals returning the favor with a 15-yard personal foul penalty.

On their next possession, the Mountaineers dug themselves into a hole with two penalties, creating a first-and-18. Junior quarterback Will Taylor missed a wide-open Terrell down the middle, then made up for it by completing the same pattern and Terrell took the pigskin 65 yards for the score with 4:04 remaining to tie the game 13-13.

Madison County prevailed in the second half, beginning with a 57-yard run by junior running back Devon Boone, followed by two rushes for nine yards by Terrell, and a 2-yard touchdown run by Boone for a 20-13 lead with 8:06 remaining in the third quarter.

"They're a good team and their fumble on the kickoff helped us a lot," said Generals coach Dick Krol. "Part of our problem was attrition, with getting hit time after time by such big bodies and they're good athletes, but I'm proud of our guys staying with them. But we made too many big mistakes, giving up too many long runs and passes. We should have been able to score after Dawson's kickoff return, but we couldn't capitalize."

The Mountaineers closed out the scoring after the Generals turned over the ball on downs with the third quarter expiring. Boone and Terrell again shared running chores, gaining nine and 23 yards on the drive before Taylor hit senior wide receiver Ryan Banks on 40-yard TD pass for a 26-13 lead.

The Generals had two more golden opportunities. After recovering a Mountaineer punt return fumble, Pirtle completed a 38-yard pass to senior Derrik Turner to reach the Madison County 37-yard-line. But Stonewall couldn't convert on 4th-and-2 with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter.

With 9:51 remaining in the game, junior Dylan Dawson ripped off a 55-yard kickoff return to the Mountaineer 40-yard-line. Three Dawson rushes netted 3 yards and Pirtle completed a fourth-and-7 pass to Dawson for a first down. But, an incomplete pass on fourth-and-6 ended the Generals' final drive.