Out of all the High School football teams I have talked about in the previous weeks, the Madison Mavericks have not one, not two, but three offensive stars!!! Impressive!
Marquis Warford…SR…Running Back
Last season, he had 280 carries for 2,162 yards with 22 touchdowns.
Marquis is small and very fast. I really hope he has a good equipment manager who can make sure his helmet stays on. I worked several Madison games last season and his helmet hit the ground more than he did.
Galen McAllister…SR…Running Back
Last season, he had 157 carries for 1,227 yards with 6 touchdowns.
Galen is a great compliment to go along with Marquis.
Byron Daniels…JR…Wide Receiver
Last season, he had 47 receptions for 1,008 yards with 16 touchdowns.
If the football is in Byron’s vicinity, he is going to to catch it. I am pretty confident to say that Byron will have quite a few spectacular receptions this season.
Vincent Taylor…SR…Defensive End
Man, Vincent will be all over the opponents and the local news with his hits!!!!
The coach for Madison, Jim Streety, has been with the team for 21 years. Dang, that is a long time!
Madison probably has the toughest non-district schedule as they play Steele, Kerrville Tivy, Smithson Valley, and New Braunfels.
The majority of Madison’s opponents will do everything in their power to avoid kicking to them for the fear of a touchdown or a huge play!!! I have seen many kickoffs and punts returned for touchdowns. The Mavericks are magicians on special teams; trust me.
Madison has a chance to go really far into the playoffs. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they made it to the state championship game.
One of my favorite Madison game’s I worked was several years ago as they played a Laredo team in the playoffs in Laredo. It was me, Mark Kusenberger, and Mark Thomas broadcasting the game; yes, 3 Mark’s!!!! We arrived a couple of hours before kick-off but the Laredo fans were already there. This was a Madison team that had Joey Gutierrez at quarterback, Jacob Gutierrez at running back, and the original Green in Gary Green JR also at running back. Madison scored easily on Kickoff returns, punt returns, rushing, and passing. It was a blowout at halftime for the Mavericks. Well, when Madison got the ball on their first possession, they ran it for a touchdown!!! There was a mass exodus of Laredo fans after in the 3rd quarter when Madison scored yet again and it was right after a long drive by Laredo that stalled inside the 20! Wow!!!
I saw Jacob Gutierrez in another game score a rushing touchdown, but on that play, Jacob dragged at least 5 defenders for 10 yards!!! That was awesome and priceless!
Gary Green JR was an absolutely phenomenal football player. It was off to the races every time he touched the ball. I also saw Gary’s bothers and cousins play football for Madison. The Green gene was something special and I had a great seat in the press-box to witness it year after year. Last season was the first time without a Green and the replacements of Marquis and Galen did a heck of a job.
Now for my big debate question…Who was the better running back, Gary Green JR or Devin Thomas? Wow!!!! I know is tough to choose. I would give a slight edge to Devin cause he is more recent in my football brain!!! Plus, Devin put up ridiculous offensive numbers game after game. He also had a super talented rival in Marcus Wright from Reagan High school. It was always a game for the history books when Marcus and Devin were on the same field even the game that ended Devin’s High school football career (he was injured very late in the game; a defensive player horse collared Devin and that is a HUGE no no in football). That particular play is embedded in my memory.
When I think of Madison football, I of course think of all the great athletes that have played football for the Mavericks. Most are mentioned in this post, but there are two players who I have to mention and unfortunately both of them passed away way to early and they are: Anthony Arline and David Edwards.
Arline graduated from Madison in 2002. No matter what position he played, he was a threat to score every time he touched the ball. He was exciting to watch and I am fortunate that I worked a lot of Madison games in which he played. Thank you Anthony.
Edwards played for the Mavericks in 2003. During a playoff game in 2003, he was tackled by a defensive player and the hit left him paralyzed. I didn’t work that particular game and I am glad I didn’t. Cause if so, it would’ve been 2 consecutive years in a row for a playoff game with a player getting paralyzed. Nor do I remember him playing as that season I probably didn’t work any Madison games. Heroes stadium, one of the stadiums for the Northeast Independent school district, is on David Edwards drive and one can assume that they named in honor of David. Thank you David.
I am going to write about each game I work this season and they will appear on my BLOG on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. I also added a page called My High School Football schedule and this will be updated throughout the season.
Oh, in the next few weeks, I will be debuting Inside the Huddle, a place for my friends and insiders to share there thoughts on High School football.
Please check out my previous posts for the Number 10 thru Number 3 teams as ranked by Express News for the preseason rankings:
Number 10 Kerrville Tivy Antlers
Number 9 Brennan Bears
Number 8 Judson Rockets
Number 7 O’Connor Panthers
Number 6 Reagan Rattlers
Number 5 East Central Hornets
Number 4 Brandeis Broncos
Number 3 Smithson Valley Rangers
We all know who number 1 is and I will share my thoughts on that team very soon. Just a teaser; I will talk about police officers and Texas stadium in Dallas.
