Football: East Forsyth runs past Madison County

GAINESVILLE, Ga. – East Forsyth is in the playoffs after defeating Madison County 42-14 on Friday night.

Madison County scored the only touchdown of the first quarter, but the Broncos put together a drive with long runs from Brock Szakacs and DJ Haskell, setting up Troy Hoover, who punched in the ball from a yard out to cut the lead to 7-6 . After recovering a Madison County fumble, Szakacs capped the short drive with a 9-yard rushing score, giving the Broncos their first lead of the game.

East Forsyth scored again before halftime when Szakacs found Chase Rhodes for a 47-yard pass and set up Gus Martin to score with less than a minute left to take a 20-7 lead into the break.

The Broncos kept the momentum going in the second half, converting a fake punt at midfield allowing Szakacs to find Jackson Norman for a 1-yard pass score that increased the lead to 28-7 after a two-point conversion. After the Red Raiders scored early in the fourth quarter, senior offensive lineman Rick Wiggins was able to score a touchdown with a 1-yard plunge midway through the fourth quarter, followed by a 5-yard passing score from Szakacs Andrew Frank to get to the goal final result.

Szakacs finished the night 14 of 19 for 176 passing yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 54 more yards and a score. Kellen Moran and Michael Acevedo each recovered fumbles for East Forsyth.

The Broncos now take the third seed from Region 8-4A and will advance to the first round of the playoffs in two weeks.