With loss, Madison faces hard road to division title

When the defending AUDL Champion Dallas Roughnecks (8-2) came into town, many fans wrote off Madison Radicals (5-2). As many people view the Midwest Division as the weakest in the AUDL, players and fans expressed their doubts of Madison as a contender against Dallas. And despite a 23-17 meltdown, Madison proved quickly that they can contend with the Dallas team.

There were many factors that led to the eventual Madison loss. Sidelined from a heel injury in the previous contest, Kevin Brown was absent from the field. A staple for the Madison offense, K. Brown plays a critical role for the offensive line, and his deep cuts were sorely missed.

And while the offensive line eventually stabilized, it all came into jeopardy midway through the second quarter. Up 7-6, Madison had a crucial injury when Pat Shriwise injured his back. Despite Madison being able to eventually convert that point, Shriwise being sidelined caused a major issues for Madison. The line only had eight players, causing Madison to shift over some of their defensive lineman to the offense.

Using top defensive players on both sides of the disc weakened Madison’s defense, which was already hurting from the notable absence of standout defender Andrew Meshnick. Despite the return this week of Brian Hart and Seth Meyer, Madison’s defense clearly began to lag considerably after putting up tons of pressure against Dallas to begin the game.

Madison’s offensive line started strong, with Tom ‘Animal’ Annen returning to the field. With 4 assists, 1 goal and 1 d with only 1 throwaway, Animal made a huge splash for the Madison offensive line. Providing the core stability Madison needed in the backfield freed up the rest of the offense to be more active on the rest of the field.

The true test for Madison now lies back in the Midwest division. With two losses on the season, the team will likely need to win the remainder of their games to take back the lead in the division. The first of the two big tests will be this weekend, as Madison travels to face Minnesota Windchill (7-0) for the second time this season. After falling to them 22-20 in the second game of the season, Madison will be looking to not only avenge that loss, but prove that they still belong at the top of the Midwest division.

Madison faces off against Minnesota at 7pm CST.

Madison Radicals active roster:

  1. #2 Andrew Meshnick
  2. #4 Pat Shriwise
  3. #6 Bill Everhart
  4. #9 Joshua ‘Jdub’ Wilson
  5. #10 David ‘Buddy’ Meinecke
  6. #11 Andrew Brown
  7. #12 Ross Barker
  8. #13 Brian Hart
  9. #14 Logan Pruess
  10. #18 Sterling Knoche
  11. #21 David Wiseman
  12. #25 Ryan Tucker
  13. #26 Peter Graffy
  14. #29 Nate Thibedeau
  15. #32 Colin Camp
  16. #40 Marquis Mason
  17. #44 Jadon Scullion
  18. #48 Thomas Coolidge
  19. #80 Kevin ‘KPS’ Pettit-Scantling

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