MADISON COUNTY - Oakleaf Knights football coach Christopher Foy lives by the phrase "steel sharpens steel" and his visit to Boot Hill, the infamous home to Madison County High School football, was his choice to face off in the spring football season against one of the best in Florida.

"Even though this is a spring game, we had it circled," said Foy, who saw his Knights battle the storied Madison program to a 17-0 win. "We wanted to come back here and have some success. You don’t have all those (Madison) championships on that wall over there without being something special.”
For the Cowboys, championships are a mainstay on the turf as the Cowboys finished as runner ups to unbeaten Hawthorne High School last year in the Class 1A championship game with championship games dating back to 1998 as a runnerup, a 2A title in 2001, runnerups in 2003, 2004, champions 2007, runnerups in 2011, 2012, 1A champions 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 1A runnerup 2023.
"The only way to have a good gauge on how you fare in the brief spring season is to jump in the ring and take on the big dog," said Foy, who saw his young squad orchestrate a fast-paced offense behind his two quarterbacks and bolstered in the run game by Chris Foy II.
The Knights took a 3-0 lead in the second quarter off an Andrew McDaid field goal. The Knights would add to the scoring effort in the second and third quarters with a pair of touchdowns from Michael Conner II to bring a 17-0 victory back to Oakleaf to close out the spring season.
“That first score with the field goal was tremendous for us,” said Foy. “That was literally the first time we had been up by more than one point against this team in the two years we played them. It’s a mental thing."
Like any spring game, both teams had issues with false starts, encroachment, and holding. Tonight, it wasn’t habitual, but noteworthy. Just one thing for Foy to tune up before August.
What was notable was the size and shape of the Knight linemen who came into the spring game showing. No hands-on, and up front they moved the Cowboys around.
On the offensive line, not one sack was notched by the Cowboys on the Knights. The Knights quarterbacks never had rushed play with a Madison player chasing. Jayden Adams, Louis Innocent, Mykel Mayo, and Reginald Houston simply did not get pushed around.
“Those guys got themselves into tremendous shape in the off-season,” said Foy. “We are a strong team, we are. We are a heavy weightroom team and those guys, they respond to that. We are a work/produce program. What you saw tonight was what those guys put into it.”
The defensive line did not disappoint. Several times, both Mason Thomas and Amare’ Thomas were in the backfield causing mayhem for the Cowboys. Seeing what these two will do over the summer and how much bigger they may get can be interesting to see.
Kicker Andrew McDaid was perfect all night on PATs and his field goal with height, down the middle, and plenty of distance. His holder, Jayven Moreno was textbook, rock solid.
Defensive backs and linebackers were led by Fareed Coleman with an interception in the first quarter to kill off the third Cowboy drive. Coleman was backed up with great work by Jermaine Robinson breaking up some over-the-middle cross routes and stopping runs. Adian Justillien was also wreaking havoc at linebacker shutting down the Cowboys inside game.
Quarterbacks Jack McKissock, a transfer from The First Academy in Orlando who had 1500 yards passing with 19 touchdowns last year, and Jayven Moreno both alternated in and neither disappointed at all. They both kept cool waiting for receivers to open and good clean handoffs. No miscommunications and no delays of game calls.
Receivers were led most notably by Conner who pulled in several passes including a pair of touchdowns.
Saving the best for last, the Knights have something every team wants; a wide range of running backs who all got the job done. Christopher Foy II had several great runs to include a 47-yarder on the first touchdown drive. Foy was flanked with great runs by Carlos Witherup, Adian Justillien, and Malaci Warten. With both Witherup and Warten's position listed as ATH, and Justillien as a linebacker, Coach Foy will have some decisions to make on who will end up where.
The one notable that needed attention was the end contain runs. Of course, with extremely limited practice before the spring game, not every detail can have the right amount of attention. With the speed of the players and the dedication of this coaching staff, the Knights showed they will be a team to have circled on the 24-25 season