MADRID — Junior tailback Michael Santi found the end zone six times and by three different means to help Madrid (2-0) blast visiting Woodward-Granger (1-1), 42-6, in a non-district contest Friday.
Santi returned the opening kick off 81 yards for a score, caught a 43-yard scoring pass and stepped across the goal line four times while running the ball. He also completed one of the three successful two-point conversion plays for the hosts.
And that was just in the first half.
Santi finished with 175 yards and four TDs on 12 rushes to lead a ground attack that had 376 yards on 45 carries. Wyatt Smith led the team with 14 carries and finished with 91 yards.
Tiger quarterback Cade Kirkpatrick was 4-of-7 for 116 yards, hitting Santi for a 43-yard score and finding Luke Hudnutt three times for 73 yards.
A 13-yard run from Santi that followed his 43-yard TD reception helped Madrid stake a 22-0 lead after 12 minutes of play.
Woodward-Granger cracked the scoreboard at the 7:58 mark of the second quarter when Tanner Vermaas bulled over the goal line from two yards away. The conversion attempt failed, but W-G was back within range, at 22-6.
Unfortunately for the Hawk, Santi was far from done. Touchdown runs of 74 and of 35 yards pushed the Tiger advantage to 36-6, with a final Santi score setting the halftime score at 42-6. Neither team scored in the second half.
Brendan Bird was 5-of-14 for 41 yards through the air for W-G but was intercepted twice.
Johnnie Morgan caught one pass for 22 yards, Race Brant two passes for eight yards, Logan Canova one for six yards and Austin Scharlau one for five yards. Vermaas had 12 hard-earned yards on 15 carries to lead the ground game.
Scharlau led the W-G defense with seven tackles and a forced fumble, with Brant making six stops and Josh Saak 5.5 stops.
W-G will open Class 1A District 8 play Friday with a trip to Truro to face Interstate-35.
