Madison County Red Raiders

The Gray rallied for a 14-13 win over the Red Friday, picking up a pair of scores in the second half of Madison County’s intrasquad scrimmage.

While the night might have offered suspense for fans, it gave Raider coaches plenty to think about..

“We got out of it exactly what we were looking for:  Where are we?  And where we are is that we’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there,” Raider head coach Randell Owens said.

The Gray trailed 13-0 at the half, but pinned the Red deep in its territory in the second half.  That’s when Gray defender Conner Boyett forced a fumble in the endzone and Jonathan Stuchell recovered for a touchdown.  The Gray tacked on a two-point conversion to pull within 13-8.

Jacob Owens then completed the comeback later with a score off a quarterback keeper in the fourth quarter and the Gray held on for the win.

“Overall, the Gray team just being down 13 points and not hanging their heads or pouting or giving up . . . from an attitude standpoint, was impressive,”  Coach Owens said.

The coach said he couldn’t fault either team’s effort.

“For the most part, I was real pleased with the overall effort of everyone,” Owens said.  “We had a lot of people really going both ways, more so than we would in actual ball game.”

Owens didn’t point to many individual efforts or plays as outstanding, though he did note Al Allen’s one-handed grab on a second quarter touchdown pass from Baird.

“It probably should have been an interception, but he reached in one-handed and pulled it away, Owens said.

Instead, Owens is currently more focused on the mistakes that came to light Friday.

Mishaps in the kicking game came in the form of two blocked punts and a blocked kick, which “will get you beat in a ball game,” Owens noted.

In the running game, Owens said the performance of the offensive lines “leaves a lot to be desired,” while also point to  protection breakdowns from the offensive front.

Defensively, Owens said the teams gave up too many big playes.

As for the race for the starting quarterback position, it’s still basically a dead heat and won’t be determined until after Friday’s scrimmage with Chamblee.

As of Tuesday, Owens said junior Spencer Baird is slightly ahead of sophomore Jacob Owens due to his confidence and experience with the system.

Jacob Owens made some strides Friday, the coach said, but still has “tunnel vision” with his throws and must develop more touch on his long passes.

“Really it’s flip a coin right now,” Owens said.  “But we’ll probably go with Spencer unless Jake gets obviously better.  With Spencer being a junior and a year ahead, we’ll go with the more mature guy unless the younger kid proves that he’s just better.”