Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from the Madison County Journal Thursday, July 19,, 2007 edition

 SUMMER FOOTBALL 

Seven-on-Seven Competitions Help Hone Defensive Skills 

by BEN MUNRO 

By nature—and in name—the summer passing league season would seem inherently offensive-oriented.

But don’t underestimate how beneficial these sessions are for a defense, Raider head coach Randell Owens said.

With no danger of a blitz in passing league rules, Madison County’s defense operates at a disadvantage each Tuesday when the Raiders meet for these seven-on-seven, one-hand-touch games with area teams.  In order to stop opponents from moving the ball, it must practice the fundamentals of pass coverage and work together as a unit.

“It forces the defense to have to play great coverage,” Owens explained.

Owens counts these Tuesday sessions as time well-spent during the downtime in the summer months.  After all, the summer is one of the most opportune times for a team to work on pass coverage since teams can’t really work on run defense until they don pads in preseason practice, he noted.

“I think a lot of people really underestimate how important this is,” he said.  “We get a lot of work on defense as far as the linebackers and secondary in the fundamentals of pass coverage.”

Owens said the Raider defense has stood some pretty good tests thus far this summer, going up against Oconee County, Oglethorpe County and Social Circle.  He noted that Oconee County, particularly, has posed a challenge with a strong-armed quarterback and a pass scheme.

And this is a year that Madison County’s defensive charges could benefit from being tested as much as possible before summer workouts start.  Depth and lack of experience for this year’s Raider secondary are two concerns for Madison County coaches heading into Fall.

But with these Tuesday passing league sessions, the Raiders have extra prep time before the first whistle blows in two-a-day practice. 

“It gives you a lot of time to really work on those things, those areas,” Owens said.l

NOTES:  Owens acknowledges that not everyone is a fan of summer passing league.  Some, he said, feel football games are won in the trenches while others feel the league takes away from players’ summer vacations.

But Owens defends it, saying that players basically learn while having fun.

“The people that are critical of it are one, lazy . . . two they don’t understand the passing game, either how to throw football or how to defend the pass.”