Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from the Madison County Journal May 17, 2007 edition

by BEN MUNRO

        Madison County’s season opener is still over three months away and Raider head coach Randell Owens, for one is thankful. That’s because the spring practice session-which wrapped up with this past Friday’s intrasquad Red and Gray game- hasn’t left him feeling any easier than when it started.

        “We’ve go t long way to go,” he said. “Thank goodness we’ve got another session of summer have to lineup and actually play. it gave us a good indicator of where we are. We’ve got a lot of work to do.” The spring session reiterated that inexperience paired with a lack of physical maturity will have the Raiders trying to get ready on the run this fall. Owens said this group has several young players that are “probably a year away,” but, at the same time, that those players will have to mature as they play.

        “We don’t’ have time to wait for them to grow up,” Owens said. Madison County put on the game jerseys for one night the past Friday-the Raiders won’t put them on again until the Aug. 31 opener with Franklin County- with the Red holding off the Gray late, picking up a late interception from Bracken Turner to preserve a 17-14 victory.

        Madison County’s Reds built leads of 10-0and 17-7, but the Gray rallied to make the game interesting, cutting the deficit to three points late and getting th ball back with just over a minute remaining. Highlights from the game included a 70-yard touchdown reception from Jamal Cooper for the Red and 48-yard touchdown from Kendrick Butler for the Gray.

        Both sides also punched in rushing touchdowns with Baird scoring for the Red and Mack getting into the end zone for the Gray. Jack Orr’s 42-yard field goal in the second quarter proved to be the difference for the Red. Of course, the night included some nullified scores, too.

        “It wasn’t easy on either group, they both made mistakes that called things back,” Owens said. Butler took a screen pass 80-yards for an apparent Gray touchdown in the first quarter, but the score was nullified by a penalty. Later, Cooper took off for another 70-yard touchdown reception for the Red in the third quarter, but that score was called back.

        But Owens did see some things to build on. The coach said he was pleased with the play of both team’s fullbacks, Stacy Mack and Cello Latimer, and praised the performance of both team’s free safeties, Turner and Dusten Randall, who each had an interception. “Fullback and free safety were the two position I felt like we got the most done,” Owens said.

        Owens also noted the physical play of both teams. Specifically, he pointed out to the second efforts of receivers who caught the ball a yard shy of the first down, but battled for the needed yardage. At the same time, he also pointed to the occasions when the defense stiffened up and drove those receivers back shy of the first down marker.

        “I saw things of the nature-just good, hard hitting,” Owens said. But Owens said on the biggest pluses of the spring game is that problem areas are now documented on film and ready for the team to study. He hopes what the players see will create a sense of urgency. But for what the team lacks in experience, Owens said that this team has the right mind set. “I feel good in that I feel like we’ve got a good group of kids,” he said. “I think they work hard.”

        And they’ll be counting on a lot of kids to step up soon, Owens said. “We’ve got a lot of sophomores who are going to have to step and fill in,” he said, “ . . . The future is now. That’s kind of a concern. We’re going to have to depend on some young kids.”

Red and Gray Game: How They Scored

•        Jamal Cooper snagged a screen pass from Spencer Baird and took it 70-yards for a Red score. RED 7, GRAY 0
•        Orr added a 42-yard field goal for the Red in the second quarter.                                 RED 10, GRAY 0
•        The Gray got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when Jacob Owens lofted a 48-yard strike to Kendrick Butler, who shook a pair of tacklers an he crossed the goal line. RED 10, GRAY 7
•        Spencer Baird put the Red up by 10 in the fourth quarter with a two-yard keeper, a score that was set up by a 35-yard jaunt from Cello Latimer down to the Gray two. RED 17, GRAY 7
•        The Gray kept things close with Stacy Mack scoring a touchdown with 5:38 left and the defense mounting a stop with 1:13. RED 17, GRAY 10
•        How the game ended: The Gray netted just one first down on its final drive before Bracken Turner, who missed most of the spring, sealed the victory for the Red with and INT with 42 seconds.