Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from Madison County Journal, July 26, 2007 edition

MCHS football players participate in annual weightlifting competition

BY ZACH MITCHAM

There was sweat and pain and strong displays of muscle Monday.

There just wasn’t enough of it, according to Raider head football coach Randell Owens.

With two a days just two days away, a number of Raider football players opted to stay away from the team’s annual weightlifting competition Monday evening in the steamy middle school gym. Owens said only about 25 out of 75 Raiders competed.

“It was bittersweet,” said Owens. “I was excited to see some of the gains some of the boys had. But I was disappointed in that we didn’t have enough folks there. A lot of people were missing. We would have liked to have had more parents and players there.”

Owens shouldered some of the blame for the poor turnout.

“It was probably poor planning on my part,” he said. “I should have scheduled it for last week.”

Owens said a lot of players were sneaking in a vacation or earning some extra summer money Monday, knowing that they would begin practicing twice a day Wednesday, Aug. 1, the first day that Georgia high schools are allowed to make practice mandatory.

The coach said the team will practice in helmets through Friday, before starting Monday in pads.
Owens said that coaches have been busy ever since a summer camp at West Georgia. He said getting ready for full-fledged practice is like getting ready for company at your house.

“It’s just like somebody coming over to your house,” he said. “You try to get everything ready for them. You walk around thinking about what all you need to do and inevitably, there’s going to be something you forget.”

Owens, who began coaching in 1980, said the beginning of another season is always exciting.

“It’s just like a jigsaw puzzle,” he said. “You try to get everybody into the right position to help the team.”