Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from the Athens Banner Herald September 30, 2006, edition

Madison rides 'The Tractor' past Clarke
By Craig Peters|craig.peters@onlineathens.com
Story updated at 12:58 AM on Saturday, September 30, 2006
Madison County 34, Clarke Central 21
Clarke Central had a couple of big runs, but Madison County had a big runner. Brent Russell plunged for a 1-yard score midway through the first quarter to give Madison County a lead it never surrendered.
The 6-foot-2, 295-pound bulldozer later scored a two-point conversion and added a 7-yard score early in the second quarter of the Red Raiders' 34-21 win over the Gladiators on Friday at Billy Henderson Stadium.
Madison County (4-1, 1-1 in Region 8-AAAA North) relied on a combination of long and short passes by Jarrod Owens, who made frequent check-offs at the line and also ran the spread and triple option to keep the Gladiators (3-2, 1-1) guessing. "The Pittsburgh Steelers may have had 'The Bus' (Jerome Bettis), but we've got 'The Tractor,' Owens said in reference to Russell.
"Seeing (Russell) score his first touchdown was like watching a kid eat ice cream for the first time," said senior quarterback Jarrod Owens, who also ran for two touchdowns.
Russell said he expected the ball the first time but thought he would be a decoy the rest of the night. "That one time he faked it to me, nine of them jumped on me and (Owens) just walked in," Russell said.
Clarke Central's Terence Scruggs put the Gladiators on the board with a 41-yard scamper and added a 13-yard run in the second half, and Darreion Robinson scored from 65 yards out, but the Gladiators never trailed by less than 10 in the second half.
Owens completed 12 of 20 passes for 170 yards with one interception. He ran 14 times for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Scruggs led the Gladiators with 89 yards on 10 carries and caught three passes for 22 yards.
"We shot ourselves in the foot," Scruggs said. "We made mental mistakes, and Madison County executed. The mistakes frustrated first-year coach Leroy Ryals so badly he called for time in the first half and ran out to the field to provide detailed instruction on defense. "We had seen that same (two-point conversion) formation for five weeks on film and just looked like we were in la-la land," Ryals said.
Clarke Central's J.B. Erickson recovered his onside attempt on the opening kickoff, but few bounces went the Gladiators way after that. Madison County's Jack Orr bounced a 45-yard field goal off the right upright and through and successfully pooch kicked each kickoff. The Red Raiders recovered one of those.
The Gladiators tried to rally late, but Lejacque Martin sacked Coleman to create a fourth and long with just more than four minutes left. Clarke Central used a platoon at quarterback. Marques Coleman went 5-for-12 for 95 yards, and Beau Evans went 5-for-14 for 66 yards. Each threw an interception.
Madison County defeated Clarke Central for the third straight time. Red Raiders coach Randell Owens. The previous two meetings - both Red Raiders' victories - had been decided by two points, but Clarke Central committed 13 penalties for 62 yards. Although the total penalty yardage, was not large, the Red Raiders capitalized with points.
"Everybody said, 'What are you doing? You can't compete with a region schedule, make the playoffs or compete against the Clarke County teams.' I said, 'I guess I'm just stupid,' " Randell Owens said.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 093006