Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from The Athens Banner Herald September 19, 2008 edition

 By JENNIFER IANNONE  |  jennifer.iannone@onlineathens.com  |  Story updated at 8:32 pm on 9/18/2008

After last week's game with Monroe Area, Madison County's Bracken Turner had more than just a win to celebrate.

The junior caught two passes for 52 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown, but he also had three interceptions in the 34-0 victory.

"It was huge. That's stuff you dream about, really," Turner said. "You don't really think that's going to happen in reality. I was pretty psyched about it."

Madison County coach Randell Owens has only had one other athlete accomplish picking off three passes in a single game in his 28-year coaching career. Former Madison County free safety Hunter Adams recorded three interceptions against Rabun County in 2005.

All of Turner's interceptions came in the second half. The first two were tipped.

"Me and another player went for the interception, and I dove in front of him and caught it," Turner said of his first pick in the third quarter. "That kind of gave us a little spark. We drove down the field and scored."

Turner turned two Monroe Area players' misfortunes into his second interception. The players ran into each other and the ball bounced off them.

"I happened to be right there," Turner said. "It fell right in my lap. I didn't really have to do much."

He takes the most pride in his final pick.

"The guy was running the post route at me," Turner said. "The ball was behind the receiver. I was going to make the hit, and I saw the ball coming at me. I just put my hands up and caught it. I saw nothing but green, and I had one of my linebackers out there blocking for me."

Turner, a free safety and receiver, graded out at 81 percent for assignment and blocking on offense. On defense, he graded at 90 percent. He gained 74 yards after his interceptions.

"Bracken does an incredibly great job of doing the very basic, little fundamental things exceptionally well," Owens said. "He really concentrates every day in practice on improving his basic skills that other people kind of get sloppy about. He's real consistent throughout the game.

"He's got a God-given knack of adjusting to the ball and seeing the ball," Owens said. "There's no wasted moment. He's like a bullet breaking on the ball."

Turner, who also plays basketball and baseball, said it hasn't always come easy to him.

"I really didn't know what to look for," he said of his first time playing free safety two years ago. "I had a hard time finding the ball. But after repetition and working on it, I finally got the hang of it. Now, it just comes naturally."

In addition to the repetition, Turner said studying film of opponents helps him to be in the right place at the right time. He watches film with the team, but also takes it home to study it on his own time.

"It's all about preparation and knowing what the other team's gonna do before they know what they're gonna do," he said.

Now that Turner has more interceptions in one game this season than he did all of last year, he is itching for more.

The Red Raiders (2-1, 2-1 in Region 8-AAAA) travel to Cedar Shoals (2-1, 2-1 in Region 8-AAAA) at 7:30 p.m. today.

"It's definitely a huge game for us," Turner said. "If we win that, we're definitely right where we want to be. I think we have a very good chance of coming out on top."

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, September 19, 2008