Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from the Madison County Journal November 2, 2006 edition by BEN MUNRO Madison County @ Winder-Barrow, Friday, 7:30 p.m. Ask Raider head coach Randell Owens what’s there to play for Friday and he’ll tell you plenty. Granted, Madison County is already locked into a three seed out of its sub-region but he believes his team can hurt itself Friday, as far as momentum goes, for the Nov. 10 region playoffs if it falters against Winder-Barrow in its final sub-region game. “We’re putting a lot of focus on it in that we’ve got to improve this week to have a chance to win game 10,” he said. As for week 10, the top four seeds out of the sub-region will face off with the top four seeds out of the other sub-region next weekend and the winners of those games will move on to the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs. With Madison County’s 36-17 win over Jackson County this past Friday, the Raiders are assured of at least a chance to play for a return trip to the state playoffs after breaking a 22-year postseason hiatus last fall. Madison County faces the loser of Friday’s Cedar Shoals-Salem showdown in the region playoff. But Owens points to Friday’s objectives in Winder first. Other than trying to win and peak for game 10, there’s historical motivation riding on this matchup, too. Madison County, who hasn’t played the Bulldogs in nine years, has the chore of trying to beat Winder-Barrow for the first time since 1987. That means nearly all the current Raiders weren’t even born the last time Madison County — which has lost eight in a row to the Bulldogs — won in this series. Owens said he’s sure to let his players know that. “We’ll throw that one out there,” Owens said. “… This is a game we haven’t won in 19 years.” Then, the Raiders have their sights set on matching last year’s win total. At 6-2, that’s one win away from being a reality. But the team’s ultimate goal is to surpass the program’s record of 10 wins set 24 years ago. “We want to put it out there to try to be the winningest team in school history,” Owens said. “That’s one of the team goals. (Winning Friday) gets you closer to it.” From a tactical standpoint, Owens felt his team struggled defensively against Jackson County’s wing-T offense, giving up nearly 200 yards rushing. Since Madison County will inevitably face a wing-T team in either Cedar Shoals or Salem next week in the region playoffs, it will see if it can first stop Winder-Barrow who also operates out of the wing-T. “It’s an opportunity to get better against something that we’re going to see that’s going to determine whether we’re taking up equipment and playing basketball or whether we’re going on to the playoffs,” Owens said. Madison County faces a Winder-Barrow team that’s won just once and is mired at the bottom of the 8A-AAAA sub-region standings. Still, Owens said his team can’t be looking past this game. Winder-Barrow nearly knocked off talented Clarke Central See other stories about MCHS football at the paper edition of The Madison County Journal Reprinted from the Madison County Journal November 2, 2006 edition