Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from the Athens Banner-Herald October 28, 2006 edition Madison County 36, Jackson County 17 By Tom Marine | sports@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 2:38 AM on Saturday, October 28, 2006 JEFFERSON - Madison County took another step toward the Region 8-AAAA playoffs on a rainy Friday night. The Red Raiders, led by three outstanding individual performances, outlasted the rain and Jackson County 36-17 at Panther Stadium. Jarvis Long, Jarrod Owens and Aldreakos Allen provided Madison County with a three-headed offense attack that consistently moved the ball throughout the game. "We wanted to come in and make history," said Long, a running back. "Our coach asked us to get a big win here." The win gave Madison County (6-2, 3-2 in Region 8-AAAA North) sole possession of third place in its sub-region with one game left in the season. This year, Region 8-AAAA will have a one-game playoff by placing the top four teams in both the North and South against each other. The winners of those games will advance to the state playoffs. "The team has come a long way," Madison County coach Randell Owens said. "The biggest thing is togetherness. We're probably not as athletically talented as we were last year, but we have better team accord than we have ever had." The Red Raiders were definitely in sync. They accumulated 454 yards in total offense. Long ran for 112 yards, and Owens threw for 221 yards, mainly to Allen, who caught 11 passes for 159 yards. After Madison County scored to put the Red Raiders up 29-7, Panthers running back Adarius Hendrix took the following kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Two plays later, Taylor Kennedy intercepted Owens' pass, which set up Zach Turner's 37-yard field goal. The Red Raiders then settled down and ran a time-consuming nine-play touchdown drive that pushed the lead to 36-17. The Panthers never recovered. "We scraped. It may be a loss on the scoreboard, but our kids grew," Jackson County coach Frank Caputo said. "I just appreciate our kids playing so hard." The Red Raiders are priming themselves for a playoff run, but must first take care of Winder-Barrow next week. "The next step is to go out there and play Winder and just play hard," Allen said. "I wished we had finished second (in Region 8-AAAA North), but now we have to go out there and finish strong." Game report • Turning Point: After Jackson County took a 7-0 lead, Madison County scored three touchdowns, including one as the first half expired, to take a 22-7 lead into halftime. • Key Stat: The Red Raiders threw for 221 yards. • Impact: The Red Raiders put themselves in strong position to secure a Region 8-AAAA playoff berth. Published in the Athens Banner-Herald edition on 102806.