Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from The Madison County Journal, August 9, 2007 edition.

by Ben Munro

These aren’t your fathers’ or even older brothers’ Raiders.
The aura of Madison County football has changed and the Raiders continue to prove that.
A quick glance at the numbers tell the story of the recent Raider riches — two-straight state playoff appearances, three-straight winning seasons in region football and an average of seven wins per year since 2004 when head coach Randell Owens arrived.
Most of these are firsts for a half-century-old football program that’s long searched for milestones and highlights.
Madison County – which opens its season in just 22 days – now takes the field with something to uphold after stringing together three successful seasons.
Each of the past three years have built upon each other.
The 2004 Raiders turned heads by going 6-4 and snagging a signature win over Clarke Central. In 2005, Madison enjoyed a breakthrough season, reaching the state playoffs for the first time in 22 years. Last season, the Raiders proved none of this was a fluke, fashioning the program’s best regular season record in 24 years, beating defending region champion Salem and getting back to the state playoffs.
The last three years have also included three-straight wins over Franklin County (they’ve won four in a row overall in the series), three wins over traditional stalwart Clarke Central, one victory over Cedar Shoals and a woodshed job of Elbert County.
Also, Madison County hasn’t lost to a team from a bordering county the past two seasons. So they have some respect in the area.
Of course, all this doesn’t mean the next state superpower is on the rise, but it’s perhaps the start of a new legacy for a Raider program once lightly regarded by those outside the county. Remember, the team went 4-26 during the late ‘90s and then took four years off from region football earlier this decade.
No doubt, Randell Owens and company have the program navigating in the right direction, which brings us to an interesting 2007.
There’s a lot of youth in several spots on both sides of the ball. Owens will be the first to warn you of that.
And Madison County will have to get used to life without all-state quarterback Jarrod Owens. The prolific passer started all 21 of the Raiders’ victories the past three seasons during MCHS’s football revival. Not an easy component to replace as you try to uphold recent history.
But a good football program can absorb change and we’ll see if Madison County fits that bill.
The Raiders have won two out of every three games they’ve played the last three years and the expectation to win won’t change anytime soon.
These Raiders have something to carry on now.