Madison County Red Raiders

Published in the Gwinnett Daily Post on 092006 | Story updated 09/20/2006
 By Brandon Brigman Staff Writer brandon.brigman@gwinnettdailypost.com
Talking to Madison County head coach Randell Owens, you get the sense the third-year coach is worried about his team’s Region 8-AAAA opener on Friday against Dacula. “I’ve seen too much of them,” Owens said. “I had to quit watching them on film; they just kept getting better and better.” After reaching the semifinals last year in Class AAAAA, Dacula is now in AAAA and has continued its dominance. The Falcons enter Friday’s game ranked fourth in the state and are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2001. However, Dacula gets its first major test of the season when it travels to Danielsville to face the only other undefeated team in the region. “You’ve got to line up and play every week,” Dacula head coach Kevin Maloof said. “It’s the first subregion game, so it’s a very important game. We set out to win each game one at a time and there is added importance to this game because it is the first sub-region game.” It has been the Dacula defense that has led the team so far this season. The Falcons posted shutouts in the first two weeks and gave up 14 points at the end of last week’s 42-14 win over Rockdale. “If people don’t score, they can’t beat you,” Maloof said. Said Owens: “They’re very well-coached. They’ve got good team speed overall and the defense is always where they’re supposed to be. They’re pretty much always in position like you want them to be.” The Dacula defense has given up 574 yards this season and 95 of those yards have been through the air. That will change on Friday, when the Falcons face a predominantly passing team. Madison County runs a spread-type, shotgun offense similar to North Gwinnett. “We really haven’t been tested like they are going to,” Maloof said. “This group does a good job of mixing it up with the pass and the run and will be more balanced than any team we have faced this year. I’ll say this, our secondary hasn’t been tested like they are going to be.” Madison County’s passing attack is centered around Owens’ son, Jarrod. The 6-foot, 185-pound senior has completed 46 of 79 passes for 583 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions this season. Running back Al Allen has 17 receptions for 299 yards and three touchdowns. According to Owens, Madison County is one of the smallest schools in Class AAAA, and the team has to rely on several players to play both ways, including at least six last week, so depth is a concern for the Red Raiders. While the Dacula defense has led the team so far, the offense isn’t too bad either. The Falcons have racked up 765 yards of total offense led by quarterback Kyle White. The senior has completed 18 of 35 passes for 455 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception. Cameron Kenney has been White’s favorite target with seven catches for 191 yards and two scores. Blair Frost and Michael Butler have combined for 10 receptions for 231 yards with five TDs. On the ground, Cole Brodie had 12 carries for 89 yards and three TDs last week. “They’ve go a lot of ammo and they’ve got a lot of players that can make plays,” said Owens, who was previously the offensive coordinator at South Gwinnett, where he coached current Seattle Seahawks quarterback David Greene. This will be the first meeting between the schools since 1999 when the two were in Region 8-AAA. Dacula holds the all-time series lead at 2-0. “They’re definitely a strong team and are very deserving of their top-10 ranking,” Owens said. “They’re definitely one of the top teams in the state. I just hope they go easy on us.”