Madison County Red Raiders

reprinted from The Athens Banner Herald online edition October 30, 2009

By Brian Chmielewski

Apalachee continued its march to an undefeated season at Madison County on Friday night and likely ended Madison County 's playoff hopes in the process, knocking off the Red Raiders 31-14.

Madison County could not handle the pressure of the must-win game or the Wildcats' defense in the loss.

"We were sloppy and just did not execute," Madison County coach Randell Owens said. "Against a team like that, you cannot make mistakes. You never know how the kids are going to respond under pressure until they get there, and we played tight."

The Wildcats' defense pressured Madison County quarterback Jacob Owens all night, recording six sacks and a safety.

Owens was hit on nearly every play en route to a 9-for-24 performance with an interception and a touchdown.

The Red Raiders' offensive line failed all night to buy time for Owens and to open up any holes for the running game. Madison County ran for minus-2 yards in the game on 20 carries.

"Their offense is a tough matchup for us," Randell Owens said. "We knew we had to get them in a shootout to have a chance. We had some stuff we wanted to do, but they just did a great job of never letting us get settled."

On the other side of the ball, Madison County failed to slow down the Wildcats' rushing attack, led by Jon Lee.

The Wildcats rushed for 246 yards on 53 carries, and Lee rushed for a team-high 155 yards and two scores – including a 35-yarder that put Apalachee up for good 17-7.

Madison County jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its first possession of the game. Jamal Cooper opened the game with a 43-yard kick return, setting the Red Raiders' offense up in Apalachee territory.

But after failing to advance the ball, the offense faced a fourth-and-long situation. In punt formation, Stan Maxwell took the snap and rolled to his right throwing up the sideline and hitting Presley McKeever for a 53-yard touchdown on the faked punt.

Madison County followed that score by stopping the Wildcats' offense on fourth-and-inches at the Red Raiders' 16-yard line. Three plays later – after a bad snap put the ball on Madison County 's own 1-yard line – a group of Apalachee tacklers led by Nelson Gibson tackled Owens in the end zone for a safety.

It was downhill from there for the Red Raiders.

Apalachee scored on their next four possessions to blow the game open, eventually leading 31-7 before the Red Raiders would score again late in the third quarter. Owens hit Kendrick Butler for a 37-yard touchdown to make it 31-14.

"Our kids knew we had to have the game, and we pressed," coach Randell Owens said. "But we can still have a winning season if we beat Clarke Central next week. Even without the playoffs, a winning season would be a pretty good accomplishment."

reprinted from The Madison County Journal October 25, 2009 edition

by Ben Munro

Raider coach Randell Owens may have experienced more painful losses, but perhaps not one handed down in a more sobering fashion.

Heritage broke a 57-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left last week to win 21-20 over Madison County (5-3). The Raiders had just scored 13 seconds earlier to take the lead.

“I don’t know that I’ve had one that was more shocking,” Owens said.

Madison County gets two weeks to think about it and heal. The Raiders have an off week this Friday and return to the field Oct. 30 against no. 7 Apalachee (7-0).

Owens gave his coaches Sunday off and his players Monday off. He’ll also allow coaches extra time to catch up things this week as the program tries to recharge.

Owens and company will then scout Apalachee’s game with Heritage Friday night.

The challenge for Madison County now is to focus on winning its final two games and not reliving what could have been in the down-to-the wire loss to Heritage, Owens said.

“It hurt, but it’s going be (a matter of) maturity and senior leadership and whether our kids can move on,” he said.

Because two wins and a 7-3 record would very likely earn Madison County for a state playoff spot.

Of course, that’s a tall order.

Those two wins would have to come over the region’s top two teams in the standings, Apalachee and Clarke Central. Still, everything is out there for the taking.

“If we win the next two games, we can go to the state playoffs,” Owen said. “That’s the way we’re approaching it.”

There’s a slight chance that a 6-4 record could get Madison County to the postseason, but that would likely bring a complicated scenario of tiebreakers into play. Owens would just as soon avoid all that and win the last two, starting next Friday.

This year’s Raiders still have everything to play for, he said.

“Our goals are still within reach,” Owens said. “It’s still out there. How hard can we work? Can we block out the naysayers who are already digging our grave and building our casket?

$10,000 Split 8 Ways

Saturday Night's Annual $10,000 Give-A-Way was split 8 ways among the following RAIDER Supporters:

 

Tracy Dean

Coach Hoard

John Painter

John Phillips

Terry Turley

reprinted from The Madison County Journal October 17, 2009 edition

by Ben Munro