Madison County Red Raiders

Madison County MUSTANGS Football Team Schedule - Fall 2009

Madison County Middle School MUSTANG Football Roster 2009

reprinted from The Athens Banner Herald  August 23, 2009 edition

by Jeff Cochran

COACHES:  William Tremier, Head Coach
Tyler Berryman, Richard Hoard, Randy Colquit & Michael Hood

Managers:  

Mariah Goolsby, Shakira Scott, Macy Rutledge, Samantha Fulford, Maranda Parham & Deamond Jennings

2009 9th Grade Schedule

reprinted fromThe Madison County Journal August 23, 2009 edition
by Ben Munro
Raiders won’t divulge much in scrimmage

It’s the game of prep football intelligence and counterintelligence.

Madison County coaches will scrupulously study film from Rockdale County’s Friday night scrimmage to gather information on their week one opponent. Meanwhile, Rockdale, no doubt, will have its eyes on Madison County’s Friday exhibition with Franklin County looking for a competitive advantage.

So how much free advertising will Madison County offer in its dress rehearsal?

“That’s always an interesting debate … How much do you want to give them?” Raider coach Randell Owens said.

In the end, not much.

Madison County will script a few plays for the 7:30 p.m. scrimmage, but will work with “less than half the menu” of a regular season playbook, Owens said.

“You keep it kind of vanilla,” he said.

Madison County starters will only appear in half of the game, too.

Owens plans to pull his first-stringers after the first two quarters, inserting his second string in the third quarter. The junior varsity squad will take over in the fourth.

Limited playbooks and playing time aside, the Raider players view lining up against someone else — even if it doesn’t count — as a welcome change from weeks of preseason camp.

“A lot of it (practice) ain’t fun, but the games are probably more fun than any sport,” Owens explained. “So it’s always fun to play the game.”

And the coach has noticed a change in tenor in practice as the Franklin County scrimmage nears.

“You see a different edge in practice, a different tone as it gets more real to them,” Owens said. “Coaches get a little more edgy thinking about the chess match-up.”

As for Friday’s exhibition opponent, Franklin County went 5-5 under new coach Tommy Welch in 2008 and finished 3-4 in region play. Madison County lost to Franklin County 16-13 in last year’s scrimmage, but led 7-0 at the half before removing its starters.

The Raiders and Lions have met 32 times on the gridiron in real football games, so playing a longtime rival adds a little energy to an otherwise meaningless encounter.

But that energy doesn’t mean exploring the playbook.

After all, Madison County’s real first opponent, Rockdale County, is watching.

“You’re trying to evaluate, but you don’t want to give away everything,” Owens said.

Raider coach Randell Owens knows Rockdale County coach Michael Etheridge is partial to a Wing-T offense and a 3-5-3 defense.

At least that’s what he’s expecting to see when Etheridge’s Bulldogs break the huddle Aug. 28 in Danielsville in the first game.

“But will they do that?” Owens asked rhetorically. “Is this going to be the year he changes something?”

Such is the mystery of preparing for the season opener: More time to practice, less known about your opponent.

“There’s pros and cons either way,” Owens said.

 Madison County has just over two weeks left to prepare for the Bulldogs, who beat the Raiders 25-14 last year.

 While Owens has been studying Rockdale County film, it’s footage from last year, so it’s outdated.   That makes it a bit harder to assess this year’s Rockdale County team.

“You’ve got all that time (to prepare), but you don’t have much in the way of reconnaissance and scouting information,” Owens said.

Of course, during the preseason, a coach is devoting as much time to assessing his own squad as he is preparing for opponent no. 1. Madison County nears the end of its second week of practice, and Owens said it will be hard to gauge his team’s progress until it lines up against someone else.

“Are they giving you all-out effort like they do against an opponent, someone they don’t like?” Owens asked.

“You don’t tend to hit your friends when you’re sparing as hard as you do your opponent.”

Owens says he’ll find out Aug. 21 when Madison County scrimmages Franklin County in Danielsville.

“Truly, it will be Franklin County before we really see what they’re about,” Owens said.

That will also be the first time Owens unveils the team publicly, since he opted to forgo the annual Red and Gray preseason scrimmage.

Until then, Owens and his staff will continue to prepare for what they think they’ll face in the Aug. 28 opener.

“The first game is tough, a lot of unknowns,” Owens said.