Madison County Red Raiders

reprinted from The Madison County Journal online edition, September 25, 2008

The Madison County High School football team can ill-afford to dwell on its turnover-filled loss to Cedar Shoals last Friday.

Not it if the Raiders hope to survive in this region, their coach says.

“Every game is going to be a dog fight with a lot on the line, so you can’t afford to look back,” Randell Owens said. “If it was good, you can afford to rest on your laurels. If it was bad you can’t afford to really look back at it. You’d better be totally focused on the next one.”

The Raiders’ arduous Region 8-AAAA schedule continues this week with defending region co-champion Salem in Conyers.
Five teams in 8-AAAA have either 2-1 or 2-2 records in what’s traditionally an erratic region. Rockdale County, a bottom feeder last year, is the surprise leader of the region with a perfect 3-0 record. Madison County and Salem are two of those teams mired in the middle-of-the-pack with 2-2 records.

Following an 0-2 start, the Seminoles beat Loganville, 10-7, and then topped Monroe Area 24-7 last week, pulling away late. Salem rushed for nearly 250 yards in the win.

Owens expects “the same old” Salem team that he’s grown accustomed to.

“They’ve got explosive backs and big, strong linemen … They’re a good looking bunch of boys. (They’re) athletic,” he said.

Meanwhile, Madison County looks to climb above .500 in the region standings at the halfway point.

“We’ve made it a little harder on ourselves,” Owens said, “and this is probably the toughest schedule that Madison County has ever had with every game being a region game and as much parity as there is in the region this year.”

After the disappointing 19-point loss to Cedar Shoals last Friday — in which Madison County turned the ball over six times — the Raiders returned to the practice field Monday.

There, Owens said his team “went back to work.”

“We did the same thing we always do,” Owens said. “But just not as light-hearted.”

NOTES: This Friday’s game will be played on Salem’s campus this year since the Seminoles now have a football stadium … Madison County is six victories shy of its 200th all-time win. The Raiders are 194-311-6 according to Georgia High School Football Historians web page ... Defensive lineman James Anglin is out for this week’s game, however starting safety Bracken Turner should be available against Salem. Turner sustained a severe bruise to his shin in the first quarter last week and was sent to the emergency room to check for a possible fracture.

reprinted from The Athens Banner Herald, September 20, 2008 edition

CEDAR SHOALS, 25, MADISON COUNTY 6

By JENNIFER IANNONE  |  jennifer.iannone@onlineathens.com  |  Story updated at 12:42 am on 9/20/2008

Deunta Jennings hung his head after Madison County scored first Friday night at The Jungle.

The Cedar Shoals split end and defensive back was disappointed that the Jaguars allowed the Red Raiders to strike first on his turf.

So he did something about it.

The senior answered back with a touchdown of his own, igniting the Jaguars to a 25-6 win.

"I got down on myself because they scored," Jennings said. "Then I got back out on defense. I told myself as soon as they got ahead, 'I gotta go make a play.' I saw the ball and I broke on it."

Just 20 seconds after the Red Raiders scored and regained possession on an onside kick, Jennings picked off Madison County quarterback Jacob Owens' pass and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown. It knotted the score at 6-all.

The Jaguars (3-1, 3-1 in Region 8-AAAA) scored 25 unanswered points after Madison County's initial touchdown.

"It was an outstanding play," Cedar Shoals coach Xarvia Smith said. "Jennings made a great pick and we had some great blocks."

Jennings said he took advice from the coaching staff and dropped back on the play.

"I saw the quarterback and he overthrew," Jennings said. "I just had to make a play and I ran for a touchdown."

The pick was one of four for Owens, who was 17 of 26 for 217 yards.

After the loss, Owens was nearly speechless.

"It's just heartbreaking," he said. "We shot ourselves in the foot one too many times. They didn't win this ballgame. We lost this ballgame."

Smith said the Jaguars rallied around the Banner-Herald's prediction that his team was going to lose 28-24.

"The paper said we were going to give up 28 points, and I think we showed people that our defense is a little bit better than that," Smith said. "Our defense was a little mad. I was disappointed that someone thought they were going to score 28 points against us."

After Jennings' touchdown, Joseph Harrison was successful on two straight field goals. The first one - a 48-yarder - lifted the Jaguars to a 9-6 lead with 11:37 left in the first half. A little more than four minutes later, he scored a 33-yard field goal for a 12-6 advantage.

The Red Raiders (2-2, 2-2 in Region 8-AAA) were just 15 yards from scoring with about a minute left when Cedar Shoals' Kerry Barnett recovered a Madison County fumble and returned it for a 90-yard touchdown and a 18-6 lead. The two-point conversion failed.

DeDe Lattimore scored the Jaguars' final touchdown on a 20-yard run with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Madison County's lone touchdown came when Owens connected with Aldreakis Allen for a 17-yard touchdown with 7:21 left in the first quarter. The touchdown came just after a reverse fake where Owens launched a 33-yard pass to Allen for a first down.

Cedar Shoals snapped Madison County's two-game win streak while winning its second straight game. Last week, the Jaguars were plagued by 19 penalties for 150 yards. On Friday, the Jaguars suffered 60 yards of penalties in the first half.

"Some of those penalties were some penalties that I would have to question," Smith said. "Our kids overcame that. They fought through it. They took the ball away from them when they had a chance to score.

"I thought we played hard," Smith said. "Our kids were more physical than they were. Our coaches did a great job. It's an outstanding win for our program."

GAME REPORT

• Turning Point: Just 20 seconds after Madison County scored the opening touchdown, Deunta Jennings responded with a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown. The TD sparked the Jaguars, who didn't allow the Red Raiders to score again.

• Key Stat: The Jaguars scored 25 unanswered points after the Red Raiders scored the opening touchdown.

• Impact: Cedar Shoals improves to 3-1 and snapped Madison County's two-game win streak

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, September 20, 2008

reprinted from The Madison County Journal September 19, 2008 edition

Madison County, Cedar Shoals meet in much-anticipated match-up

by Ben Munro

Reprinted from The Athens Banner Herald September 19, 2008 edition

 By JENNIFER IANNONE  |  jennifer.iannone@onlineathens.com  |  Story updated at 8:32 pm on 9/18/2008

After last week's game with Monroe Area, Madison County's Bracken Turner had more than just a win to celebrate.

The junior caught two passes for 52 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown, but he also had three interceptions in the 34-0 victory.

"It was huge. That's stuff you dream about, really," Turner said. "You don't really think that's going to happen in reality. I was pretty psyched about it."

Madison County coach Randell Owens has only had one other athlete accomplish picking off three passes in a single game in his 28-year coaching career. Former Madison County free safety Hunter Adams recorded three interceptions against Rabun County in 2005.

All of Turner's interceptions came in the second half. The first two were tipped.

"Me and another player went for the interception, and I dove in front of him and caught it," Turner said of his first pick in the third quarter. "That kind of gave us a little spark. We drove down the field and scored."

Turner turned two Monroe Area players' misfortunes into his second interception. The players ran into each other and the ball bounced off them.

"I happened to be right there," Turner said. "It fell right in my lap. I didn't really have to do much."

He takes the most pride in his final pick.

"The guy was running the post route at me," Turner said. "The ball was behind the receiver. I was going to make the hit, and I saw the ball coming at me. I just put my hands up and caught it. I saw nothing but green, and I had one of my linebackers out there blocking for me."

Turner, a free safety and receiver, graded out at 81 percent for assignment and blocking on offense. On defense, he graded at 90 percent. He gained 74 yards after his interceptions.

"Bracken does an incredibly great job of doing the very basic, little fundamental things exceptionally well," Owens said. "He really concentrates every day in practice on improving his basic skills that other people kind of get sloppy about. He's real consistent throughout the game.

"He's got a God-given knack of adjusting to the ball and seeing the ball," Owens said. "There's no wasted moment. He's like a bullet breaking on the ball."

Turner, who also plays basketball and baseball, said it hasn't always come easy to him.

"I really didn't know what to look for," he said of his first time playing free safety two years ago. "I had a hard time finding the ball. But after repetition and working on it, I finally got the hang of it. Now, it just comes naturally."

In addition to the repetition, Turner said studying film of opponents helps him to be in the right place at the right time. He watches film with the team, but also takes it home to study it on his own time.

"It's all about preparation and knowing what the other team's gonna do before they know what they're gonna do," he said.

Now that Turner has more interceptions in one game this season than he did all of last year, he is itching for more.

The Red Raiders (2-1, 2-1 in Region 8-AAAA) travel to Cedar Shoals (2-1, 2-1 in Region 8-AAAA) at 7:30 p.m. today.

"It's definitely a huge game for us," Turner said. "If we win that, we're definitely right where we want to be. I think we have a very good chance of coming out on top."

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, September 19, 2008