Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from The Athens Banner-Herald Saturday, September 1, 2007 edition. 

Madison County 23, Franklin County 6

DANIELSVILLE - For a player who was auditioning for the starting quarterback job, Spencer Baird made sure his performance Friday was good enough for the starring role.

Madison County's signal-caller tormented Franklin County's defense on the ground and through the air, leading the Red Raiders past the Lions 23-6 at Raider Field.

Commanding the no-huddle, spread offense with ease, Baird left little doubt concerning the direction his team wants to head.

With a calm demeanor, Baird would run up to the line, wait for the defense to set up in its coverage scheme, then audible to methodically pick apart a young Lions defense.

"We knew that the defense was going to get it done for us," Baird said. "We just had to make sure that we did our part, too."

Baird did his part.

He went 4-for-10 passing and rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown - all of which came in the first half.

"He's been around for a year and learned the offense, so he's not intimidated," Red Raiders coach Russell Owens said. "He did a lot of good things, but there are also some areas that are correctable."

One of those areas Baird can improve upon is his second-half decision making.

Already up 16-6, Baird telegraphed two passes into a crowded Lions secondary, and gave the visitors plenty of opportunities to close the gap.

Fortunately for the Red Raiders, their defense was stifling throughout the night - limiting the Lions to just 59 total yards - and the punt coverage team blocked two Lions punts.

"(Baird) will learn through experience, and the good thing is all of the mistakes we had are correctable," Owens said.

Aldreakis Allen continually ran off the right tackle, and behind a behemoth offensive line that has three starters who weigh more than 300 pounds. He amassed 84 yards on 17 carries and three catches for 37 yards. Cello Latimer added 68 yards on 15 carries.

"Those lineman are huge and those guys run hard," Lions head coach Danny Durham said.

"When they got the lead, they just sat on the ball and wore us out."

Whenever Lions running back Jay Moon appeared to light a spark under an otherwise stagnant offense, the Red Raiders defense and special teams were there to plug the holes.

"They gave us some chances but we couldn't capitalize," Durham said. "We did a good job battling, but we've still got a young team and we'll fix some things."

Baird and 6-foot-3, 190-pound Jacob Owens have been evenly splitting snaps throughout the summer and even this week.

His opportunities to grab the reins of the offense may have been slim if he didn't perform in the season opener.

"It made me feel good to come out and play the way I did," Baird said. "There's a lot of things I need to work on, but it felt good."