Madison County Red Raiders

Reprinted from the Athens Banner-Herald November 11, 2006 edition
Madison County 47, Salem 44 By Jon Page | jon.page@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 1:03 AM on Saturday, November 11, 2006 CONYERS - Amidst the frustration of three consecutive penalties, Jack Orr found the nerve to hit the game-winner. On the next play, Tyler Berryman found the patience to make a game-securing interception. And over the course of the game, Jarrod Owens threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns to lead Madison County to a 47-44 victory over Salem at Evans Memorial Stadium as the Red Raiders secured a playoff berth. Madison County will travel to meet East Paulding on Friday at a time to be determined. "Everybody's always ragging on (Jack Orr) for not making the big one," said Owens, who also ran for a touchdown. "Well he did tonight. We all did. Who would have known Madison County would have been going to the state playoffs back-to-back? It's awesome." Raiders coach Randell Owens gathered his team at midfield after the game and spoke of possible playoff scenarios. "I have no idea who we're playing," Owens said. "We could be as high as the second seed, we could be as low as the fourth." And then came an ice-cold bath. Seniors Tyler Ingram and Marcus Grant doused their coach with water from a Gatorade cooler, sparking more celebration from players, and a congregation of students and family members. The Raiders (8-2) were enjoying the first time a Madison County team has advanced to the state playoffs in back-to-back seasons since 1982-83. After Salem (7-3) tied the game at 44-44 with 1:31 to play on quarterback Terrance Davis' 2-point conversion run, Jarrod Owens and Cello Latimer led the Raiders into Salem territory. A 35-yard reception by Latimer gave Madison County the ball on the 7-yard line. On first down, Latimer dropped a pass from Owens. That's when things nearly got ugly for Madison County. "We hadn't been working with that personnel grouping," Randell Owens said. "I said, 'Let's just kick it and play defense.' The players were like, we can (score). I was like, 'Y'all don't get it.' " The Raiders had no timeouts, but Owens said his team didn't have the proper personnel in the game to spike the ball and stop the clock. Madison County took a delay of game penalty, and Owens sent Orr in to kick. The Raiders took another delay of game penalty to move the ball back and give Orr a better angle at the uprights. But on the next play the Raiders only had 10 players on the field, and by the time their 11th made it on to the field, another penalty flag hit the turf. Finally, Orr converted from 40 yards. During the confusion, Orr said he thought about a trip he took this summer. "We went to the beach and I decided to kick on the beach," Orr said. "I was just thinking about that the whole time. I just concentrated on what I had to do and kicked it through." Orr then kicked a touchback to give Salem one more chance with less than a minute to play from their own 20. Davis, who completed 6 of 9 passes for 168 yards and ran for 112 yards, rolled to his right on first down and fired a bullet pass right at Berryman. "We got another record and we're going to the playoffs," Berryman said. "My heart's beating about a million miles an hour." After Berryman's interception, Jarrod Owens took a knee on first and second downs to run out the clock. He pumped his fist, and high-fived a few of his teammates. Then he got a hug and some words of praise from his coach. "I love you, baby," Randell Owens said to his son. Game report • Turning Point: Jack Orr's 40-yard field goal with 54 seconds to play secured the victory for Madison County. • Key Stat: Both teams combined for 969 yards of total offense. • Impact: Madison County moves on to the state playoffs for the second straight season, and Salem's season is over. Reprinted from the Athens Banner-Herald November 11, 2006 edition

Madison County at Salem in Conyers Reprinted from the Athens Banner-Herald November 10, 2006 edition By Jon Page | jon.page@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:36 AM on Friday, November 10, 2006 DANIELSVILLE - Jarrod Owens could take each snap tonight and run. And win or lose, the senior quarterback will have the second-best single-season passing performance in Madison County history. For the second straight season, Owens eclipsed the record formerly held by Chris Smith, Madison County's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. Smith threw for 1,362 yards 14 years before Owens shattered the mark by throwing for 2,008 yards last season. "His dad (coach Randell Owens) joked with him about midway through (last) season," Smith said. "He said: 'We're just going to start running the ball, so you can't break it.' I said, 'No, I want to be a part of it.' "Jarrod is a special young man. If I was going to see somebody break it, I wanted it to be him." Owens has completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 1,624 yards and eight touchdowns this season. He has thrown for 4,361 yards in his career, which might be another record, but Madison County's official career records are unavailable. Smith was the Athens Banner-Herald's Player of the Year in 1991, and Owens said his coach is still popular. "I dog him all the time because half the girls at our school think he's the most gorgeous thing ever, including my girlfriend," Owens said. "She (brought) him cookies on gameday once. She didn't bring me cookies." Smith was happy to concede his record to Owens, but he would not say Owens is a better athlete. Owens runs the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds. Smith said he ran it in 4.5 seconds in high school. "As far as knowledge of the game, he knows a lot more than when I was playing (here)," said Smith, who went on to play at Presbyterian College. "You can tell he's learned a lot from his dad. He does a great job of running that offense. ... He's just an extension of us when he's on the field." Not only was Smith faster, Owens said Smith has a stronger arm. "I don't know how old he is, but he can still hum that thing," Owens said. "He can launch it. We'll have little contests. He'll throw it really hard, and I'll try to throw it harder. Or we'll try and hit somebody in the facemask. It's fun." Owens' passing numbers have dropped compared to last season, but he's leading Madison County in rushing with 359 yards and nine touchdowns because the Red Raiders often run the triple option inside the 10-yard line. Preparing for tonight's region playoff game against Salem put Randell Owens in a sentimental mood. "It's been a hard week for me," he said. "We've got to win because this can't be it. I can't be through coaching (Jarrod) and having him on the field." Smith feels the same way. "I'm used to having somebody with a lot of experience playing that position," Smith said. "Next year, we're going to have to start over with somebody who hasn't taken a varsity snap or completed a varsity pass. It's going to be interesting." Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 111006

Reprinted from the Madison County Journal November 9, 2006 edition Column by Ben Munro As friend and colleague Zach Mitcham noted this week, it’s been a long time since Madison County’s football team has had a better record than Georgia. The Raiders are doing it again this year while Georgia isn’t. Nine weeks into the season, Madison County is 7-2 and knocking on the door of another state playoff berth. Enjoy it, relish it Raider fans. You’re experiencing the golden era of Madison County football. With all due respect to the Madison County teams of the early ‘80s which were the true ground-breakers of this program, the success the Raiders have sustained the last three years under Randell Owens is unprecedented. Madison County has never produced a trifecta of seasons like this. Each of the last three campaigns — the Raiders have won 20 games in that span — has presented a different challenge and, each year, these guys prove that they’re overachievers. Flash back to 2004 when people might have wondered if Madison County could actually keep its head above the 8-AAAA waters in its return to region football. What happened? The Raiders gave us an emphatic “yes” by managing a winning season in a region schedule for the first time in 13 years. And they came dang near close to blowing the lid off the program and qualifying for the postseason for the first time in a generation. OK, OK. Madison County proved it could win, but could it actually break this 22-year playoff hex that’s hung over the program like a cumulonimbus cloud. Oh yeah. The Raiders nearly went to the second round of the state playoffs in 2005, scaring the dog out of the Rome Wolves. Alright, alright. But can these guys actually win when after a host of seniors say goodbye? Again, Madison County is 7-2, only the fifth time that a Raider team has won at least seven games. The only questions remaining this year: Will the Raiders go back to the state playoffs? And will Madison County win past game 10 for the first time in 24 years? We’ll get the answer to that first question this weekend in Conyers where the Raiders and Salem play for a state postseason pass in this year’s new region playoff format. But the fact that the Raiders have had three-straight years where they’ve had a chance to play for the state playoffs shows that this is a new age for a program that struggled for so long. Remember, Madison County once lost 16 games in a row and the state playoffs seemed as far off as the rings of Saturn. Madison County was searching for anyone it could beat. Now you get the feeling that these guys could beat almost anybody on a given night. The Raiders almost did it to Dacula in September. They won’t be scared by Salem Friday. Like a coaching friend of mine in Northwest Georgia recently told me: “Things are changing at Madison County.” Georgia won’t win this weekend. Everything in this writer wants to say Madison County will. Ben Munro is a reporter for The Commerce News and The Madison County Journal.

Reprinted from the Madison County Journal November 9, 2006 edition A Trip to State Must Go Through Salem BY BEN MUNRO State playoff berths aside, it wouldn’t take much for Randell Owens to get motivated to play Salem, a former cross-town rival of the coach when he was at Heritage. Then, throw in the fact that the Raiders can pull off a state playoff encore this year with a win over the Seminoles, and you have one fired-up coach for Friday’s contest. “I’m just sorry I don’t have any eligibility left,” Owens quipped. Madison County has qualified for one playoff, but not the Class AAAA variety mind you. That’s what this weekend is all about for eight region teams. Welcome to week 10 in a brand new 8-AAAA which has implemented its own mini-eight team bracket to determine which teams move on to state. The top four teams from each sub-region face-off. The four winners from Friday move on to the Class AAAA playoffs. Madison County is just a win away from becoming only the fourth postseason team in Raider history. But it must beat a team that’s been to the Big Dance the past two seasons, Salem, to do that. “I’m kind of excited about it,” Owens said. “To put it as an understatement, I’m excited about it. Just to be playing in a big game and knowing winner-take-all and if you win you’re in and loser packs it up, you’ve got a lot on the line. I haven’t had any problem getting our coaches to work this weekend. I hope that carries over to our players on the field.” The teams fight for postseason rights Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Conyers. The Seminoles’ 21-3 loss to Cedar Shoals locked it into a second seed and the region playoff game with Madison County. The Raiders, who clinched a three seed last week in a win over Jackson County, had no problem disposing of its last scheduled opponent of the season, beating Winder-Barrow 30-7 Friday. Sure, Madison County beat the Bulldoggs for the first time since 1987, breaking a 19-year drought against a once-common foe. But the win meant a little more than that in terms of school history. With seven regular season victories, the Raiders have joined company with the 1983, 1991 and 2005 teams. One more victory and this team can call itself the second-most successful squad in a half century of Madison County football. Only the 1982 team won more than eight regular season games. Of course, one more win and Madison County can call itself a playoff team. Raider head coach Randell Owens didn’t like the region playoff system to start with, but since the formula might catapult Madison County to a second-straight trip to the state playoffs, he’s warmed up to the idea. In many sub-divided regions in the state that don’t use a playoff, the Raiders’ third-place finish would have locked it out of the post season. But under this one, they still have a chance. Looking back now, he feels the region has done the best job it could trying to manage a tough situation with a 13-team league. “Initially, I didn’t like it,” Owens said. “But I do now as I look at how it’s come down.” Owens has already won 20 games at Madison County in three seasons but none over Salem, a two-time defending region champion. Madison County was blown out 36-7 and lost 28-24 in its past two meetings with the Seminoles which are 29-6 over the past three years. Owens said Salem is a very good and athletically gifted team and is wary of the Conyers schools’ speed. But he felt that the Seminoles’ two region titles and consistency the last two years won’t scare the Raiders off. “Is that in of itself intimidating? Not really,” he said. He noted that Madison County beat the two teams that beat the Seminoles last year. This year, Salem finished second in a sub-region to a Cedar Shoals team which didn’t play the top three teams in the Raiders’ sub-region. Both Madison County and Salem have four sub-region wins. Expect to see Owens turn his team loose in this one, especially with so much on the line. “The people who don’t like to see the ball in the air won’t like it,” Owens said. “There’s no reason to hold back.” Owens is 2-3 against Salem in his stops at Heritage and Madison County and said he has a “strong opinion” of the Seminoles based on his time in Conyers. “There’s a pretty strong rivalry with this game,” Owens said. “I know it’s only in my mind. You know, having been there, I have a real personal feeling about them.” What’s ahead after Friday? Madison County would play a Region 5-AAAA representative if it beat Salem Friday. Other than that, that’s all that’s know as the state playoff picture is a big puzzle right now. Owens said he’s worked out 16 different scenarios for what could unfold after Friday night’s region playoff round. In fact, Madison County could end up a two seed if it wins and Dacula, Clarke Central and Eastside also win. The coach said the four coaches of Region 8-AAAA’s state playoff teams will meet with Region 5-AAAA representatives to sort out the seedings. Region 5-AAAA consists of Cherokee, East Paulding, Hillgrove, Sequoyah, South Paulding, Woodland, Alexander, Chapel Hill, Douglas County, Lithia Springs, Osborne and Pebblebrook. Reprinted from the Madison County Journal November 9, 2006 edition