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INSIDE THIS WEEK
The Madison County Journal
Spokes
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
Kaitlyn Hale bumps the
ball during a recent Raider
volleyball match. Ben Munro/
staff
Madison
County
pitcher
Sarah
Smith fires
a pitch
toward
home plate
in recent
action. The
Raider
softball
team is
off to a
10-1
start.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Softball
Softball Raiders surge into Sept
MGHS off to 10-1 start, routs
Apalachee 10-1 lastThurs.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County proved it can win the close
ones in the region. Now, the Raiders have
shown they can win rather convincingly, too.
Madison County is off to a 10-1 start,
having trounced defending 8-AAAA North
champion Apalachee 10-1 last week (Aug.
27).
Madison County (10-1,3-0) pounded out 12
hits in run-ruling the Wildcats in six innings.
The Raiders then took care of business five
days later, cruising past winless Cedar Shoals
12-0 in just four innings on Tuesday (Sept. 1)
to remain unbeaten in subregion play.
Of course, the victory over Apalachee,
a 21-win team last year, is the one being
savored.
“I had said that the (Aug. 21) Franklin
County win was our most complete game of
the season, but, without a doubt, this one was,”
Raider coach Doug Kesler said.
The Raiders sprung for plenty of offense
against Apalachee ace Kaitlyn Medlam. Up
1-0 after three innings, Madison County scored
four runs in the fourth and five in the sixth.
“We just played well and got on a roll...
It was a big win for us,” Kesler said.
Erin Gibson, who pitched Madison County
past Habersham Central two days earlier.
worked
six innings, surrender
ing four hits and strik
ing out four. The lefty also retired the
side in order three times in picking up yet
another victory.
“She did a good job of moving the ball
around," Kesler said.
Offensively, Haley Peeples and Emily Mann
— filling in for an ailing Brandi Osborne at
second base — each had three hits.
— See Softball on page 3B
Pigskin picks are back!
The Journal Pigskin Pickers have
made their first round of picks for
the 2009 football season. Elj
Volleyball
Volley Raiders
coming off
rough week
After a difficult week last
week, Madison County vol
leyball coach Kristen Delay
thought she'd offer the words
of legendary basketball coach
John Wooden to her players
regarding difficult times.
‘This is a quote I gave the
girls one day
last week at
practice and I
find it fitting:
A true com
petitor gets the
most joy out
of the most
difficult cir
cumstances,'
Delay said.
‘The real competitors love a
tough situation. That is when
they focus better and function
better.’”
Madison County is facing
tough times after two tough
losses last Tuesday. The
Raiders fell to East Hall in
a three-game affair (25-23,
23-25, 24-26) and then lost to
region foe Clarke Central (25-
5, 25-18).
Delay said the back-and-
forth match with East Hail left
her squad a bit drained for the
Gladiators later that afternoon.
“Clarke Central got off to a
quick lead that we could not
recover from,” Delay said. “In
the second game, however, we
played much better once we
changed the line up.”
Madison County’s match
up with Jackson County last
Thursday was canceled due
to floor renovations at the
Panthers’ gym. There is no
reschedule date.
The volley Raiders played
Lumpkin County and region
foe Habersham Central at home
Tuesday. Madison County
travels to Cedar Shoals today
(Thursday) to take on Cedar
Shoals and Morgan County.
She hopes her team can take
those Wooden words to heart.
“If we work hard both in
practice and in our matches
this week, we should see a
complete turnaround from our
performance last week,” Delay
said.
COMING
UP
■ vs.
Heritage
and Hart
Co. @
home,
Sept. 10, 5
p.m.
Prep Football Week 2
Madison Co. @ Winder-Barrow, Fri., 7:30 p.m.
T.J. McGuire intercepts a pass near the goal line last week in Madison County’s 28-6 loss to Rockdale County in
the season opener. The Raiders play Winder-Barrow High School Friday. Ben Munro/staff
Middle School Football
MCMS
wins big
twice
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The Madison County
Middle School football
team won two times in
five days last week, beat
ing Banks County and
Burney Harris to jump out
to a 2-0 start.
The Mustangs look to
keep that unbeaten record
intact when they travel
Hart County Sept. 12 to
open the region slate.
“As coaches, we were
pleased to start with two
games that got everyone
in the game and gained
experience for the future,”
coach Tim Drake said.
Madison County won
those games by a com
bined 58-12 margin, drill
ing Banks County 30-6
last Tuesday (Aug. 25)
and routing Burney Harris
28-6 Saturday (Aug. 29).
Madison County put
the big play to use against
Banks County with a
35-yard touchdown pass
from Wesley Johnson
to Malik Freeman, an
87-yard tun by Johnson
and a 60-yard touchdown
from Antonio Walters.
Raiders on the rebound
MCHS must forget week one
disappointment, coach says
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
M adison County spent the
offseason putting the tough
2008 season to rest.
Now, the Raiders must add the first
game of 2009 to the list of things to
forget.
Madison County (0-1) lost to Rockdale
County 28-6 last week and must recover
quickly to face Winder-Barrow Friday
FRIDAY’S OPPONENT
■ Team: Winder-Barrow
■ Coach: Ben Corley (2nd year, 1-9)
■ Last week: Winder-Barrow was idle
■ Last year: MCHS 44, WBHS 7
■ Series: Winder-Barrow leads 16-7
on the road.
“You can’t focus on the past," head
coach Randell Owens said. “We have to
focus on this week — the practice today,
then the practice tomonow."
Madison County faces the Bulldoggs
at 7:30 p.m. at W. Clair Harris Stadium
looking to snap an eight-game losing
streak that dates back to last year.
Owens said Winder-Barrow, 1-9 last
year, is a team building on what coach
Ben Corley installed during his inaugu
ral season in 2008.
“They'll be a lot like last year," Owens
said. “They'll just do it more efficient
ly”
Madison County has been here
before.
Last year, the Raiders faced Winder-
Barrow following a 25-14 loss to
— See Football on page 3B
— See MCMS on 2B
Marquez Henson
heads up field in
MCMS’s win over
Banks Co. Justin Poole/
MainStreet Newspapers
Cross Country
Raider runners out to beat the clock in ‘09
Jenna Jansen was MCHS’s
top female runner Saturday at
Athens Christian. Ben Munro/staff
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews .com
Second-year Madison County High School cross
country coach Tim Cornett hopes to be writing “PR
(personal record)” next to a lot of his runners’ times this
fail.
With a host of runners returning this year, there's
potential for improved times across the board, he said.
“We expect individual time improvement from last
year to this year, and we anticipate an improved team
average considering the increased team depth," Cornett
said.
On the boys’ side, Cornett looks for a strong senior
season out of Scott Barnes, who’s progressed every year,
he says.
“He came on strong at the end of last year’s season and
he’s off to a good start this year,” Cornett said.
But Madison County also saw three freshmen step up
last year — Corey Brakhage, Mauro Ortiz and Dalton
COMING UP
■ @Banks Co., Sept. 8; vs. Taliaferro Co ©home,
Sept. 15
Owensby — and there's potential for the trio to get faster
this fall.
‘They learned a lot in their freshman season, and we
anticipate a great season for these three," Cornett said.
Cornett also expects Chris Brown, Chris Dove, Crew
Mayne, Chaves Smith and Jessie Wade to make varsity
contributions.
And don’t forget those youngsters, Cornett said.
“More so this year than previous years, we have a large
JV group that seems to be hungry to displace someone to
make that step up to varsity,” Cornett said.
The girls' team has just one returning runner. Alexia
Supakomdej. “She has the advantage of experience, but
we have great additions this year,”' Cornett said.
— See cross country on Page 3B
Corey Brakhage led Madison County Saturday
with an 18:48 at the Northeast Georgia champion
ships. Ben Munro/staff