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The Madison County Journal INSIDE THTS WEEK Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567 Brandi Osborne breaks toward home plate last Thursday in the Raiders’ 22-0 victory over Clarke Central. Madison County plays in the Shaw Invitational this weekend. Ben Munro/staff Softball Softball Raiders hit the road this weekend By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Madison County is headed to Columbus for what it hopes is the first of two trips to that city this year. Columbus, of course, is the site of the state quarterfinals. But this weekend the Raiders (11-1) are making their annual trek to the Shaw Invitational, which fea tures some of the best COMING UP ■ Shaw Inv., Columbus, Fri.-Sat.; @ Hab. Central, Tues., 6:30 p.m. talent in the state. The Shaw tournament has been a staple of the Raiders’ September softball schedule for the past 12 years. “We’re looking forward to it this year,’’ coach Doug Kesler said. “Hopefully, we’ll play well in our pool play and see some good teams Saturday.” Madison County played Wednesday night against an improved Winder-Barrow team, but results weren't available at press time. Madison County went into the Winder-Barrow game coming off a 22-0 win over lowly Clarke Central last Thursday in just three innings. The Raiders scored 11 times in the first inning and 11 more in the second. Sarah Smith threw a run-rule shortened no-hitter, working three innings, striking out nine and allowing just one baseruner on a hit-by-pitch. As for this weekend, the Raiders face Hardaway and Jordan in pool play Friday. Who Madison County plays Saturday depends on those pool play games, but chances are the Raiders will face someone good on day two. Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe, Cherokee County, Columbus, Lowndes County are some of the headliners of the tournament. “We'll see good pitching that Saturday, so that’s good,” Kesler said. Madison County, however, won't overwork its own pitch ers trying to win the tourna ment. Kesler points out that Madison County faces two big subregion tests, Habersham Central (Sept. 15) and Apalachee (Sept. 17), when it returns from Columbus. RECENT ACTION MCHS 22, Clarke Central 0 CCHS 000 - 0 MCHS (11) (ID —22 Offense: Whieldon 2-3, 4 RBI; Bolin 1-2, 2RBI Pitching: Smith 3IP, 9K, 1HB Set to serve Stephanie Soto-Gonzalez gets set to serve the ball dur ing recent action. Ben Munro/staff Volleyball Volley Raider coach praises effort in loss last Thursday Madison County fell twice last Thursday when it played Morgan County and Cedar Shoals, but coach Kristen Delay hopes her team can build on something she saw late in a 2-1 loss to the Lady Bulldogs. “We finally found our team intensity against Morgan County,’ ’ she said. “Everything was work ing — passing, setting, hitting, defense. It was amazing.” Although her team lost, Delay said her team “never played harder.” The team hopes that inspired effort carries over today’s (Thursday’s) matches. Madison County hosts Heritage and Hart County, starting at 5 p.m. Pickers back for week 2 Check out picks for the second week of The Madison County Journal Pigskin Picker 2B IB Thursday, September 10, 2009 www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com Former Raiders Allen leads Liberty in loss to West Virginia Madison County's Aldreakis Allen was Liberty University's leading rusher Saturday in his first collegiate football game as the Flames lost to West Virginia 33-20. Allen, who starred for the Raider football team from 2005 to 2008, carried the ball 10 times for 36 yards. He also caught three passes for nine yards. ALLEN Glance” on the school's website. To see the interview, go to www. libertyflames.com. Then select “multimedia” from the menu bar. Allen's interview, posted Sept. 3, is entitled "A Gridiron Glance at Allen and Hayes.” Teammate BJ. Hayes is also featured in the segment. Liberty, which plays in the Big South Conference in Division I-AA, is coming off of a Allen was recently featured in Liberty University’s "Gridiron 10-2 campaign in 2008. Middle School Softball MCMS softballers now 7-1 The Madison County Middle School team recov ered from an outbreak of the flu last week to win two games and up its record to 7-1 and 3-0 in the region. After missing 11 of 15 players due to illness — forcing the cancellationofagame against Jefferson — Madison County beat Hart County 5-3 (Sept. 3) and Elbert County (Sept. 4) 10-3 to move six games above .500. In the win over Hart County, Madison County overcame a sluggish start to earn the win. “We were able to put runners on and capitalize with time ly hitting, and we made the defensive plays when we had to late in the game to hold on to the lead,” coach Phillip Archer said. Madison County then beat Elbert County behind 13 hits, with every starter contributed at least one hit. JJI .1 ■5 r ARCHER Prep Football Week 3 Madison Co. @ Monroe Area, Fri., 7:30 p.m. Reinvigorated Stan Maxwell gets to the outside on a carry last week in Madison County’s 35-29 victory over Winder-Barrow. The Raiders take on Monroe Area this Friday. Ben Munro/staff How do Raiders respond after wild win? By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com T here’s a bit of a bug going around the Madison County football team right now. But last week’s feel-good victory over Winder-Barrow is doing wonders to treat those symptoms of illness. The Raiders (1-1), who play Monroe Area Friday, won their first game of the year by overcoming sickness, injuries and a one-point deficit on the scoreboard late to beat Winder-Barrow 35-29. “It’s probably one of the proudest moments of my career because all of the adversity we had to overcome,” said Raider coach Randell Owens, who himself was feeling under the weather Monday. Trailing 29-28 with just over a minute left, Presly McKeever intercepted a pass, setting up Jacob Owens’ game-winning score from one-yard out. FRIDAY’S OPPONENT ■ Team: Monroe Area ■ Coach: Matt Fligg (fourth year at Monroe Area, 5-27; 17th year overall, 65-102 ■ Last week: Clarke Central 21, Monroe Area 7; Madison Co. 35, Winder-Barrow 29 ■ Last year: Madison Co. 34, Monroe Area 0 Coach Owens praised his players efforts in the face of such odds. “We had guys who gave all they had,” he said. It was Madison County’s first win in nearly a calendar year — last season ended with seven straight losses and the Raiders dropped the 2009 opener — but losing streaks are something coach Owens will let those outside the program worry about. “It’s always exciting to win a game; I don't really sit around and think about that part of it,” Owens said of snapping the losing skid. ‘This isn't last year’s team. We didn’t win it with last year's team ... Every season is a unique deal.” Madison County returned to the prac tice field Monday for its traditional 8 a.m. workout on Labor Day to prepare for Monroe Area. Several on the team had to practice through illness. "We've got a lot of people under the weather, like me,” Owens said. “But we don't have time to lay around." Monroe Area is an option-oriented team in its fourth year under Matt Fligg. Owens is preparing for Fligg’s team with caution. He said it’s hard to know what Fligg, a 17-year head coaching veteran, will pull outofhisplaybook. “There’s no telling what he’ll do this week... He's about as unpredictable as anybody I know,” Owens said. Monroe Area went 0-10 last year and — See Football on page 2B •INSIDE: Late INT, touchdown propels MCHS in victoiy over Winder-Barrow, PAGE 2B Junior Varsity, Freshmen Football Subvarsity teams swept at N. Oconee The Madison County freshman and junior varsity teams both lost last Thursday at North Oconee, but in opposite fashion. The junior varsity lost a 13-12 heart- breaker, surrendering a North Oconee go- ahead touchdown with 1:30 left. Madison County tried to rally for a game-winning score, but turned the ball over on downs at the North Oconee 20 with 20 seconds left. The freshmen Raiders were hindered by turnovers in a 34-0 loss to the ninth grade Titans. “We had three to four turnovers, which really hurt us," coach William Trimier said. “But we did not give up. It seemed like everything was going their way, but our kids hung in there.”