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PAGE 2B — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 10. 2009
Madison Co. 35, Winder-Barrow 29
McKeever INT, Owens
Madison Co. Journal Pigskin Picker
Madison Co. at Monroe Area
South Carolina at Georgia
Clemson at Georgia Tech
Notre Dame at Michigan
Mississippi State at Auburn
UCLA at Tennessee
USC at Ohio State
Chicago at Green Bay
Philadelphia at Carolina
Miami at Atlanta
TD lifts Raiders to victory
Presly McKeever’s interception with 1:16 Friday night set
up Madison County’s game-winning score. Ben Munro/staff
Pick with 1:16 left sets
up game-winning score
vs. Winder-Barrow
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
W inder-Barrow
threw Madison
County a gift-
wrapped interception in the
waning moments Friday night,
and Raider defensive back
Presly McKeever was there to
gladly accept it.
With his team trailing Winder-
Barrow 29-28 late and on the
verge of losing, McKeever
snagged a wayward pass from
Christian Davila near the
Bulldogg 25 and returned the
ball to the one-yard line with
1:16 left. Raider quarterback
Jacob Owens scored two
players later to give Madison
County (1-1) a wild 35-29 win
over the Bulldoggs (0-1).
“I was kind of scared,”
McKeever said of the intercep
tion. ‘‘I thought I was going to
drop it. I was too open. But I
caught it and tried to score.”
As for Owens, it was the
second touchdown of the night
for the ailing quarterback who’d
missed one day of school this
week due to illness.
His one-yard plunge with
1:05 left ensured that Madison
County wouldn’t start the year
0-2.
“That was easy, what I did,”
Owens said. “The hard part was
what Presley and the defense
did. That was all them.”
The game-changing intercep
tion was the result of an appar
ent Bulldogg miscommunica-
tion.
McKeever said the Winder-
Barrow receiver ran a stop route,
while the Davila threw it long.
The Raider comerback read the
quarterback and stayed with the
pass.
“I saw the quarterback rare
back, so I knew he was fixing to
throw it there,” said McKeever,
who finished with four tackles
and three pass break-ups. “I
knew I had that one."
McKeever’s interception
and Owens’ score capped a
helter-skelter series of events
for Madison County, which had
blown a 12-point fourth quarter
lead.
The Raiders took a 28-16
advantage with 11:30 left after
Bracken Turner stepped in at
quarterback, rolled right, and hit
Patrick McCrary for a 78-yard
touchdown pass.
But Winder-Barrow rallied for
two touchdowns to take a 29-28
edge with 5:37 left.
Madison County then drove
to the Bulldogg two, where it
seemingly saw its hopes slip
away when Jamal Cooper was
stopped short of the end zone
on a fourth down with just 2:52
left, giving the ball back to
Winder-Barrow.
But the Raider defense
forced a third-and-seven, and
that’s when McKeever fielded
Davila’s errant pass, sprinted
inside the five and hurled his
body toward the endzone, get
ting stopped just short of the
goal line,
A few Raider players
thought he’d broken the
plane and scored, including
McKeever.
“I think I hit the pylon a little
bit,” McKeever said.
The victory was the Raiders’
first since Sept. 12, 2008, when
they beat Monroe Area 34-0.
But Madison County had to
survive being out-gained 331-
168 and play opportunistic
football to win this one,
Madison County, which led
21-14 at the half, forced five
turnovers — two which led to
touchdowns — while Jamal
Cooper returned a kickoff 83
yards for a score, his second in
as many weeks.
“There was a lot of team
effort in the game," McKeever
said. “This is the best team
effort we’ve had in a long
time.”
REGION 8-AAAA
Standings
Region
Overall
Apalachee
2-0
2-0
Clarke Central
2-0
2-0
Salem
2-0
2-0
Rockdale Co.
1-1
1-1
Cedar Shoals
1-1
1-1
Madison Co.
1-1
1-1
Hab. Central
1-1
1-1
Loganville
0-1
0-1
Winder-Barrow
0-1
0-1
Heritage
0-2
0-2
Monroe Area
0-2
0-2
Last Friday
Hab. Central 13, Heritage 12
Apalachee 12, Cedar Shoals 6
Salem 21, Rockdale Co. 14
Madison Co. 35, Winder-Bar. 29
Clarke Central 21, Monroe Area 7
Loganville was idle
This Friday
Hab. Central @ Clarke Central
Salem @ Loganville
Rockdale Co. @ Heritage
Winder-Barrow @ Cedar Shoals
Madison Co. @ Monroe Area
FRIDAYS TOTALS
MCHS WBHS
Score
35
29
Rush att-yds.
35-45
35-139
Pass comp-att.4-9
16-29
Pass yds.
123
192
Interceptions
0
2
Total offense
168
331
First downs
7
15
Fumbles
2
2
Rec. by opp.
1
2
Penalties-yds
5-50
9-60
Rushing
att
yds
TD
Maxwell
11
26
1
Dean
1
11
0
Owens
8
5
2
Butler
3
4
0
Samples
1
4
0
Turner
1
2
0
Cooper
10
-7
0
Passing
c-att
yds
TD
Turner
1-2
78
1
Owens
3-7
45
0
Receiving
rec
yds
TD
McCrary
2
102
1
Cooper
1
16
0
McKeever
1
5
0
Kicking
extra pts.
FG
Webster
5-5
0-0
Punting
att
yds
avg.
Samples
4
130
33.25
Defense
Tackle Sack INT
NeSmith
12
0
0
Bodiford
12
0
0
Samples
9
1
0
Dove
8
0
0
Carey
8
0
0
Boyett
5
1
0
Maxwell
5
0
1
Dean
5
0
1
McKeever
4
0
1
Butler
4
0
0
Thomas
4
0
0
D. Long
3
0
0
Turner
3
0
0
Luna
2
0
0
Gordon
2
0
0
E. Long
2
0
0
Bush
0
1
0
Adams
0
1
0
Notes: Bodiford recovered two
fumbles, NeSmith and E. Long each
forced one.
Football.. • continued from page IB
Zach
Mitcham-
Last week:
8-2
Madison Co.
South Carolina
Georgia Tech
Notre Dame
Auburn
Tennessee
USC
Chicago
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Margie
Richards
Last week:
7-3
Madison Co.
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Notre Dame
Miss. St.
Tennessee
Ohio St.
Chicago
Philadelphia
Miami
Ricky
McElroy
Last week:
6-4
Madison Co.
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Notre Dame
Auburn
Tennessee
USC
Green Bay
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Ben
Munro
Last week:
6-4
Madison Co.
South Carolina
Georgia Tech
Notre Dame
Auburn
Tennessee
USC
Green Bay
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Allen
McCannon
Last week
5-5:
Madison Co.
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Notre Dame
Auburn
Tennessee
USC
Green Bay
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Mitch
McGhee
Last week:
5-5
Madison Co.
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Notre Dame
Auburn
Tennessee
USC
Chicago
Carolina
Atlanta
Doug
Kesler
Last week:
4-6
Madison Co.
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Notre Dame
Auburn
Tennessee
USC
Chicago
Philadelphia
Atlanta
The players: Doug Kesler (long-time Madison Co. coach and current high
school softball coach), Allen McCannon (associate superintendent of Madison
Co. Schools), Ricky McElroy (fund-raising chairman of the Madison Co.
Touchdown Club), Mitch McGhee (superintendent of Madison County Schools),
Zach Mitcham (editor of The Madison County Journal), Ben Munro (reporter for
The Madison County Journal) and Margie Richards (reporter for The Madison
County Journal).
Sports shorts
Rec Dept
offers women’s
self defense class
The Madison County Recreation
Department will offer a women’s
self defense class on Thursdays from
Sept. 17 through Oct. 29 from 6 to
7:30 p.m. at the old Colbert gym.
The fee is $40. The instructor is
Jess Croya. No martial arts experi
ence is needed to take this class.
Participants must pre-register by
Tuesday, Sept. 15, by going to the
recreation department or calling it at
706-795-6270.
Rotary hosts charity golf
tourney Sept 19
The Madison County Rotary Club
will sponsor a charity golf tournament
at Sunrise Golf Course in Colbert
Saturday, Sept. 19, with a shotgun
start at 8:30 a.m. The event will end
at 12:30 p.m. Zeb's BBQ will be
served at the course following the
tourney with recognition of winners
and door prizes.
The tourney will be a four-person
Lauderdale format and winners will
be determined from 9-hole blind
draw by a course pro.
Cash prizes will be awarded to
the winning teams and there will be
prizes for the longest drive and clos
est to pin, along with numerous door
prizes. A special hole-in-one prize (a
Ranger boat, motor and trailer valued
at over $25,000 and provided by
Bond’s Marine Sales) will be award
ed, and prizes will also be given away
for a hole-in-one on all par 3’s.
Entry fees are $75 per entrant and
$300 per foursome. Individual or
team registration is accepted. A $150
sponsor fee includes one player and
a tee sign. The fee includes lunch,
greens fees, cart and participant gift
packs. Tournament proceeds will go
to benefit Madison County Rotary’s
support of local charities and ser
vice activities performed by the club,
organizers said.
For registration forms or questions,
cafi Jeff Dillard at 706-206-5724 or
emailjsdillar@southemco.com
Touchdown Club
offering $10,000 prize
The Madison County Touchdown
Club will hold its 23 rd annual “$ 10,000
Giveaway” Oct. 24 at the Danielsville
Volunteer Fire Department.
Contact Ricky McElroy at 706-
789-2305 for tickets.
The Touchdown Club is also sell
ing 911 signs, while spots for the
Raider Wall of Fame (located on
the back of the press box) are still
available.
has lost 12 straight games.
But the Purple Hurricanes are
plenty dangerous, something
evident last week.
Monroe Area played Clarke
Central tightly for three and a
half quarters last week before
losing 21-7.
“Their kids are playing hard,"
Owens said. “They’ve got some
athletes. They’ve got some
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weapons.”
As for Madison County, the
victory last week seems to have
invigorated the team, despite
lingering sickness. And the grit
it showed last week says a lot
about this team, Owens said.
“All I can say is that I’m
really proud to be their coach
... It just makes you proud to
be a part of these guys," Owens
said.
Madison County
Board of Commissioners
SEALED BIDS
Madison County Board of Commissioners is
seeking sealed bids for Law Enforcement/Jail
Records Management Software. Sealed Bids
will be accepted until 12:00 noon on September
10, 2009 in the Madison County Commissioners
Office: 91 Albany Avenue, P.O. Box 147
Danielsville, GA 30633. Bids should be marked
“SEALED BID”. For further information
contact: Allison Craig at 706-795-6205. The
Madison County Board of Commissioners
reserves the right to reject any and all bids.
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Freshstart Tobacco Cessation
Freshstart Tobacco Cessation is a four-session American Cancer Society
program designed to help you stop using tobacco products for good.
Sept. 14, 21, 28 and Oct. 5
6:00 - 7:00pm
$30 deposit required; refunded if all four sessions are attended or donated to ACS.
Call Athens Regional Health Education at 706-475-5620
for more information and to register.
Athens Regional
MEDICAL CENTER
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For more information,
call 706-475-5620.
www.armc.org
1850 Epps Bridge Pkwy. • Athens, GA
Fittings
Bag Evaluations
Repairs
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