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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 17. 2009 — PAGE 3B
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1850 Epps Bridge Pkwy. • Athens, GA
Madison Co. 45, Monroe Area 15
Raider offense takes flight
Students show their appreciation for the Raider offense
Friday night after a Madison County touchdown. Ben Munro/
staff
Football.. • continued from page IB
nent. Clarke Central (3-0) and
Apalachee (2-0) lead the region.
Raider coach Randell Owens
notes that his team still controls
its own playoff destiny.
“We’re still in a good position,”
he said. “The people above us
(in the region standings), we've
got to play them as well.”
Gunnells said he watched the
Jaguars in a scrimmage earlier
this year and described Cedar
Shoals as tough, physical, big
and fast. Owens offers a simi
lar assessment of the tradition-
ally-talented Jaguars, calling
the Athens team “about like
Rockdale County, only better.”
Rockdale County, of course,
beat Madison County 28-6 in
week one.
Owens said that Cedar Shoals,
7-5 last year, looks like it’s only
gaining steam as each game
passes.
“Bottom line, you’re playing
a team that has athletes, and
they’re getting better week by
week,” he said.
Madison County might be get
ting better, too.
The Raiders won their second
game in a row last week, down
ing Monroe Area 45-15 behind
526 yards of total offense.
Owens said his team upgraded
in multiple areas over the pre
vious week’s down-to-the-wire,
35-29 victory over Winder-
Barrow.
“I felt like our kids improved a
lot on a lot of things, the mental
mistakes from the week before,”
Owens said.
Madison County seeks to
continue that improvement in
a major test Friday and keep
pace in a wild Region 8-AAAA
playoff race.
The way Owens sees it, there’s
slew of contenders fighting for
the post season and his team is
one of them.
“It’s a nine-team race based
on what I’ve seen on film,” he
said.
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REGION 8-AAAA
Standings
Region
Overall
Clarke Central
3-0
3-0
Apalachee
2-0
2-0
Cedar Shoals
2-1
2-1
Madison Co.
2-1
2-1
Salem
2-1
2-1
Loganville
1-1
1-1
Hab. Central
1-2
1-2
Heritage
1-2
1-2
Rockdale Co.
1-2
1-2
Winder-Barrow
0-2
0-2
Monroe Area
0-3
0-3
Last Friday
Clarke Central 23, Hab. Central 7
Cedar Shoals 39, Winder-Barrow 13
Loganville 47, Salem 35
Madison Co. 45, Monroe Area 15
Heritage 14, Rockdale Co. 10
Apalachee was idle
This Friday
Clarke Central @ Apalachee
Cedar Shoals @ Madison Co.
Monroe Area @ Salem
Loganville @ Hab. Central
Heritage @ Winder-Barrow
Rockdale Co. is idle
FRIDAYS TOTALS
MCHS
1 Monroe
Score
45
15
Rush att-yds.
37-261
45-206
Pass comp-att. 14-22
2-5
Pass yds.
265
38
Interceptions
0
1
Total offense
526
244
First downs
16
12
Fumbles
2
2
Rec. by opp.
2
0
Penalties-yds
11-95
2-20
Rushing
att
yds
ID
Cooper
7
91
0
Butler
5
72
2
Maxwell
17
70
1
Owens
7
20
1
Dean
1
1
0
Passing
c-att
yds
ID
Owens
13-21
207
2
Jordan
1-1
58
1
Receiving
rec
yds
ID
McCrary
3
75
0
Burton
5
58
0
Turner
5
52
1
Butler
1
43
0
Cooper
4
37
0
Kicking
extra pts.
FG
Webster
5-5
1-2
Wilson
1-1
0-0
Punting
att
yds
avg.
Cheek
2
62
31.0
Defense
Tackle Sack INT
Carey
12
0
0
NeSmith
9
2
0
Lima
6
2
0
McKeever
5
0
0
Dean
5
0
0
Bodiford
5
0
0
M. Thomas
5
1
0
Turner
5
0
1
Q. Thomas
4
0
0
Maxwell
4
0
0
McGuire
4
0
0
Bush
3
0
0
Adams
3
0
0
Boyett
3
0
0
Butler
2
0
0
Martin
2
0
0
E. Long
2
0
0
D. Long
1
0
0
Smith
1
0
0
Stan Maxwell scores a touch
down Friday.
OFFENSIVE SEASON STATS
Rushing
att
yds
TD
Maxwell
30
118
2
Butler
13
113
2
Cooper
24
74
0
Dean
5
21
0
Samples
2
6
0
Turner
2
3
0
Owens
26
-19
3
Passing
c-att
yds
TD
Owens
22-45
i 310
1
Turner
2-3
100
1
Jordan
1-1
58
1
Receiving
rec
yds
TD
McCrary
7
202
1
Butler
2
65
0
Turner
6
60
1
Burton
1
58
1
Cooper
6
56
0
McKeever
3
27
0
Kicking
extra pts.
FG
Webster
Wilson
Punting
10-11
1-1
att
yds
1-2
0-0
avg.
Samples
6
194
32.0
Cheek
2
62
31.0
Madison County receiver Bracken Turner stretches out for a score in the Raiders’ 45-15
victory over Monroe Area. Ben Munro/staff
Madison Co. puts up 526 yards against ‘Canes
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
"adison County’s
statistician might
-have been the
hardest-working man on the
sideline Friday night.
The Raider offense put up
plenty of numbers to crunch,
shredding Monroe Area for 526
yards — 253 more than in the
first two weeks combined — in
a 45-15 road victory at “The
Purple Pit.”
“We had a good week of
practice,” Madison County
offensive lineman John
Gunnells said. “We came out
and got some stuff done and we
executed well. It was good to
finally see that.”
The Raiders (2-1) scored 28
points in the second half in win
ning for the second week in a
row. Meanwhile, Monroe Area
lost its 13th consecutive game.
Madison County senior quar-
terback Jacob Owens had his
most prolific passing night of
the season, completing 13-of-21
passes for 207 yards Friday,
while senior running back
Kendrick Butler scored twice
and ran for 72 yards on five car
ries. Senior back Jamal Cooper
added 91 yards on the ground.
Defense
i
Tackles Sack
NeSmith
31 3
Bodiford
29 0
Carey
21 0
Dean
19 0
Dove
15 0
M. Thomas
15 1
Sarnies
15 1
McKeever
14 0
Butler
14 0
Luna
14 3
Maxwell
12 0
Bush
12 0
Boyett
11 1
and senior Patrick McCrary had
another big-play night at wide
receiver, catching three passes
for 75 yards.
Madison County rolled up
199 yards of total offense in
the first half, leading 17-7
after touchdowns from Stan
Maxell (three yards), Butler (18
yards) and a field goal from Ian
Webster (32 yards).
The Raiders then turned the
night into a lopsided affair with
four touchdowns in the second
half.
Owens scored on a three-yard
keeper late in the third quarter,
followed by fourth quarter
touchdowns from Bracken
Turner (10-yard reception),
Butler (49-yard run) and Trae
Burton, who snagged Alex
Jordan's first varsity pass and
took it 58 yards to the end zone.
Madison County threw the
ball to five different receivers in
the victory as more targets con
tinue to emerge this year. That's
helped quarterback Owens,
according to coach Owens.
“It's not just one go-to guy ...
He's got confidence in any one
of them,” he said.
The 45 points were Madison
County's most since a 49-7
victory over Elbert County on
Sept. 7,2007.
It could have been more.
Madison County had two
kickoff returns for touchdowns
called back, missed a 37-yard
field goal and fumbled twice
inside the Monroe Area 30.
NOTES
•Several Madison County
linemen graded out with
“winning” scores in Friday’s
Monroe Area game — Connor
Boyett (72 percent), Demetris
Pattman (69.1 percent), Steve
Goldman (82 percent) and
John Gunnells (91 percent).
Owens called Goldman’s score
“very good” and Gunnells'
rating “probably the best since
I’ve been here,”
•Defensively, linebacker
Donavan Carey, who had 12
tackles, had “an outstanding
game,” Owens said. Other
big playmakers on defense
were Jeremiah NeSmith, who
recorded two sacks, and Ruben
Luna, who had two sacks
as well. Meanwhile, Owens
praised the play of Bracken
Turner, Stan Maxwell and
Kendrick Butler at safety. Matt
Dean and Quinton Thomas at
rover and Presly McKeever at
comer.
•Place kicker Ian Webster
converted 5-of-5 PATs and was
l-of-2 on field goal tries.
Turner
E.Long
Adams
D. Long
Q. Thomas
McGuire
Martin
Gordon
Smith
Hackle total includes sacks
Notes: Bodiford has two fumble recoveries; NeSmith
and E. Long have each caused a fumble; and D. Long
and B. Smith have each recovered a fumble.
Jacob Owens
carries a pair
of Monroe
Area defend
ers with him
on a quarter
back keeper
last week
in Madison
County’s 45-15
victory over
the Purple
Hurricanes.
The Raiders
face Cedar
Shoals this
Friday. Ben
Munro/staff
1964-2009
Madison Co. Journal Pigskin Picker
Cedar Shoals at Madison Co
Georgia at Arkansas
Georgia Tech at Miami (FL)
Nebraska at Virginia Tech
Tennessee at Florida
Zach
Mitcham
Records:
Last week, overall
6-4, 14-6
Utah at Oregon
Florida State at Briaham Youna
Boston Colleae at Clemson
Carolina at Atlanta
NY Giants at Dallas
Madison Co.
Utah
Georgia
BYU
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Atlanta
Florida
New York
Madison Co.
Utah
Georgia
BYU
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Atlanta
Florida
Dallas
Madison Co.
Utah
Georgia
BYU
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Atlanta
Florida
Dallas
Madison Co.
Utah
Arkansas
BYU
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Atlanta
Florida
New York
Madison Co.
Utah
Georgia
BYU
Miami
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Atlanta
Florida
Dallas
Madison Co.
Utah
Georgia
BYU
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Atlanta
Florida
Dallas
Madison Co.
Oregon
Georgia
Florida St.
Georgia Tech
Boston College
Virginia Tech
Carolina
Florida
New York
Ricky
McElroy
Records:
Last week, overall
8-2, 14-6
Allen
McCannon
Records:
Last week, overall
8-2, 13-7
Ben
Munro
Records:
Last week, overall
7-3, 13-7
Mitch
McGhee
Records:
Last week, overall
64,11-9
Doug
Kesler
Records:
Last week, overall
7-3,11-9
Margie
Richards
Records:
Last week, overall
4-6, 11-5
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).
mi