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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 24. 2009 — PAGE 3B
Madison Co. 29, Cedar Shoals 28
MCHS upsets Cedar
Jamal Cooper runs past a Cedar Shoals defender in Madison County’s 29-28 win over
Cedar Shoals. Cooper had a 59-yard score on the third play from scrimmage. Ben Munro/
staff
Bodiford’s blocked punt stuns Jags
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
O n a wild night for
special teams, it was
a special teams play
that finally tipped the scales in
Madison County’s favor.
Kale Bodiford blocked
a Cedar Shoals punt with
5:26 left, setting up Madison
County’s game-winning touch
down as the Raiders stunned the
Jaguars 29-28 Friday at home.
The huge victory moved the
Raiders to 3-1 and into a three-
way tie for second place in
Region 8-AAAA.
“It was just open,’’ Bodiford
said of the block. “We just
played our butts off. It was
teamwork. It was all teamwork.”
Bodiford’s crucial play came
after the Raiders, trailing 28-22,
forced Cedar Shoals to punt
after a three-and-out.
Bodiford broke through the
line for the block and Donavan
Carey scooped the loose ball
around the Jaguar 40 and raced
down to the nine-yard line.
Raider quarterback Jacob
Owens scored two plays later,
tying the game at 28. Ian
Webster's PAT gave Madison
County the one-point advantage
with 4:35 left.
Madison County’s defense
made sure there’d be no late
BODIFORD
drama as the Jaguars went back
wards on their first three plays
of their final offensive series.
Cedar Shoals opted to punt
on fourth-and-14, but - on a
night of special team mishaps
for both teams - mishandled the
attempt. Madison County took
over at the Jaguar 17 and ran the
clock out.
"It’s always big to beat a
Clarke County school,” said
coach Randell Owens, who
improves his record to 5-4
against Cedar Shoals and Clarke
Central. “So many of our kids
know their kids. We compete
so hard with them in so many
sports.”
The coach noted the difficulty
of playing on a wet field, which
led to some of the special teams
miscues.
"Unfortunately in the kicking
game, we did give them some
easy ones,” Owens said. "But
fortunately, they gave us some
back, so it all kind of evened
out.”
With the victory, the Raiders
have already eclipsed last year’s
win total. Madison County
defensive end Connor Boyett
said his team was not to be
denied in this one, remember
ing that last year’s loss to Cedar
Shoals started a seven-game los
ing streak following a 2-1 start.
“We started off last year 2-1,
and we did not want to have
the same record as last year,”
he said.
It was a roller-coaster evening
for the Raiders, who got started
with a 59-yard touchdown from
Jamal Cooper on the third play
from scrimmage and built a
22-7 halftime lead after touch
down runs of seven and 26
yards from Kendrick Butler. The
Raiders gashed Cedar Shoals for
186 yards on the ground in the
first half and 222 in the game.
Madison County watched that
lead evaporate in the second
half, however, as Cedar Shoals
rallied for three touchdowns,
two of which were setup by
botched Raider punt attempts.
But the defense came up with
big stop late when Madison
County needed it, setting up
Bodiford’s heroics.
“It was a great win,” Bodiford
said. “It was crazy... It was
tough, but we did it.”
DEFENSIVE SEASON STATS
Defense
Tackles
Sack
IN'!
Adams
ii
i
0
NeSmith
47
5
0
E. Long
7
0
0
Bodiford
41
0
0
D. Long
7
0
0
Carey
33
0
0
Gordon
6
0
0
M. Thomas
25
1
0
Q. Thomas
5
0
0
Dean
22
0
1
Martin
5
0
0
Bush
21
0
0
McGuire
4
0
1
Luna
18
3
0
Smith
4
0
0
McKeever
19
0
1
Dove
17
0
0
Hackle total includes sacks
Turner
17
0
1
Other stats:
Fumbles caused
— NeSmith (2), E.
Boyett
17
1
0
Long (1); fumbles recovered
Bodiford (2), Carey
Butler
15
0
0
(1), D. Long (1), McGuire (1);
pass break-ups —
Samples
15
1
0
McKeever (4), Dean (2), Bush (1), Bodiford (1), Carey
Maxwell
15
0
1
(1), D. Long (1), Smith (1); blocked kick — Bodiford
(1).
REGION 8-AAAA
Standings
Region
Overall
Apalachee
3-0
3-0
Madison Co.
3-1
3-1
Salem
3-1
3-1
Clarke Central
3-1
3-1
Cedar Shoals
2-2
2-2
Hab. Central
2-2
2-2
Loganville
1-2
1-2
Rockdale Co.
1-2
1-2
Winder-Barrow
1-2
1-2
Heritage
1-3
1-3
Monroe Area
0-4
0-4
Last Friday
Apalachee 21, Clarke Central 7
Madison Co. 29, Cedar Shoals 28
Salem 21, Monroe Area 8
Hab. Central 31, Loganville 27
Winder-Barrow 7, Heritage 0
Rockdale Co. was idle
This Friday
Apalachee @ Rockdale Co.
Salem @ Madison Co.
Clarke Central @ Heritage
Loganville @ Cedar Shoals
Hab. Central @ Winder-Barrow
Monroe Area is idle
FRIDAYS TOTALS
MCHS Cedar
Score
29
28
Rush att-yds.
44-222
53-269
Pass comp-att.0-5
0-5
Pass yds.
0
0
Interceptions
0
0
Total offense
222
269
First downs
7
14
Fumbles
3
1
Rec. by opp.
0
0
Penalties-yds
5-50
8-67
Rushing
att
yds
TD
Cooper
5
82
1
Owens
13
55
1
Maxwell
15
50
0
Butler
6
44
2
Dean
2
6
0
Turner
1
-1
0
Cheek
1
-14
0
Passing
c-att
yds
TD
Owens
0-4
0
0
Cheek
0-1
0
0
Receiving
None
rec
yds
TD
Kicking
extra pts.
FG
Webster
3-3
0-0
Punting
att
yds
avg.
Cheek
3
103
34.0
Defense
Tackle Sack INT
NeSmith
16
2
0
Carey
12
0
0
Bodiford
12
0
0
M. Thomas
10
0
0
Bush
9
0
0
Turner
7
0
0
Boyett
6
0
0
McKeever
5
0
0
Adams
5
0
0
Luna
4
0
0
Gordon
4
0
0
Dean
3
0
0
Maxwell
3
0
0
Smith
3
0
0
D. Long
2
0
0
Martin
2
0
0
Dove
2
0
0
Butler
1
0
0
*tackle total includes sacks.
Other stats: Punt blocks — Bodiford
(1), fumble recoveries — Carey (1),
pass break-ups — McKeever (1),
Bodiford (1)
OFFENSIVE SEASON STATS
Rushing
att
yds
TD
Maxwell
46
168
2
Butler
19
157
4
Cooper
29
156
1
Owens
39
36
4
Dean
7
27
0
Samples
2
6
0
Turner
3
2
0
Cheek
1
-14
0
Passing
c-att yds
TD
Owens
22-49 310
1
Turner
2-3
100
1
Jordan
1-1
58
1
Cheek
0-1
0
0
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
13-14
1-2
Wilson
1-1
0-0
Punting
att
yds
avg.
Samples
6
194
32.0
Cheek
5
165
33.0
Madison Co. Journal Pigskin Picker
Salem at Madison Co.
Arizona State at Georgia
Mississippi at South Carolina
North Carolina at Georgia Tech
TCU at Clemson
Miami (FL) at Virginia Tech
California at Oregon
Notre Dame at Purdue
San Francisco at Minnesota
Atlanta at New England
Zach
Mitcham
Records:
Last week, overall
7-3, 21-9
Madison Co.
Georgia
South Carolina
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Miami
California
Notre Dame
Minnesota
New England
Ricky
McElroy
Records:
Last week, overall
6-4, 20-10
Madison Co.
Georgia
Mississippi
Georgia Tech
TCU
Miami (FL)
California
Notre Dame
Minnesota
New England
Allen
McCannon
Records:
Last week, overall
6-4, 19-11
Madison Co.
Georgia
Mississippi
Georgia Tech
TCU
Miami (FL)
California
Notre Dame
Minnesota
New England
Ben
Munro
Records:
Last week, overall
6-4, 19-11
Madison Co.
Georgia
Mississippi
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Miami (FL)
California
Notre Dame
Minnesota
Atlanta
Mitch
McGhee
Records:
Last week, overall
7-3,18-12
Madison County
Georgia
Mississippi
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Miami (FL)
California
Notre Dame
Minnesota
Atlanta
Margie
Richards
Records:
Last week, overall
7-3, 18-12
Madison Co.
Georgia
South Carolina
North Carolina
Clemson
Miami (FL)
Oregon
Notre Dame
Minnesota
Atlanta
Doug
Kesler
Records:
Last week, overall
64,17-13
Madison Co.
Georgia
Mississippi
Georgia Tech
TCU
Miami (FL)
California
Notre Dame
Minnesota
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).
Jeremiah NeSmith had a huge night on defense Friday with
16 tackles and two sacks. Ben Munro/staff
This and that: Football notebook
•Up 29-28 on Cedar Shoals with
the ball inside the 10 in the closing
moments, the Raiders could have
gone for another touchdown to
ice the game, but coach Randell
Owens chose to play it conserva
tively rather than risk a turnover.
“We didn’t need to score again,”
he said. "We needed to play keep-
away ... I told the kids, I know
you’re going to be mad at me, but
just trust me.”
•Several Madison County
offensive linemen again graded
out well in another Raider victory.
Owens called Steven Goldman’s
grade of 87 “phenomenal," while
others impressing the coach were
John Gunnells (81 percent) and
Demetris Pattman (71 percent)
with “winning” grades. Owens
also noted that Tyler Adams and
Jeremiah Nesmith "improved
significantly.”
•Jeremiah NeSmith had anoth
er huge night on defense with 16
tackles, including two sacks. He
now has five sacks on the year in
just four games.
•Madison County had another
kickoff return called back, the
third in two weeks. “The kickoff
return would have been nice if
they would have let us keep that,”
Owens said.
•The Raiders ran the ball very
well Friday, especially in the first
half when they racked up 186
yards on the ground. Four differ
ent ball carriers ran for 40 yards or
more on the night. But Madison
County threw just five passes
and none during the first half. So
Owens said he appreciates the atti
tude of Madison County receivers
like Patrick McCrary. “I apolo
gized to him at half time,” Owens
said. “He said, ‘“That’s alright,
coach. Let’s do what we got to do
to win the ball game.’ That kind of
leadership and attitude has carried
us a long way.”
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