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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.” All Your Metal Needs GeorgiaMetals.com • 866-232-6920