Newspaper Page Text
The Madison County Journal
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Week 12 predictions are in
Check out the football picks for
week 11 of The Madison County
Journal Pigskin Picker
2B
IB
Thursday, November 19, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
FOOTBALL
Owens verbally
commits to West
Point; Cooper to
Ga. Military
Two Madison County
football players will be get
ting used to military life
next year as they continue
their careers on the grid
iron.
Madison County High
School quarterback Jacob
Owens will move on to
Division I-A football, ver
bally committing to Army
Monday. Meanwhile, Jamal
Cooper verbally committed
to play junior college foot
ball at Georgia Military in
Milledgeville.
Owens, who started
at quarterback for two
years at Madison County
High School, completed
63-of-138 passes this year
for 855 yards and six touch
downs. Owens also rushed
174 yards and a team-high
nine touchdowns.
He becomes the second of
Red Raider coach Randell
Owens’ sons to commit to
service academy.
Jarrod Owens, Madison
County quarterback from
2004-2006, now plays for
the Coast Guard Academy.
Cooper, a running back,
accounted for 491 total
yards this year and returned
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Mustang
wrestlers
enjoy tourney
success Sat.
The Madison County
Middle School wrestling
team had its most successful
tournament in its history at
the Oglethorpe County Junior
Patriot Wrestling Tournament
Saturday in Lexington.
In addition to an all-time
high fourth-place team finish,
the Mustangs had a school-
record eight wrestlers earn
individual medals. Banks
County took first place in
the tournament, followed
by Athens Christian School
in second place and Elbert
County in third place, just
ahead of the Mustangs.
Mustang wrestlers Dustin
Howard, Chase Boyett, Dylan
Haney, Tom Evans, Blake
Seagraves and Christian
Dean took home third-place
medals, while Jared Bates
and Josh Huff earned fourth-
place individual honors.
The Mustangs faced
Oglethorpe County and
Stephens County on Tuesday
in the first meet to be held
at the new Madison County
Middle School and are
scheduled to compete in the
Hart County Quad Meet in
Hartwell on Saturday.
HUNTING
Annual dove
shoot ahead
The fifth-annual
Madison County Parent/
Child Dove Hunt will be
held Dec. 19 at Travis
Legg’s and Cory Clements’
property in Comer.
The event will begin at
9 a.m. Participants will
be able to build their own
turkey call and there will
be a demonstration by
Craig Fulghum of how
to use different calls. A
barbecue lunch will be
provided. Those wanting
to participate can register
at one of the following
locales: Georgia Outdoor
Sports, Madison County
Hardware, North Georgia
Sports, Midway Farm
Supply and Shuler’s.
‘RAYBO’SIGNS WITH GEORGIA COLLEGE
Madison County High School shortstop/pitcher Matthew “Raybo” Robinson has
signed a baseball scholarship with Georgia College. He is pictured at a signing
ceremony Monday with his father, John Robinson (seated, left), and mother, Wendi
Robinson (seated, right). Also pictured (standing) are Raider assistant coach
Michael Thomas, head coach Charlie Griffeth, and assistant coach Ken Morgan.
Last year, Robinson batted .327. For his career, Robinson is batting .297 with 3
home runs, 49 RBIs and 31 stolen bases.
Region Reclassification
Region 8-AAAA could
lose at least one team
MCHS is second smallest school in Class AAAA
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
REGION 8-AAAA
ENROLLMENT
Madison County’s athletic region,
8-AAAA, could change by at least one
member, based on recent classification
announcements from the Georgia High
School Association.
Monroe Area, with an enrollment of
1,347, would drop to Class AAA for
2010 through 2012.
The other 10 region teams are slated
to return to Class AAAA.
Rockdale County is 8-AAAA's larg
est school with 1,816 students.
— See ‘Region’ on page 2B
Rockdale County 1,816
Habersham Central 1,775
Heritage 1,700
Winder-Barrow 1,700
Loganville 1,684
Salem 1,614
Apalachee 1,603
Cedar Shoals 1,495
Clarke Central 1,437
Madison County 1,425
Monroe Area 1,347 (sched
uled to drop to Class AAA)
2009-2010 Hoops Preview
MADISON COUNTY IN ACTION:
Patrick McCrary fights for a basket during Friday’s scrimmage.
Raiders hungry after
last year’s near-miss
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The memory is still there.
But it’s not altogether a bit
ter one.
Needing just one more
region tournament victory to
qualify for the Class AAAA
postseason back in February,
an 8-17 Red Raider team
pushed no. 1 seed Rockdale
County to the brink before
falling overtime by three
points.
“So much heartache and so
much frustration, but yet at
the same time, it creates such
a hunger for these younger
guys, to say, 'hey, we were
right there with the top team
in the region,” Red Raider
coach Steve Crouse said.
Nine months later, the
Red Raiders — who tip the
season off Friday at home
against Southwest Atlanta
Christian Academy — hope
they finally have the pieces in
place to end a 12-year state
MADISON CO.
BOYS’ROSTER
Latraveon Burton 5
Kendrick Butler 22
Josh Crouse 11
Stan Maxwell 15
Patrick McCrary 40
Terrell McCrary 33
T.J. McGuire 21
Presly McKeever 20
Dominique Parrish 1
Bradley Raines 14
Matthew Robinson 10
Jamaal Cooper 24
Marquis Thomas 30
— See ‘Boys’ on page 2B
The Madison County boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will host
their annual pre-Thanksgiving invitational tournament Saturday and
Tuesday. Teams playing in the event are Dacula, Jonesboro, Aquinas,
Newton County (girls only) and Towers (boys only). The first game
starts at 3 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Strength
in numbers
MADISON CO.
GIRLS’ROSTER
Shantydra Arnold 20
Lauren Smith 23
Sakoya Moon 12
Kiedreuna Chappell 55
Juvonna Fleming 22
Elizabeth Whieldon 15
Kayla Freeman 32
Juleigh Fouche 3
Molly Glaze 21
Areil Sorrells 24
Sam Lazear 25
Elise Coberly 31
Nekeia Brown 50
Deep squad begins
c post-Courtney era’
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The good news for Madison
County’s foes: They won’t have to
account for Courtney Freeman any
more.
The bad news: They’ll have to
account for everyone else.
“We are deeper than any team in the
region, I think,” said third-year coach
— See ‘Girls’ on page 2B
Kayla Freeman takes a shot during Friday’s scrimmage.
Wrestling
Madison County wrestlers gear up for early tests
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews. com
T he true tests of the
Madison County wres
tling season will come
after Christmas when the Raiders
search for post-season glory in
the area and state duals.
Of course, there will be plenty
of pop quizzes between now and
then, plenty of question marks
needing answers.
Just how does the Madison
County squad, which returns
three state qualifiers, match up
against the region’s elite, such as
Loganville and Rockdale? And
how will younger wrestlers mea
sure up as they help fill out the
lineup?
The Raiders, who started after-
school practice two weeks ago,
will find out a lot when they open
— See ‘Wrestling’ on page 2B
TYLER ADAMS ISAAC RUIZ CODY PHILLIPS