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PAGE 2B — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 10. 2009
Football
MCHS to open 2010 football season
with Flowery Branch, tentatively
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County’s 2010 football schedule isn't
official yet, but coach Randell Owens has a pretty
good idea how it will look.
Owens released a tentative schedule for next year
that has the Red Raiders facing
nine of the 10 teams they played
in 2009.
Flowery Branch, Region
8-AAAA’s new team, is the only
new opponent on the unofficial
schedule, in place of Monroe
Area which dropped out of Class
AAAA.
OWENS Madison County will wel
come Flowery Branch to Region
8-AAAA Aug. 27 when the Red
Raiders host the Falcons in the season opener.
With the Flowery Branch joining the fold and
Monroe Area leaving, 8-AAAA gains a Falcon
team that advanced to the Class AAA semifinals
this year, while losing a Purple Hurricane squad
that went 0-20 over the last two years.
The only other change on the Red Raiders’
schedule comes in the preseason.
Madison County will scrimmage Hart County
Aug. 13, instead of Franklin County, which served
as the Red Raiders preseason foe for the past two
seasons.
Madison County’s other nine other opponents
are Salem (Sept. 3), Winder-Barrow (Sept. 10),
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Date, opponent 2009 record
Aug. 13 @Hart Co. (scrimmage) 8-3
Aug. 27 Flowery Branch 10-4
Sept. 3 ©Salem 6-4
Sept. 10 ©Winder-Barrow 2-8
Sept. 17 Loganville 6-5
Sept. 24 @Hab. Central 4-6
Oct. 1 Apalachee 12-1
Oct. 15 @Rockdale Co. 10-4
Oct. 22 Clarke Central 12-2*
Oct. 29 @Cedar Shoals 3-7
Nov. 5 Heritage 4-6
*Clarke Central plays for the state title this week
end.
Loganville (Sept. 17), Habersham Central (Sept.
24), Apalachee (Oct. 1), Rockdale Co. (Oct. 15),
Clarke Central (Oct. 22), Cedar Shoals (Oct. 29)
and Heritage (Nov. 5).
Madison County and all other Region 8-AAAA
schools will play a straight region schedule as has
been done the past two years.
The Red Raiders' 2010 schedule shapes up to
be a tough one with Madison County playing a
state finalist (Clarke Central, two semifinals teams
(Rockdale County and Flowery Branch) and a
quarterfinals team (Apalachee).
The schedule and region realignments aren’t offi
cial until the GHSA Executive Committee meets
in January to hear the appeals of those wanting to
move laterally to regions within their classifica
tions.
If this schedule becomes final, Madison County
will play the same teams on the corresponding
2011 dates, reversing the home and away site.
New Region 8-AAAA.. • cont’d from page IB
Owens cast one of the "no”
votes and was perhaps the most
vocal opponent of a straight-
region schedule configuration.
Owens favors a subdivided
schedule in which teams would
play schools in their subregion
and only a few from the other side
of the region. That would leave
schools the freedom to schedule
two or three non-region, revenue-
generating games against more
localized opponents.
“I argued the point that we
were adamantly against it for the
reasons of gate,” Owens said. “If
we play local, traditional rival
ries, we’re going to make two-
thirds, about 60 percent, more at
the gate.”
In fact, Owens said Madison
County would make an average
of about $14,000 in ticket sales
in football games against nearby
opponents Franklin County or
Elbert County.
‘That’s money that not only
funds football, but non-revenue
sports where we don’t have
gate,” he said.
He estimates the school only
generates between $3,500 to
$6,500 when playing any of the
region schools out of Rockdale
County.
Plus, traveling to far-off schools
like Rockdale County, Heritage
and Salem drive up travel costs,
Owens said.
Owens also argued that GHSA
handbook mandates subdivi
sion for regions with 10 or more
teams, but was told that didn’t
necessarily require a subdivided
schedule.
Owens disagreed.
“The implication there (in the
bylaws) is that you're going to
play a subdivided schedule,”
Owens said. “If it was an English
paper, you would have gotten
anF.”
Habersham Central,
Apalachee, Winder-Barrow and
Heritage voted with Madison
County against the all-region
schedule. Loganville, Clarke
Central, Cedar Shoals, Rockdale
County, Salem and Flowery
Branch voted in favor of the all-
region schedule.
Owens said he had little hope
of swinging enough region votes
his way, though the vote was
much tighter than he anticipated.
“I knew I was going to lose
the argument when I started the
argument," Owens said.
No scheduling is final until
mid-January. Schools can still
appeal to the GHSA for lateral
moves within their classifica
tions.
If Madison County had its
wish, it would be out of Class
AAAA altogether.
The school petitioned to play
down in Class AAA, based on its
low enrollment compared to that
of other Class AAAA schools.
Madison County was only five
students away from Class AAA
numbers and projected that its
enrollment had actually dipped
from the number the GHSA used
when determining reclassifica
tion.
The school, however, lost that
appeal and is locked into Class
AAAA for the next two years.
“Bottom line, I feel like a
guy who just lost about three
ball games here in the last three
weeks,” Owens said.
Madison County could have
been locked into Class AAAA
for four years, but Owens said
the GHSA will likely scrap its
initial plans to move to a four-
year cycle.
‘There is a strong movement
to change it back to a two-year
reclassification period, and I
believe that it will pass," Owens
said in an email.
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Seventh grade MCMS boys dominant in 5-0 start
Madison County Middle
School’s seventh grade boys’ bas
ketball team is off to 5-0 start in
convincing fashion.
The Mustangs have won all
their games by at least 16 points,
three of which have come by 30
points or more.
‘They are a special group that
doesn’t come around very often,”
coach Wayne McCarty said.
‘They have been successful all the
way up through rec ball and are
continuing that success in school
ball."
The seventh grade Mustangs’
victories have come over Malcolm
Bridge (40-24), South Habersham
(51-20), Franklin County (49-12),
Elbert County (45-19) and North
Habersham (55-22).
MCMS 8 th grade
boys are 4-1
The Madison County Middle
School eighth grade boys’ bas
ketball team is 4-1 with its lone
loss coming to Elbert County
(35-17).
The team has beaten
Malcolm Bridge (34-26), South
Habersham (27-23), Franklin
County (58-24) and North
Habersham (44-37 in overtime).
“I am extremely proud of
this group because they only
won three games all of last year
and have already surpassed that
win total this early in the year,”
coach Wayne McCarty said.
“They are well on their way to
having a successful eighth grade
season.”
Sports shorts
Reindeer Run
draws record
turnout
The Madison County Recreation
Department’s 16th annual Reindeer
Run on Saturday in Comer drew an
event-record 190 runners.
“The large number of participants
and our great sponsors made
this year’s run a huge success,”
organizers said.
Luke Smith was the overall
winner, running a 19:45. Julie Gayer
was the top female finisher with a
time of 24:11.
Gary Godfrey was this year’s
overall masters (40-and-over) winner
with a 22:04. Kathy Wiskow was
this year's female masters winner
with a 24:49.
The divisional winners are as
follows: 10-and-under male, Samuel
Hayes and Carter Smith; 10-and-
under female, Ashton Smith and
Mary Michael Chasteen; 11-14-year-
old male, Harris Smith and Dalton
Cardenaz; 11-14-year-old female,
Presley Burroughs and Cierra
Gunnin; 15-19-year-old male. Will
McCarty, Tyler Walton; 15-19-year-
old female, Samantha Jones and
Elizabeth Whieldon; 20-24-year-old
male, Clayton Kendrick and Joseph
Whieldon; 20-24-year-old female,
Danielle Andrews; 25-29-year-
old male, Brian Gaeth and Gary
Parham; 25-29-year-old female,
Sara Blackmon and Brooke Smith;
30-34-year-old male, Ben Smith
and Preston Russell; 30-34-year-old
female, Sarah Drohan and Janice
Gunnin; 35-39-year-old male,
David Spooner and Jason Kom;
35-39-year-old female, Emily King
and Fancy Rollins; 40-44-year-
old male, Greg Pruitt and David
McMickle; 40-44-year-old female,
Lee Burroughs;45-49-year-old male,
Billy Web and Charles Gheesling;
45-49-year-old female, Linda
Parrish and Margaret Whieldon;
Madison Co. Journal
Pigskin Picker (final)
n
CHAMPION
Zach
Mitcham
Final week: 9-1
Overall: 9446
C\
Jv/
RUNNER-UP
Ben
Munro
Final week: 9-1
Overall: 9149
i ^
a£r
THIRD PLACE, TIE
Allen
McCannon
Final week: 64
Overall: 88-52
1
THIRD PLACE, TIE
Ricky
McElroy
Final week: 7-3
*
Mitch
McGhee
Final week: 64
Overall: 84-56
Ml / -4
n
Doug
Kesler
Final week: 64
Overall: 83-57
.1 "IT i-
. v
iW
Margie
Richards
Final week: 8-2
Overall: 79-61
50-54-year-old male, Lee Blackmon;
50-54-year-old female, Christine
Register and Kris Youngblood;
55-59-year-old male, Kim Davison
and Joey Hill; 55-59-year-old
female, Karen Swann and Kathleen
McBride; 60-64-year-old male
Terry Adair; 60-64-year-old female,
Sherry Godfrey; and 65-69-year-old
female, Christine Cardenaz.
Those interested next year’s
Reindeer Run can contact the
recreation department at 706-795-
6270 for more information.
Basketball 101 starts
Jan. 5 at rec dept.
The Madison County Recreation
Department will offer Basketball
101 again this winter for four
weeks on Tuesday nights begin
ning Jan. 5 from 6:15 p.m. to 7:15
p.m. at the Hull-Sanford Elementary
Gymnasium.
The fee is $35, including a t-shirt.
The class is open to boys and girls
ages 5-6.
During each session, participants
work on drills to improve their ball
handling, passing and shooting
form.
Theresa Bettis instructs the class.
Space is limited, so early registra
tion is encouraged by organizers.
Pre-registration and pre-payment
are required.
For more information, contact the
recreation department at 795-6270.
Parent/child dove hunt
set for Dec. 19
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.
“Bring plenty of shells because
there will be clays to shoot and
hopefully lots of doves,” said orga
nizers.
A barbecue lunch will be pro
vided.
“As always, we have numerous
things to give away and hope that
we can beat last year's attendance,"
said organizers. “So hang up the
rifles for one Saturday and you and
your kids come have a fun day with
the game warden and lots of other
folks.”
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.
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