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SOFTBALL
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Crunch time
Region 8-AAAA race going down to the wire
Red Raider ace Claire Strickland brings the heat during recent action.
It’s crunch time in the hunt for the
Region 8-AAAA softball title.
Madison County, Flowery Branch
and North Oconee are all vying for
the region crown and the home-field
advantage in the first two rounds of
the state tournament.
Entering Tuesday night’s play, the
Red Raiders held a slight edge in
the three-way race with a 7-3 region
record, followed by North Oconee at
8-4 and Flowery Branch at 7-4.
The Red Raiders will host Cedar
Shoals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday for a
doubleheader, then host East Hall at
6 p.m. Monday and Jefferson at 5:30
p.m. Tuesday.
Madison County split with Flowery
Branch and North Oconee this past
week, falling to the Falcons, 8-2, and
losing to the Titans, 6-2.
MCHS 8, FLOWERY BRANCH 2
Madison County (14-4, 7-3) broke
open a scoreless game with four runs
in the top of the fourth inning, tacking
on two more in the fifth and sixth
innings on their way to an 8-2 win
over region rival Flowery Branch.
The Red Raider four-run rally
included an RBI sacrifice bunt by
Skylar Minish. a two-run single by
Claire Strickland and an RBI sacrifice
fly by Riley Fulcher. Sam Minish and
Riley Ernst scored on a wild pitch in
the top of the fifth, and Sam Minish
See “Softball” on 2B
FOOTBALL
Raiders aim to rev back up
Casen Duggins pursues a North Oconee runner Friday. Duggins fin
ished with six tackles and led the Red Raiders in rushing with five
carries for 54 yards. See a photo gallery at MadisonJoumalTODAY.com
Photo by Ben Munro
Madison County aims to get its
ground game revved up again Friday
against Cedar Shoals after a 28-0 loss
to North Oconee this past week.
The Red Raiders entered the road
matchup against the Titans averaging
over 300 yards a game on the ground,
but North Oconee stifled Madison
County Friday, allowing just 141 total
yards of offense.
“We did not play well enough offen
sively,” said Red Raider head coach
Chris Smith, whose team dropped
to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Region
8-AAAA. “We had a lot of missed
assignments and things we have to
clean up and do a better job of. We
just got to do a better job moving the
football. We left the defense on the
field too long. It’s a lot easier to play
offense.”
Smith said the Titan coaching staff
is well-versed in defending the triple
option attack.
“Two of the guys on their staff are
very familiar with triple-option foot
ball and they had a good idea of what
they needed to do,” said Smith. “They
had a solid game plan and were able
to get guys unblocked.”
Now Madison County turns its
attention to 1-2 Cedar Shoals in anoth
er region showdown in a 7:30 p.m.
home matchup on “Youth Night.”
“Cedar Shoals is well coached;
they have good players.” said Smith.
“They’re going to be big, athletic.
They run well. They’re prepared on
both sides of the ball. They’ll have a
solid game plan ready for us. We have
to go out and execute playing with
our pads down on the offensive side
of the ball. We’ve got to play low and
be physical. We’ve got to take care us
and get back to the basics.”
Madison County got the defensive
effort it needed for three quarters
Friday, but a trio of fourth-quarter
North Oconee touchdowns turned a
close game into a convincing win for
the Titans. A pair of scores from the
Titans’ Dominic Elder and another
from Rodrick Finch, all in the final
11 minutes, turned a 7-0 game into
a 28-0 setback Friday (Sept. 24) for
Madison County.
Tyler Wright led the Red Raiders
with 11 tackles and Trey Slayton
had nine. Victor Hajdu, Zahmerius
Shiflet and Casen Duggins each had
six tackles. Duggins also led the team
in rushing with five carries for 54
yards. That included a 33-yard run on
Madison County’s opening drive, one
See “Football” on 2B
Matthew Strickland breaks into the open field for a
long touchdown run in the Mustangs’ 40-0 win over
Elbert County last week.
MCMS blows out
Elbert County, 40-0
Madison County Middle School rolled to another
blowout win last week, trouncing Elbert County 40-0
and securing a spot in the playoffs.
“Getting a win like that is always good,” said MCMS
head coach Josh Callicutt. “This one was special, mak
ing sure that Madison County is in this year’s playoffs
was big for our guys. We haven’t been in the playoffs
since the new teams in the region joined (Rabun and
Habersham), so this one was big. Very proud of the
boys and how they played.”
Madison County finished with 325 yards of offense.
Matthew Strickland led the Mustangs with 119 yards
and three touchdowns on seven carries. Bradley Wallace
ran the ball 11 times for 57 yards. Ty Perrin rushed six
times for 44 yards and a touchdown. Brayden Clark
finished with 36 yards on 10 carries and was l-for-2
through the air for 17 yards. Deshun Brown ran the ball
seven times for 43 yards.
Garret Smith had two tackles and one for a loss, while
Cason Hillsman and Clark both had interceptions.
The Mustangs visit Stephens County at 5:30 p.m.,
Wednesday, Sept. 29 at Stephens County High School.
CROSS COUNTRY
Raider guys take
fourth in N. Oconee
cross country meet
Madison County finished fourth out of 16 teams at the
North Oconee Invitational in Bogart Saturday.
Junior Gabe McCary led the Red Raiders with a time
of 17:26 and eighth-place finish out of 144 runners in the
5K. He was followed by Jakeem Johnson, 17:47, 14 th ;
Aden Prickett. 18:39, 29 th ; Colt Kennedy, 19:12, 40 th :
and Javon Johnson, 19:25, 48 th .
“All five of our top guys who ran in varsity, all of them
PR’d (personal record) on Saturday,” said Red Raider
head coach Joe Barnett. “That’s a huge accomplish
ment.”
Madison County, which is ranked in the top 10 in
Class AAAA, is in the toughest region in the state, with
four other schools also ranked in the top 10: Jefferson,
North Oconee, Flowery Branch and Chestatee. And only
four teams will qualify for state out of the region.
The guys finished behind Jefferson but ahead of North
Oconee Saturday.
“That’s who we were eying in this meet,” said Barnett
See “Running” on 2B
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