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SOFTBALL
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Sam Minish gets ready to break for home plate against East Hall last week. Photo by Zach Mitcham
Red Raiders clinch at least
a two seed in state playoffs
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
The walk-off, game-winning homer
by Sam Minish against East Hall
Monday night wasn’t just a dramatic
end to a tight game, it was a stamp on
the Red Raider future.
The 2-1 victory secured at least a
Region 8-AAAA number two seed
ing for Madison County in the state
playoffs. And it put the Red Raiders
just one win away from the Region
8-AAAA championship.
Exactly when that home show
down with Jefferson will be played
remained up in the air as of press
time due to the weather. It was sup
posed to be Tuesday, but rain forced
a cancellation. And Red Raider head
coach Ken Morgan said the matchup
with Jefferson will be played as soon
as weather permits. It was set for 5:30
p.m. Wednesday as of this writing.
“We’ve got to take care of business
and that will take care of first place for
us,” said Morgan. “That will be a big
thing for us. We set that as one of our
goals at the beginning of the season.
It’s exciting to be in this position to
win a region championship. It is a
tough region. Each team has gotten a
little better. And some of us haven’t
played our best and it’s bottled every
body up.”
Madison County (17-6, 10-4)
sits atop the log-jammed Region
8-AAAA standings with only North
Oconee (15-10, 9-5) in a position to
catch the Red Raiders if they fall to
the Dragons.
The Red Raiders survived a pitch
ers’ duel Monday, scoring one run in
See ‘Softball” on 2B
FOOTBALL
Logan Selk dives for a first-quarter touchown versus Cedar Shoals Friday. Photo by Zach Mitcham
Madison County has off week to recover
from tough loss and prepare for Chestatee
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County felt the hurt. Now,
they look to mend in the off week.
The Red Raiders lost Friday at home
to Cedar Shoals, 27-20, in overtime,
after giving up two scoop-and- score
touchdowns to the Jaguars, who strug
gled offensively but pulled out the win
with two defensive touchdowns.
Madison County (2-3) is off this
week before hosting Chestatee on
Homecoming Oct. 15.
“It definitely hurt,” said MCHS
coach Chris Smith. “It was one of
those games where we won in every
phase except the scoreboard....We've
got to get back to the fundamentals
and get ourselves ready for Chesta
tee,"
Madison County jumped on top
early Friday, marching 71 yards on its
opening possession, with Logan Selk
breaking free for a 19-yard score. The
point after attempt was blocked and
the Raiders led 6-0.
Cedar Shoals (2-2) answered with
a 70-yard scoring drive on its first
possession, capped off by a 24-yard
scoring pass to go up 7-6. It was the
only offensive score in regulation for
the Jaguars.
“The defense played well enough
to win,” said Smith. “They only gave
up seven points in regulation. We held
their running back to well under 100
yards. They only had 72 rushing yards
in the game. And we held the kid in
check.”
The Jaguars pulled ahead with 8:04
to go in the first half, returning a
Raider fumble about 25 yards for
a touchdown. The PAT attempt was
blocked by Zahmerius Shiflet. And
Cedar Shoals led 13-6, a score that
held into intermission.
Cooper Brown hit Victor Hajdu on
a 36-yard strike, setting up Camden
Smith for a four-yard touchdown run
with 3:49 to go in the third quarter,
which knotted the score at 13 after the
extra point.
See ‘Football’ on 2B
MCMS hangs on
against Stephens,
remains undefeated
The Madison County Middle School football team
had a gut check on the road against Stephens County
last week, with game coming down to the final seconds,
but the Mustangs held on for a 14-13 win, remaining
undefeated on the year and locking up the number-one
seed and home-field advantage in the NEGIAA regional
playoffs.
The Mustang offense stalled in the fourth quarter
and Madison County turned the ball over on downs.
Stephens took the ball down the field and scored with
45 seconds left to make it 14-13. After calling a time
out. Stephens lined up for a two-point conversion. They
tossed the ball to their running back wide and Braelon
Curry hawked him down and tackled him before he
was able to cross the goal line. Madison regained the
ball after the onside attempt, and kneeled twice to end
the game.
“Things happen when you play a game like that: 1 you
nearly have a heart attack multiple times, and 2 you find
out what kind of heart your team has,” said Mustang
head coach Josh Callicutt. “We were able to make some
adjustments in the 2nd half. Stephens did a great job
and threw some things at us, but our boys fought back
to take away the W.”
Madison County rushed for 222 yards, led by running
back Matthew Strickland with 10 rushes for 152 yards
and a touchdown, followed by running back De’Shun
Brown with five carries for 22 yards and a touchdown
and full back Braelon Curry with five carries for 22
yards.
The Mustangs gave up just 86 yards in total offense,
22 on the ground and 64 through the air. Comerback
Brayden Clark had five tackles, including one for a loss,
while nose guard Braelon Curry had three tackles and
one sack, while outside linebacker Bradley Wallace had
five tackles.
The Mustangs are scheduled to hit the field again
Oct. 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the Madison County High School
field vs. Habersham County for the final regular season
game, a contest rescheduled from earlier in the year due
to covid.
VOLLEYBALL
The Madison County volley Raiders cheer for
their teammates.
Volley Raiders win on
senior night, split with
East Hall, Chestatee
Madison County picked up a win on senior night against
Oglethorpe County, winning 3-0.
“The seniors fought hard and played well to push the
team to victory,” said head coach Kyle Cooper. “They are
a great group of individuals and leaders who have been a
blessing to coach, so I was very glad to get to watch them
pick up a win on the night they were being honored.”
Stats for the four seniors were as follows: Ansley
Lapczynski had two aces, five digs and 16 assists on the
night. Hannah Martin finished with three digs and four
on-target serve-receives. Jenna Reese had three aces, nine
kills and seven digs, while Amber Threlkeld had three
aces and five digs.
The Red Raiders followed the win two days later beat
ing East Hall 2-0 and losing to Chestatee 0-2 in region
play.
“It was one of our messier nights, but hopefully it’s
something we needed before heading into the region tour
nament next week,” said Cooper. “The girls always work
very hard and have a great competitive spirit, so I know
they will be looking to bounce back when we face North
Oconee (at Jefferson) for our first match of the tournament
next Thursday at 5 p.m.”
Stat leaders from Thursday included: Vivien Hajdu: five
aces, 17 kills, 17 digs; Reese: two aces, 11 kills, 11 digs;
Keira Giberson: four kills, 20 assists and five digs; Amber
Fowler: eight kills; and Alyssa Threlkeld, 10 assists.