Madison County Red Raiders

By ROGER CLARKSON - roger.clarkson@onlineathens.com
Published Saturday, September 11, 2010

WINDER - It may not have been as pretty as sunrise over the Grand Canyon, but Madison County will take it.

Erin Hendricks is tripped by Madison County’s Terrell McCrary on Friday.

GAME REPORT
TURNING POINT: Madison County’s Tanner Johnson jumped on a fumbled handoff to start the third quarter and set up the Red Raiders’ third touchdown.
KEY STAT: The teams combined on 18 penalties for 166 yards and Madison County had two long touchdowns called back.
IMPACT: Madison County wins its first game of the season and Winder-Barrow remains winless.

Madison County overcame penalties, turnovers and a misfiring offense to beat Winder-Barrow 22-16 for its first victory of the season.

The Red Raiders won despite amassing minus-6 yards rushing, two turnovers and earasing two long touchdowns with penalties. The Bulldoggs remain winless.

"I don't care what it looked like, it was beautiful," Madison County's Cedrick Bush said. "It was lovely. It was pretty. It was something to love, just like I love all my teammates. I grew up with these guys and they're my brothers."

Bush returned the game's opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown.

On Madison County's second possession, Stan Maxwell ran past Winder-Barrow's secondary and Alex Jordan hit him in stride for a 55-yard touchdown to give the Red Raiders a 14-0 lead with 5:19 left in the first quarter.

Madison County (1-2, 1-2 in Region 8-AAAA) also had a 55-yard touchdown pass and a 78-yard touchdown run called back on penalties in the first half.

"The first two really helped us but I sure wish we had all four," Madison County coach Randell Owens said. "Those are games you survive. Our offense kept putting our defense in a hole and they did a great job of keeping them out."

Madison County repeatedly turned back Winder-Barrow (0-3, 0-3) on the Red Raiders' end of the field.

"We just played solid defense and came up big when we had to," Madison County linebacker Tanner Johnson said. "We knew we had to keep stopping them."

Despite falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, Winder-Barrow dug its way back into the game. A 16-yard pass from Christian Hodge to B.J. Worley and a defensive pass-interference penalty set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Atrez Gladmon to pull the Bulldoggs within 14-7 one play into the second quarter.

Winder-Barrow started its next three possessions inside Madison County territory, including one at the 15 when Josh Wallace and Jacob Dufresne teamed up to force a fumble. But Madison County held on downs at the 6-yard line. The Red Raiders also forced a punt and Winder-Barrow missed a 47-yard field goal.

"Anytime you have the ball in the red zone and you don't get anything, that's huge," first-year Winder-Barrow coach David Wagner said. "We've struggled on and off, actually more on than off, so far offensively. We just have to continue to work at it."

The Bulldoggs picked up a safety when Jordan was called for intentional grounding in the end zone while attempting to avoid a sack by Ben Knight with 55 seconds left in the first half.

Much of Winder-Barrow's second-quarter momentum slipped away on the Bulldoggs' first possession of the third quarter when Johnson jumped on a fumbled handoff at the Winder-Barrow 38-yard line.

Maxwell eventually scored on a 2-yard run. Bush ran a two-point conversion to give Madison County a 22-9 lead with 8:13 left in the third quarter.

"I saw the ball laying there and I knew I had to get on it," Johnson said. "I saw it and I knew it was mine."

Winder-Barrow rallied late when Casey Burnett scored on a 3-yard run to pull the Bulldoggs within 22-16 with 3:38 left. The Bulldoggs forced a Madison County punt, but Madison County's defense pushed the Bulldoggs' backward and forced a turnover on downs.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, September 11, 2010