With just eight days before the Red Raiders hit the gridiron for their first scrimmage game of the 2010 season, the team wasted no time getting back on the field in helmets and shoulder pads this week.
Madison County started mandatory practice Monday. With helmets and shoulder pads only on Monday and Tuesday, coach Randell Owens was considering finishing out the week in full pads.
The Red Raiders have spent the summer training, aiming to start the season strong. While the coaching staff continues to work on finding the best placement for each player, Owens thinks the determining factor will be the film from the team’s first scrimmage game.
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reprinted from the online The Madison County Journal August 6, 2010 edition
by Justin Poole
The real test comes Aug. 13, as the Red Raiders take on Hart County on the road. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Hart County scrimmage will also test the Madison County change in offense to a short game approach. Without relying as much on option offense as last season, the team will rely heavily on the quarterback for control.
Hart County will provide a benchmark for where the team is at and how far is left to go before the Red Raiders face what will be one of the toughest games of the season.
Newcomer to class AAAA, Flowery Branch, makes its debut in the region against Madison County on Aug. 27.
With several days still ahead before the first region game, Owens and the Red Raiders have plenty of time left to practice. Owens said they players have a strong work ethic and get along well.
Also still ahead is the Red vs. Gray inner-squad scrimmage. The scrimmage has been rescheduled for Thursday, Aug. 19 at Red Raider stadium.
Played as a double header, the first game with the Madison County Middle School team taking on the ninth grade team kicks off at 5 p.m. Following, the junior varsity takes on the varsity at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $4 at the gate.
Fall Sports Picture Day on Saturday
Posted by Randell Owens at Aug 4, 2010 5:00PM PDT
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reprinted from the online Madison County Journal August 5, 2010 edition
by Justin Poole
This Saturday, Madison County is holding the annual fall sports picture day at the high school stadium.
Players for softball, football, cross country, band and volleyball will each have individual and team shots taken. Forms have been sent out with the players for purchasing of photos. A large group photo of all seniors in each activity together will be taken.
According to the itinerary, pictures will begin at 8 a.m. with the Lady Red Raiders’ softball team. Individual shots will be taken first followed by team shots for both varsity and junior varsity, then a senior group photo.
Football pictures will follow with individual photos, player position photos, team shot and senior group.
Red Raider cross country runners are scheduled for 10:15 a.m. followed by the Madison County band, color guard and majorettes.
The volleyball team’s photos will be taken inside the gym and will be the last set of the day.
In case of rain, all photos will be moved inside the high school gym.
reprinted from the online Madison County Journal July 31, 2010 edition
by Justin Poole
It looks like it is going to be another tough season for the Madison County Red Raider football team.
Head coach Randell Owens considers the forthcoming season as the toughest schedule he has seen since coaching at Madison County. The straight region schedule throws the Red Raiders directly into the thick of things against region newcomer Flowery Branch in the first game, Aug. 27.
With only the Hart County scrimmage on Aug. 13 to sort out any kinks, Madison County will have to adapt fast to take on the Falcons, who made it to the Final Four last season in the class AAA playoffs.
“You take Monroe Area off the schedule and you add one of the toughest teams in the state to the schedule and the rest stays the same,” Owens said. “That means you have one of the toughest schedules in school history.”
Things aren’t absolutely bad for the Red Raiders, in spite of graduating a strong experienced starting lineup, there are plenty of fresh faces fighting for positions as well as some seasoned players who step into their roles as upperclassmen.
Things aren’t absolutely bad for the Red Raiders, in spite of graduating a strong experienced starting lineup, there are plenty of fresh faces fighting for positions as well as some seasoned players who step into their roles as upperclassmen.
According to Owens, the main thing that Madison County has lost coming into this season is experience. Last year’s graduating class had built up a lot of time together on the field which allowed the Red Raiders to play a lot of option offense.
"We have had to backup a little bit in our teaching and develop a learning curve,” he said. “You start from where [the payers] are, their experience and their comfort zone.”
Part of this back to basics approach, will mean that the Red Raiders will be playing more of a short game, focusing on ball control with the quarterback working as the game manager.
“We have a large menu, and we pull things off the shelf that correspond to our players’ talents,” said Owens. “Option remains part of our offense, but it might not be as much of a feature as it was last year.”
This past week, the team held voluntary double session practices. Starting on Monday, Madison County begins one-a-day practices dressed out. Then coming up on Friday, Aug. 6, the Red Raiders hold a controlled scrimmage at Raider Field.
The next two weeks are extremely important for the Red Raiders, as Owens and his staff begin to form the starting roster. There are plenty of tryouts as players battle for position.
“We are going to introduce something that we haven’t truly had for about six years – a true tight end,” Owens said. “
We have been more of a spread team and not really utilizing a tight end, if we need one we moved a linebacker over there. Now we actually have some tight end type people and there is a three-way battle for the position.”
Following the upcoming Hart County scrimmage on Aug. 13, the Madison County coaching staff will use film from the game to iron out the wrinkles from the starting roster before charging into the season.
The 10 game season is going to be tough as the Red Raiders get primed to improve over the 5-5, 2009 record.
"This year is probably better than last year,” Owens said, “As far as a group of boys that get along well with each other, they really represent our school well taking coaching well saying ‘yes and no, sir.’ They are a good group of kids. They give a good effort and have a good work ethic.”
With the final countdown starting before the Red Raiders return under the lights, the anticipation is high to see how Madison County will stack up in another tough gridiron schedule
Red Raiders Toss the Pigskin at Jefferson
Posted by Randell Owens at Jun 16, 2010 5:00PM PDT
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reprinted from The Madison County Journal, June 17, 2010 edition
by Justin Poole
A little heat is not going to slow down the Madison County Red Raiders.
With the start of the football season only 64 days away the team is taking part in seven-on-seven passing league games at Jefferson High School on Tuesdays at 6 p.m.
This past Tuesday, Madison County, Jefferson, West Hall and East Hall played the non-contact, pitch and catch games.
Each team switched off after a few plays on either side of the ball.
With the start of the football season only 64 days away the team is taking part in seven-on-seven passing league games at Jefferson High School on Tuesdays at 6 p.m.
This past Tuesday, Madison County, Jefferson, West Hall and East Hall played the non-contact, pitch and catch games.
Each team switched off after a few plays on either side of the ball.
The sessions will continue on into July until Madison has the FCA team camp the week of July 19.
Following that week are voluntary two-a-days until the first week in August when normal practice begins.
Red Raiders Close Out Spring Practice with Annual Scrimmage
Posted by Randell Owens at May 18, 2010 5:00PM PDT
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reprinted from The Madison County Journal, May 24, 2010 edition
by Zach Mitchum
An opponent won’t set foot on Red Raider Field until Aug. 27, when Flowery Branch comes to town.
But Madison County fans got a sneak preview of the 2010 football team May 14, when the school closed out its spring practice with the annual Red/Gray scrimmage.
The gray squad won 21-7.
Madison County head football Coach Randell Owens said he liked some of what he saw, but he compared this point of football preparations to the early stages of baking.
“Right now, what we’ve got is a big bowl of raw cookie dough,” said Owens. “Is that going to make a nice cookie? Well, we’ve still got to bake it just right and add some ingredients. We got a good-looking batch of dough right now, but we’ve got a long way before it comes together. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
Owens said the most impressive play Friday was probably on the defensive side of the ball.
“The real stars of the game were probably the gray defense,” said Owens, noting that Haden Martin, Caleb McCain and Hayes Hill had interceptions.
He added that “Stanquavious Mack did a great job for the red team catching the football.”
With school out for the summer, football players are now expected to turn their attention to strength and conditioning training.
“The biggest thing for them to do is to improve their conditioning — get bigger, faster, stronger,” said Owens.
While Aug. 1 is the first day coaches can require players to attend practices, there will be plenty of voluntary sessions over the summer.
For instance, a number of players will attend a football camp at the University of West Georgia July 19-21.
“Our skill people will be in helmets and shorts,” said Owens of the camp. “And our linemen will be in full pads.”
The coach said the following week, the team will start two-a-day practices from Monday through Thursday.
“It will be in shorts, T-shirts, no pads,” said Owens. “And it will be a lot of teaching fundamentals: offense, defense, kicking game. Then the next week, it will be mandatory and in full pads.”
Meanwhile, skill players will travel to Jefferson every Tuesday this summer to work on the passing game.
“We’ll work on competitive route running and coverage stuff. We’ll work against Jefferson and Gainesville, East Hall and West Hall and some other schools.”
Owens said he will be excited to see senior offensive tackle Kellen Harris, who is rehabbing from a knee injury, back on the field. “I feel Kellen Harris is going to be strong for us,” said Owens. “He’s a whole lot stronger than he was back when he was a sophomore. He’s continued to work out upper body what he could do and lower body as he was able to while rehabbing the knee. He’s a kid with good character, good work ethic. He’s about 6’4”, 278 lbs., probably our best college prospect for next year.”
Eighty one rising tenth through twelfth graders participated in Madison County’s spring practice, including 28 rising seniors. The Raiders also have 49 rising ninth graders signed up to play in 2010.
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