Madison County produced enough big plays to hold off the Winder-Barrow High School football team in a 22-16 contest last Friday at W. Clair Harris Stadium.
The Bulldoggs outgained the Red Raiders overall, but a kickoff return for a touchdown as well as a 55-yard pass play help propel Madison County to its first win of 2010 while WBHS has to continue looking to break into the win column.
“It’s frustrating,” said first-year Bulldogg coach David Wagner. “You go into a season with so many goals. We are here after three games at 0-3 but on the brink of winning two of them.”
The Red Raiders stormed out of the gate by returning the opening kickoff 87 yards. Madison County took advantage of another big play in the opening quarter on a 55-yard scoring strike from Alex Jordan to Stan Maxwell with 5:19 left in the first quarter.
WBHS began to climb back into the contest, however, on a 7-yard run from Atrez Gladmon with 11:03 left before halftime. The score got even closer after the Bulldogg defense forced a safety when Madison County was called for intentional grounding in its own endzone with just under a minute left in the first half.
The Red Raider lead moved to 22-9 with 8:13 left in the third on a 1-yard run by Maxwell and successful two-point conversion.
A 3-yard run by Casey Burnett cut the lead to 22-16 following Cesar Saucedo’s point after at the 3:38 mark of the final quarter.
WBHS had one final chance, taking possession at its own 44 with 2:26 left after forcing Madison County to go three and out.
However, the Bulldoggs went steadily backwards and a fourth and 29 attempt failed to pick up the necessary yardage for a first down.
One highlight of the game for WBHS was the play of freshman quarterback Christian Hodge, who was 10-of-16 through the air for 89 yards.
BJ Worley (two catches for 28 yards) and Dante Jones (three catches for 26 yards) were Hodge’s top targets.
“I was impressed with Christian,” Wagner said. “For a freshman to have that much composure and gave the performance he did says a great deal. He ran the offense well. He didn’t get the ‘deer in the headlights’ look. I am extremely happy with him. I was pleased by our offense as a whole.”
Gladmon finished the contest with 49 yards rushing on 10 attempts while Hogan Anderson added 30 yards on six attempts.
In total yards, the Bulldoggs had 184 as compared to just 95 for Madison County.
Defensively, Chad Platt III had an interception Friday night and Anderson helped force the safety when he applied the pressure on Madison County’s Jordan in the endzone just before halftime. Anderson continues to stand out in all phases of the game for Wagner and the Bulldogg coaching staff.
WBHS is off this week and will use the extra time to begin making preparations for Clarke Central, a program which advanced to the Class AAAA state championship game in 2009.
