Red Raiders outduel the Blue Devils in Granite Bowl shootout, 55-35
By Seth Manus
The Red Raiders lit up the scoreboard once again Friday night with their high powered rushing attack to outlast the Blue Devils. With this win Madison County was able to avenge their loss to Elbert County last season.
The Red Raiders put up huge numbers with 609 yards of total offense. The backfield ran wild in Elberton with 63 attempts for 527 yards and seven rushing touchdowns. They also got it done through the air completing 3 of 4 attempts for 82 yards.
The seniors on offense showed up and showed out Friday night to lead all of the offensive stat categories.
Senior quarterback Camden Smith led the team in total yards from scrimmage. He finished the game with 10.1 yards per carry on 27 carries for 274 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw for 82 yards and a touchdown.
Senior running back Zahkari Shiflet finished the game with 10 carries for 119 yards and four touchdowns, one of which was the longest play on the offense for a 56-yard score.
Senior running back Casen Duggins caught a 33-yard pass for a TD. Senior wide receiver Zach Esters finished the night with two catches for 46 yards.
The game started off rocky for the Red Raiders with a fumble on the opening drive after moving the ball down the field very well. Elbert County recovered the fumble and scored off the turnover on their ensuing drive.
Shiflet returned the favor with a 46-yard touchdown rush to move the score to 7-6 in favor of Elbert due to a missed extra point attempt.
The Red Raider defense would force a punt from the Blue Devils on their next drive. This set up great field position for the offense and led to a 46-yard rushing touchdown from Smith to end the first quarter. A successful 2-point conversion would push Madison County in front 14-7.
After forcing a punt, another fumble by the offense would lead to an Elbert County score on the very next play and extra point to tie the game at 14 a piece.
The defense answered again late in the second quarter with a clutch fumble recovery on the Elbert County 29-yard line to give the Red Raiders a chance to score before the half.
After driving down the field, Shiflet would punch in the go-ahead 5-yard touchdown run with 1:26 left in the half. The Red Raider defense stood strong and prevented the Blue Devils from scoring before halftime.
Elbert County marched straight down the field and capped off their opening drive of the third quarter with a 30-yard touchdown pass to tie the game again 21-21.
Madison County would answer with the rushing of Smith. He had a big rush of 22 yards and finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run to put Madison County back on top 28-21 with 8:15 left in the third quarter.
The Blue Devils answered quickly with a 1:02 drive that ended in a 40-yard touchdown pass. This tied the game yet again with a score of 28-28.
On the following possession the Red Raiders tied the game after two big runs of 21 yards and 41 yards respectively from Smith. Shiflet scored a one yard touchdown at the goal line with 2:36 left in the third moving the score to 35-28.
The Madison County defense forced what would prove to be a pivotal punt from Elbert County on the next drive in the fourth quarter to finally break the scoring streak. The offense would drive down the field and chew the clock to score again with Smith on a 1-yard walk-in touchdown. Another successful point after moved the score to a two-possession game of 42-28 with 7:40 left in the final quarter.
Elbert County tried to stop the bleeding with a long touchdown pass for 36 yards to get the game back to a one-possession game of 42-35.
Shiflet had other plans with a 56-yard touchdown run on the next drive to put the game back out of reach. The score moved to 48-35.
Elbert County would fumble on the kickoff return giving the ball to Madison County with 4:55 left in the game. Smith threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Duggins for the dagger blow to end the game with a score of 55-35.
Photo/Seth Manus