Madison County held an impromptu post-game pep rally on the field Friday, with band music, dancing, laughter, hugs, high fives and victory howls.
Only moments earlier, such a scene hardly seemed possible. The Red Raiders were down by two touchdowns late. And Rockdale County appeared poised to hand Madison County a tough home loss.
But the Red Raiders fought back from a 21-7 fourth quarter deficit to down the visiting Bulldogs from Conyers 22-21 in dramatic fashion.
With just five seconds on the clock and Madison County facing fourth and 11 at Rockdale’s 18, Alex Jordan eluded pass rushers and lofted a pass to Trae Burton for the game-winning score. The Madison County sidelines and stands went wild. Joey Sandres then put the game-winning extra point after through the uprights to secure the win.
Xavier Duncan (#21), Andrew Lindsey (#11) and Bryson Barton (#34) celebrate after Madison County’s game-winning touchdown Friday night against Rockdale County.
GAME STORY, PHOTO GALLERY: Red Raiders win thriller on fourth down pass with five seconds to go
“I didn’t think they were going to leave Trae on man-on-man coverage, because they were double teaming him all night,” said Jordan about the game-winning score. “They ended up having just one cornerback on him. And I saw it and just threw it up and he made the play.”
Burton, who also caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Jordan in the third quarter, said he saw the mismatch, too.
“I saw it was one-on-one and he (the cornerback) was smaller than me,” said Burton. “So I had to come down with it. It felt great. I didn’t even want to get up. I just wanted to lay there (after the catch).
Jordan said the team didn’t give up after falling behind by 14 on a 52-yard touchdown run by Rockdale County with 9:36 to go. Rockdale’s other scores on the night came on runs of one and nine yards.
“Coach Owens says when we get down we don’t give up and when we get up, we don’t let up,” said Jordan. “So that was just in our heads. We didn’t give up. We kept fighting and we fought all the way back.”
The quarterback, who returned to action for the first time since his knee injury against Winder, was sharp Friday, hitting receivers in stride.
“My knee is still isn’t 100 percent, but it feels good to be back here and I couldn’t miss my senior year,” said Jordan.
The comeback was sparked by stout defense late in the game.
“Really the defense stepped up big in the fourth quarter,” said linebacker Hayes Hill, the team’s top tackler on the year. “And we had some big hits and caused a fumble.”
Burton agreed, saying it was the defense that turned the momentum.
“The defense just stepped it up,” he said.
Down 21-7, Madison County drove to the Rockdale County two-yard line late in the fourth quarter. But the offense floundered and faced a fourth and goal from the 12. That’s when Jordan hit Cody Harbin over the middle for a 12-yard score with just 4:27 to go. The Red Raiders lined up in the swinging gate formation on the extra point. And instead of kicking the ball, Burton ran the ball in for a two-point conversion, cutting the lead to six, 21-15.
Hill said the conversion was huge.
“What really helped us out was the two-point conversion,” said the linebacker. “We set up for a field goal, but instead we went for two and that worked out great.”
Madison County coach Randell Owens told his players as they gathered around him Friday that the win was as “good a win” as he had been a part of in 32 years of coaching.
“Great job!” he told the squad. “Great effort at practice getting ready. Great effort battling to the wire, not quitting when you could have. A lot of teams would have.”
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