Clarke Central's fast start buries Red Raiders

A Georgia National Guard Blackhawk helicopter landed at midfield to deliver the game ball for Friday's homecoming at Billy Henderson Stadium.

Shortly after kickoff, the Clarke Central took flight with a 55-20 win against Madison County to stay on within a game of first place in Region 8-AAAA.

"It was really important to get the lead early," Clarke Central senior receiver Torey Gartrell said. "It was important for us to get up early so we can give our young guys a chance to work. We went at it hard from the beginning and just kept going."

The Gladiators dusted off the chopper pad with 256 yards, 13 first downs and three touchdowns in the first quarter alone. Clarke Central's offense dominated the proceedings as it rolled up 411 yards and 21 first downs in the game.

"It was good," Clarke Central coach Leroy Ryals said. "We wanted to come out and do some things early and try to put them away early. I was just a little disappointed that we didn't finish it like we should. I think we got a little bored. It was a tough game to try to work through. It was a long game."

Gartrell led the Gladiators (7-1, 7-1 in Region 8-AAAA) with four catches for 102 yards and three touchdowns. Quenshaun Watson ran 16 times for 110 yards and two scores. Quarterback Cameron Johnson completed 9 of 16 passes for 183 yards and four touchdowns. Defensive back Dawun Billups returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown, picked off a pass and blocked an extra point. The Gladiators also had Kadeem Combs return an interception 29 yards for another score.

"Getting turnovers is our big thing on defense," Billups said. "We're making big habits by forcing turnovers. One of our guys came up and made a big hit. I saw the ball, so I scooped it up and all I saw was green grass."

The Gladiators did much of their damage in the first quarter as Johnson hit his first six passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Watson added 12 carries for 92 first-quarter yards plus a touchdown. Clarke Central could have scored more, but its backups fumbled at the end zone twice in the second half.

"The ball looked pretty good coming in tonight," Gartrell said. "Our quarterback (Johnson) was on point tonight. He was putting the ball right there and all I had to do was go up and get it."

Check out more photos from the game.

Gartrell's first touchdown capped Clarke Central's first drive of the night. Johnson hit Gartrell for a short gain. But Gartrell shook off a tackle, found some space and ran 30 yards to the end zone, carrying a defender the final 5 yards.

"That was a great feeling," Gartrell said. "I just got the ball and took off. I saw the end zone and I wasn't going to let anybody stop me. I just wasn't going to go down."

Madison County almost completely abandoned trying to run the ball against the Gladiators as Red Raiders quarterback Alex Jordan threw 53 times and completed 31 of them. Jordan finished with 286 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions. Trey Burton had nine catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.

Madison County ended up with 17 rushing attempts for minus-19 yards and that included nine sacks. Madison County did not try its first designed running play until about 8:30 left in the second quarter and only ran on purpose twice in the first half.

"You don't expect a lot of teams in our region to throw a lot," Billups said. "So when you come up against a team like this that's going to throw every down, you've got to prepare well and change all your schemes that you've had against running teams. Coach (Ahren) Self put us in great positions, so hats off to coach Self. Covering those types of guys, who don't really run off of the line, and seeing screen pass after screen pass, that was kind of hard to prepare for. I'm really tired."

Turning Point: Torey Gartrell capped Clarke Central's first possession of the game with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Johnson.

Key Stat: The Gladiators gained 256 yards, converted 13 first downs and scored three touchdowns in the first quarter alone.

Impact: Clarke Central remains one game behind Flowery Branch for first place in Region 8-AAAA.

Clarke Central 55, Madison County 20

Madison County ;7;7;0;6;--;20

Clarke Central;21;21;13;0;--;55

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

Clarke Central: Torey Gartrell 30 pass from Cameron Johnson (Noah Welch kick), 9:40.

Clarke Central: Cevon Freeman 6 pass from Johnson (Welch kick), 5:06.

Madison County : Trey Adams 4 pass from Alex Jordan (Joey Sandres kick), 4:06.

Clarke Central: Quenshaun Watson 9 run (Welch kick), 3:25.

Second Quarter

Clarke Central: Watson 3 run (Welch kick), 11:55.

Clarke Central: Gartrell 10 pass from Johnson (Welch kick), 10:16.

Clarke Central: Dawun Billups 15 fumble return (Welch kick), 7:52.

Madison County : T.J. Skelten 1 pass from Jordan (kick blocked), 1:08

Third Quarter

Clarke Central: Gartrell 25 pass from Johnson (Welch kick), 7:23.

Clarke Central: Kadeem Combs 29 interception return (kick failed), 7:02.

Fourth Quarter

Madison County : Staquavious Mack 47 pass from Alex Jordan (Sandres kick), 2:35.

RUSHING - Madison County : Keidrick Curry 5-34, Trey Burton 2-10, Trey Adams 1-1, Alex Jordan 9-(minus-64). Total: 17-(minus 19). Clarke Central: Quenshaun Watson 16-110, Jalani Payne 7-56, Denzel Maxey 3-13, Kavon Williams 2-9, Austin Johnson 2-4, Myleke Barrow 1-2, Baylor Ward 1-0, Cameron Johnson 2-(minus 4), Team 1-(minus 12). Total: 356-178.

PASSING - Madison County : Jordan 31-53-3, 281 yards. Total: 31-53-3, 281 yards. Clarke Central: C. Johnson 9-16-1, 183 yards; A. Johnson 1-2-1, 10   yards; Akeem Wise 2-3-0, 40 yards. Total: 12-21-2, 233.

RECEIVING - Madison County: Trey Burton 9-136, Cody Harbin 8-55, Trey Adams 6-21, Keidrick Curry 3-8, Staquavious Mack 2-48, Malik Freeman 2-12, T.J. Skelten 1-1. Total: 31-281. Clarke Central: Torey Gartrell 4-102, Amir Williams 3-48, Cevon Freeman 2-32, George Appleby 2-40, Andre Robinson 1-10. Total: 12-203.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.