Coach remembers his playing days as a Raider

Column published in a recent issue of the Madison County Journal's feature of "Where are they now." To subscribe to the Journal visit: www.mainstreetnews.com

Raider Head Coach Chris Smith

By Dallas Bordon

dallasb32@yahoo.com

Madison County graduate Chris Smith is no stranger to the Red Raider community. Smith, a former quarterback (4 year letterman) for Madison County is now leading the Red Raiders on the gridiron as Head Football Coach. Smith was a 3 sport athlete at Madison County. He played football for under the direction of two different head coaches; 2 years for Brady Siegler and 2 years for Larry Milligan who is now the football coach at Oglethorpe County. Smith also was a 2 year letterman in basketball as a shooting guard and a 3 year letterman in baseball as a third baseman/outfielder for the Red Raiders.

After leaving Madison County, Smith continued his football career on an athletic scholarship at Presbyterian College where he graduated Cum Laude in 1997. He returned to the Madison County High school to teach and has served as an assistant football coach for the past 14 years. Smith will begin his first season as Head Coach of the Red Raiders this fall. Chris married former Lady Raider tennis and softball player Tonya (Culberson) Smith in 1999. They live in the Colbert area and have two sons; Colby age 10 and Camden age 6.

The Smiths are familiar faces around the athletic fields in Madison County. “Between my two sons and football, I am usually always at a field watching or coaching. They both love to play football, basketball, and baseball; therefore, we are involved in sports year round,” said Smith.

Despite the fact that Smith was a three sport athlete while wearing the Red and Grey, football is one he is most passionate about and the same sport that he will be teaching and leading this fall on the gridiron at Raider Stadium. “Football has been a huge part of my life. I have played the game since I was seven years old and I’m blessed to have been able to play at the youth level, high school level, and college level,” said Smith.

While at Madison County, Smith and his Red Raider football team struggled during his freshman and junior seasons. Finishing with a combined 1-19 record during his first two seasons, the Raiders bounced back to finish with a 5-5 record in his sophomore season and a 7-3 record his senior season just missing a spot in the playoffs. “We had a great group of seniors; Lee Bales, Gavin Griffith, Dale Abercrombie, Matt McElroy, Alan Simmons, Joe Alewine, Dewight Witcher, Phil Westbrook, Jeff Allen, Jonathan Cooper, and me,” said Smith. One of the highs of his senior season came during a run when the Raiders opened the year at 5-0 and ranked 10^th in the state in AAA. A loss to Winder-Barrow was the stumbling block that kept the Raiders out of post season that year. “Every one of us played a key role in the success of the team that year,” said Smith who also recalls seeing the stands pack every home game of his senior season.

Smith’s days on the baseball diamond included a senior season run that included winning the region tournament and finishing as state runners-up. Guys such as Joe Alewine, Clay Strickland, Joey Cheek, and Smith served as the only four seniors on the squad that season. “It was a special year for me. I was blessed to be a part of a great football and baseball team and I was blessed with the opportunity to play college football. Now I am blessed to with the opportunity to coach our young men in Madison County and help teach them a game that has been so good to me,” said Smith.

The 1927-28 MCHS Basketball Team

Found photo from a "Athletes of yesterday" feature in the former Danielsville Monitor.

Raiders of yesterday

This photo was taken from the feature "Athletes of yesterday" in a 1997 issue of the former Danielsville Monitor.

Pictured is Ricky McElroy, a 1970 graduate of Madison County Highschool.

If you are a former Madison County Highschool athlete (male or female)  five years ago or longer and would like to be featured in the "Where are they now?" feature of the Madison County Journal, send me your information. If you have a clear photo from your days at Madison County or a recent photo please email it with your information.
Include the following:
Year graduated
Sports played, years and positions
Coaches you played for
Your experiences good or bad of your playing days at MCHS
Your family
College you attended and year graduated
Where you are now and your occupation
And any other information you want to mention.
Email me at dallasb32@yahoo.com

A look back at Andrew Bullock Class of 1993

This feature was in last week's issue of The Madison County Journal. If you would like to subscribe to the Journal please visit www.mainstreetnews.com

The Bullocks: Andrew, Sarah, Truman, and Mandy 

Andrew Bullock

Class of 1993

Former first baseman of the Red Raiders

For those who remember the old Raider baseball field, now the Lady Raider softball field will remember the short porch in right field. No one perhaps remembers better as does Andrew Bullock from the Class of 1993. Bullocks’ memories of the short porch came often as his power hitting left handed swing would send plenty of homeruns into the road beyond the fence.

Andrew played under coaches Charlie Griffeth, Allen McCannon, and Ken Morgan during the 90, 91, and 93 seasons at Madison County. Bullock recalls winning the Region Championships in 92 and 93 as highlights of his career as a Raider. “I was fortunate to be a part of a strong senior class which included Russell Seagraves, Lance Tyner, Trent McCurry, Jason Autry, Jason Pierce, and Jeff Hancock,” said Bullock. Those region championship runs were due in large part to the fact that those guys grew up playing the game together and form together great leadership. “We had grown up playing baseball together. We had great leadership and we were serious about winning,” said Bullock who now resides in Greenville, South Carolina.

After graduating from Madison County, Bullock continued his baseball career at the University Of Georgia where he earned a degree in Chemistry in 1997. Andrew then earned a doctor of medicine degree from The Medical College of Georgia in 2002. He completed urology residency in 2007 at Emory University and now is a private practice urologist at Palmetto-Greenville Urology in Greenville.

Andrew married his wife Mandy Perry, a former Raider cheerleader, in 2003. They stay busy raising their children Truman (age 5) and Sarah (age 3) to be Bulldawg followers right in the heart of Clemson and USC territory.

If you are a former Madison County High School athlete in any sport male or female 5 years ago or longer and would like to be featured in the Madison County Journal, email me at dallasb32@yahoo.com. Good clear photos are welcome. 

Looking for former MCHS athletes

It’s time to pull out your old photos and take a step back in time to your old high school playing days on the fields and/or courts.

If you are a former athlete, male or female, of Madison County High school in Danielsville, Georgia from five years ago or longer, we would love to hear from you.  Share a walk down memory lane with our readers in The Madison County Journal’s feature “Raiders of Yesteryear.” If you played any sport at MCHS five years ago or longer and would like to be featured in the Journal please email the following information to Dallas Bordon (dallasb32@yahoo.com):

Year graduated from MCHS

Years played and sports played

Positions played and coaches played for

College you attended

Your wife/husband and children’s names

Where you are now and your profession

And most importantly: Your memories of your playing days at Madison County High school.

If you have a good clear photo, old or new, we’d love to share it also. Scan it and attach it to the email. 

Jonathan Bridges, "Raiders of Yesteryear"

By Dallas Bordon

Jonathan Bridges

Jonathan Bridges

Sports Played: 1994-97

Sports played: Football and soccer

Former Red Raider Jonathan Bridges is currently a Physical Education teacher at Rock Quarry Elementary in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and is also the Athletic Director for Rock Quarry Middle School. He is in his 9^th year teaching and first year as Athletic Director. Bridges has also been an assistant and head soccer coach as well as a special teams coach on the varsity level.

He received a Bachelor in Education degree in 2003 from the University of Alabama and later received a Masters in Education degree from West Alabama in 2006. Bridges is married to his wife Kelly of five years and they have one daughter, Isabelle, who is 14 months old.

While at Madison County, Jonathan played football under Coach Scott Conner in 1994 and Dale Smallen in 1995-97. He played soccer under coach Tad Carithers in 1995, Randy Young in 1996 and Sam Rafal in 1997-98. “My football memories would be the fun all the guys had on the teams together and how each had their own identity,” said Bridges who was named All Northeast Georgia Place Kicker in 1996. Bridges also remembers the smell of the grass on Friday nights when the team would break through the banner at the beginning of the game. “Only coaches and people that played can understand that smell,” said Bridges. He also recalls the pride of putting on the Red Raider uniform on Friday nights.

A memory that was less fun for Bridges included practicing in the heat of the summer during the off season.

While playing soccer for the Red Raiders, Bridges recalls being on the first team to make the playoffs in school history after beating North Hall, region champions, in the season finale. Other memories Bridges recalls during his soccer days as a Red Raider included scoring two goals against West Hall his junior year and the heartache of losing to North Hall in the playoffs his senior season. “I remember the heart our team had every year-we were not as talented top to bottom as some of the teams in the region but they hated playing us because we would fight tooth and nail, scraping our ways to victories,” said Bridges.

Also in the list of memories for Bridges was the times spent running hills for Coach Carithers during the freshman year. 

This column was published in the Madison County Journal March issue. To subscribe to the Journal visit www.mainstreetnews.com

Former Raider athletes, we're looking for you!

Where Are They Now?

Jay Booth was part of Madison
County's state championship
basketball team in 1988.

The following is a feature for the Madison County Journal in Georgia.

We are looking for you! It’s time to re-live those glory days of high school athletics.

If you are a former athlete (male or female) of Madison County High School in Danielsville, Georgia five years ago or more, we would love to hear from you and feature you in “Raiders of Yesteryear” on the sports page of The Madison County Journal. The Journal is one of five newspapers published by MainStreet News in Jefferson, Georgia.

If interested, e-mail Dallas Bordon at dallasb32@yahoo.com and include the years you played at Madison County, the sports played, coach’s names, list any awards you won in that sport, any memories of your playing days good or bad, if you played college sports after your high school days and any other information you would like to send. We also ask that you give us some details of where you are today and your occupation. If you e-mail a photo, we ask that it’s a clear picture and that you list names in the photo. This feature spotlights former athletes from Madison County High school in Danielsville, Georgia home of the Red Raiders.