County rivals open region play in Red Bay

By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
PHIL CAMPBELL – Last season, both the Phil Campbell Bobcats and the Red Bay Tigers qualified for the Class 2A state playoffs, earning the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively, in Region 8.
Wholesale changes to the region's membership in the offseason have made a repeat of that scenario unlikely in 2006, placing even more importance on tonight's "Battle of the Big Cats" at Fred Bostick, Jr. Memorial Stadium in Red Bay.
"It's pivotal. It's almost a must-win game for both of us," said Bobcat coach Kelly Kiser, whose squad ended a three-year losing streak to the Tigers with last season's playoff-clinching 21-20 win. "You hate to say that, because it's only the first region game. But I don't think there's any doubt about how pivotal this game is."
Defending Class 1A state champion Addison and perennial Class 3A power West Morgan joined Class 2A, Region 8 this season, leading many to believe that playoff berths will be even harder to come by.
Phil Campbell's players are certainly aware of the urgency surrounding tonight's showdown.
"It's really important," junior quarterback Jonathan Dill said. "A lot of people think that Addison, Tanner and West Morgan are already locked into the playoffs. I'm not saying that's the way it's going to be, but that's the way a lot of people are looking at it. So that just makes this game even more important.
"But I mainly want to beat them just to beat them. When we play Red Bay, we don't need any extra motivation."
The Bobcats had all the motivation they needed heading into last year's meeting with their archrivals. Not only was a playoff berth on the line, but Red Bay had won the previous three meetings by a combined score of 101-7.
Phil Campbell got its revenge, rallying from a 17-7 deficit to secure the team's first playoff berth since 2001 and restore bragging rights for a year in a longstanding football feud.
"They're definitely our biggest rival," said Phil Campbell receiver Steven Lacey, who caught an 85-yard touchdown pass in last year's comeback win. "Nobody from here likes them, and I know nobody from over there likes us."
Both teams lost their season openers last week, with Red Bay falling 35-21 at Shoals Christian and Phil Campbell losing at home to Haleyville 25-0.
Kiser said the Bobcats have focused this week on correcting their mistakes and playing a more physical brand of football, on both offense and defense.
"We just have to eliminate our mistakes," he said. "I felt like we didn't do all that bad on a lot of things last week. We just played a pretty good football team. Right now, our biggest goal is to be more physical on both sides of the football."
Despite losing by two touchdowns to Shoals Christian, Red Bay out-gained the Flame 361 total yards to 277. Four turnovers by the offense and a handful of big pass plays allowed by the defense doomed the Tigers, but Kiser said Red Bay's offensive attack remains very dangerous.
"I'm still impressed with the things they try to do on offense," said Kiser, who is 5-3 against Red Bay in his Phil Campbell career. "They moved the ball well against Belmont [in the preseason jamboree], and they had several good drives against Shoals Christian. But I think if we can be more physical on defense, that will help us contain a lot of the positive things they do on offense."
The Tigers have had much more than a mere football game on their minds this week. Matt Hester, a 2006 graduate of Red Bay and a three-year starter on the football team, passed away earlier this week after an 11-month battle with cancer.
Efforts to reach Tiger coach Dale Jeffreys were unsuccessful, but he told the TimesDaily that he and his players are trying to look at this situation in a positive way.
"We're going to play as hard as we can, and hopefully things will go well for us," said Jeffreys, who is 4-5 against the Bobcats since arriving at Red Bay in 1997. "Our kids have been touched and they are saddened by it, but we're focusing on the positive aspect of it. We're glad that Matt has gone to be with the Lord.
"We want to stay positive and know that Matt didn't want us to feel sorry for him. He didn't want any pity. If he was here right now, he would tell us to suck it up and go play, so that's what we're going to try to do."