Turnovers doom Tigers

By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
RED BAY – One week after knocking off West Morgan for their biggest win of the season, the Red Bay Tigers came crashing back to earth with a turnover-filled performance in Friday night's 20-14 loss to previously winless Hackleburg.
Red Bay (2-3) lost two fumbles on the night and also threw four interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns by Hackleburg in the first half as the Panthers (1-4) built a 20-7 halftime lead.
The Tigers had one final chance with less than a minute remaining, driving from their own 8-yard line to midfield before Hackleburg's Jon McKinney picked off a Cody Tucker pass with 11 seconds left to seal the win.
"We lost this one on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," Red Bay coach Dale Jeffreys said. "We decided to take the pads off at practice and give some of our guys a chance to heal up, and we just got whipped tonight. We had eight turnovers [including two on downs] and we didn't tackle very well on defense, which is a reflection of not being physical enough in practice. We just didn't come out ready to play, and that's my fault."
The Tigers had hoped to use last week's 24-21 upset of West Morgan as a springboard to bigger and better things, but Friday night's stunning loss put those plans on hold-at least temporarily.
"Nothing against Hackleburg, because they played great tonight, but we're going to play five more teams the rest of this year that are better than them," Jeffreys said. "We better get it together, because things aren't going to get easier."
After not losing any fumbles the previous week, Friday's game got off to an inauspicious start for the Tigers as they coughed up the ball on their fourth play of the night. Hackleburg recovered at the Red Bay 33-yard line, and Jason Leggett scored on a 9-yard touchdown run five plays later to make it 7-0 with 7:24 left in the opening quarter.
Red Bay's Joe McKinney scored on a 61-yard punt return early in the second quarter, and Chris Frame's PAT tied the game 7-7 with 10:33 left in the first half.
The Panthers were forced to punt on their next drive, but Garrett McHenry intercepted a tipped pass from Tucker and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to give Hackleburg a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Tigers lost another fumble on their next possession, but senior Morgan Stanfield picked off a Hackleburg pass inside the 10-yard line to give possession back to Red Bay.
Four plays later, Hackleburg's Joel Ingle came up with an interception and returned it 25 yards to the end zone to make it 20-7 with 26 seconds left in the first half.
"That makes five times now this year that the other team has scored when our offense is on the field," Jeffreys said. "Those are things you just can't do."
Red Bay's offense finally got on the board late in the third quarter, thanks to some hard running by junior Josh Senkbeil.
Senkbeil ripped off a 40-yard run to the Panther 22-yard line, and he gained 12 yards on the next play to give Red Bay a first-and-goal.
Four plays later, Tucker scored from one yard out to trim the lead to 20-14 with 1:39 left in the third quarter.
Red Bay's four fourth-quarter drives end in two interceptions, a punt and a turnover on downs.
Hackleburg finished the night with only 169 yards of offense, including just 57 in the second half. Red Bay had 245 yards of offense, including 97 rushing yards by Senkbeil on 15 carries.
Tucker finished 14-of-27 for 126 yards and also ran for 32 yards and a score.
McKinney caught five passes for 52 yards, and Caleb Collins had four catches for 53 yards.
Red Bay will return to Class 2A, Region 8 play this Friday at Winston County.