No. 4 Red Bay plays at Sand Rock
By Staff
Kim West
Franklin County Times
Last Friday Red Bay earned a hard-fought 45-14 win over Pleasant Valley in the opening round of the playoffs.
But the No. 4 Tigers (11-0, 7-0) face a tough challenge tonight at unranked Sand Rock, a team that nearly knocked off No. 1 Fyffe in Week 2. The Wildcats' only other loss came against No. 9 Piedmont in Week 9.
Red Bay will be without two key starters – senior quarterback Anthony Horton and senior middle linebacker DJ Elrod. Horton, who started every game this season for the Tigers, left midway through the fourth quarter against Pleasant Valley with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after suffering two similar injuries to his left knee in 2006. Elrod didn't play last week, but there's a possibility he will be able to play later in the playoffs, if necessary.
Red Bay entered the playoffs riding high after a 10-0 regular season that included wins over 4A Wilson, Addison and an improbable 15-point comeback against West Morgan. The Tigers, who rely on a timely passing attack and power rushing game, have sometimes struggled early in games, but coach Dale Jeffreys said they need a good start against Sand Rock, a team that averaged 23.9 points per game this season while allowing only 10.7.
"They've got a good team that went 9-2 this season, and they were the only team to take the No. 1 team to the wire this season. They have two really good receivers and a good quarterback, who has a good arm and can throw really well and quickly, so it will be hard to get pressure on him." Jeffreys said. "We need to get off to a great start, and we've got to play better on defense."
Red Bay will need a strong performance from senior running back Josh Senkbeil, who has a team-high 25 touchdowns and leads the area in rushing with over 1,400 yards this season. Cody Palmer will run the offense in Horton's place, and Jeffreys said that the Tigers are capable of running their full playbook with the sophomore quarterback under center.
"We'll be able to run 100 percent of our offense with Cody at quarterback," Jeffreys said.
