Tigers beat Hatton for region win

By Staff
Stephen Moore
For the FCT
HATTON – Red Bay posted its second consecutive Class 2A, Region 8 win Friday night, invading the "Hornet's Nest" to crush host Hatton 33-6.
"I'm really proud of our team tonight," said Red Bay head coach Dale Jeffreys. "We played hard and we played smart. This is the kind of balanced performance we've been working toward."
Red Bay (3-0, 2-0) received the opening kick off and scored six plays later when sophomore quarterback Hunter Childers hit Joseph Reach with a 37-yard pass. Chase Lindsey missed the point after attempt, leaving the score 6-0.
The Hornets were forced to punt on their initial possession, pinning Red Bay deep in Tiger territory. Starting from the 15-yard line, the Tigers marched 85 yards in 10 plays to score another TD when Lindsey raced around the right end for a 17-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion effort failed, leaving the Tigers with a 12-0 lead.
Power running from Lindsey and Reach kept Red Bay drives alive throughout the game while Childers' occasional, but accurate, passing posed another threat.
Hatton's next promising drive ended when Venable intercepted a pass at the Tiger 8-yard line. Three plays later Lindsey scored with 11:51 to go in the first half. A successful 2-point conversion made it 20-0 Red Bay.
Hatton answered in little more than a minute with a 13-yard rush into the end zone. The point-after attempt failed, leaving the score 20-6 with 10:51 to go in the second period.
The fired up Hornets forced Red Bay to punt but their own drive ended when Venable intercepted his second pass of the game. The Tigers soon capitalized on this turnover as Childers entered the end zone on a quarterback keeper play from the 25-yard line. Another missed PAT left Red Bay ahead 26-6.
Red Bay's pass coverage read Hornet routes well and the line continued to stiffen, sacking the Hatton quarterback for the first time and regaining possession as the first half wound down.
Eight plays later Lindsey scored around the left end from 10 yards out with 1:53 left in the second quarter. He followed this TD with his first extra point of the night, stretching the Tiger lead to 33-6.
The second half saw more Hatton drives end in punts or fumbles while Red Bay gained first downs but failed to convert their drives into points. A scoreless second half ended with the Tiger victory 33-6.
Red Bay had 12 first downs for the night while Childers was 3-of-3 for 54 passing yards. The Tigers again gained more than 300 rushing yards on 47 attempts. Reach and Lindsey gained the bulk of the yardage while sophomore Dmitri Humphrey contributed as well.
The Hornets gained 11 first downs, but suffered two interceptions, a lost fumble and several sacks. Parker was 6-of-13 for 58 passing yards. Hatton earned 144 rushing yards on 27 ground plays.
"We were much improved from last week," Jeffreys said. "Hunter showed he's growing in managing the game; everyone is stepping up their game. We must improve every week, though, we have still got a long way to go this season."
Red Bay hits the road again Friday, traveling to Cherokee for another region game.