Red Bay beats neighboring rival Belmont
Red Bay’s Colby Knoblock tackles Belmont’s Chandler Higginbottom during Red Bay’s 35-7 win Friday night. Photo by Keith Ledbetter.
By Keith Ledbetter
For the FCT
After getting off to a no score first quarter, Red Bay came back to add five touchdowns in the remaining three to take a 35-7 win over neighboring rival Belmont (Miss.) last Friday.
“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” Tiger head coach Michael Jackson said following the game. “They played their hearts out on both sides.
“This is a big time rivalry game and there was a huge crowd here. I knew this was going to be a tough game.”
The Cardinals dominated the first quarter with an eight-minute drive but came up empty after turning the ball over to Red Bay when they failed to convert on fourth and goal at the 12 yard line.
Belmont breeched the red zone and looked like they could score on a first and goal from the nine, but a big defensive play by the Tigers caught the Cardinal offense three yards behind the line.
Red Bay’s secondary broke up two Cardinal passes, forcing the fourth down play. Belmont opted for a first down attempt instead a field goal but failed to convert, turning control over to Red Bay at the 12 yard line.
Red Bay’s first drive ended when Belmont recovered a Red Bay fumble at their own 22.
After taking over on a down turnover near the end of the first quarter, Red Bay’s offense started clicking as they mounted their first scoring drive in the second.
Senior Jade Pounds picked up 15 yards, followed by Troy Borden’s run to the 35 on a third and five keeper.
A big third and 14 completed pass play to Tate Ozbirn gave Red Bay first and 10 at the 37 yard line. An Ozbirn run carried the Tigers to the 19 and Borden tacked on another eight before Tyler Reach took it in on a third and three from the 11.
Reach rushed for an unofficial 144 yards, scoring two of Red Bay’s five TD’s.
Dekota Hester added all five point after kicks.
Red Bay’s defense again turned back Belmont’s next possession and took over after the Cardinals failed at a fake punt attempt.
It took the Tigers just a little over one minute to take a 14-0 lead when Borden scored on second and goal at the one yard line.
Red Bay struck again near the seven-minute mark of the third when Reach scored from the seven yard line.
With a three score lead, Red Bay’s stingy defense continued to give up short yardage to Belmont, forcing them to turn it over on downs on a fourth and seven from the 15.
Red Bay’s long scoring drive, that took them two minutes into the fourth quarter, was capped off with a Borden two-yard keeper on first and goal.
The Cardinals scored their only points of the night when Lorenzo Braxton caught a 22-yard TD pass from quarterback Bryan Malone.
With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Red Bay’s Tate Ozbirn tacked on the Tigers’ final score on an 84-yard run.
“Their kids laid it on the line,” added Jackson.
“They did some things early to try to keep the ball away from us.”
Jackson said the Tigers played great defensively all night and only gave up one pass at the end of the night. Offensively the Tigers kept chipping away at them until they made a long run.
“This type of game is a good situation for us,” Jackson added. “The is the same climate that we’re going to have to play in during the playoffs. We’re going to have to go to somebody’s field and play against a team that’s pretty good. So it was great to get that trial run out of the way.”
This Friday, Red Bay will host Mars Hill Bible School for Homecoming in a 2A Region eight contest. Pre-game crowning will start at 6:30.
