Jackson picks 100th win at Tharptown
By Bart Moss for the FCT
Red Bay coach Michael Jackson rarely wants the spotlight on him. He would rather it stay focused on his team. Friday night at Tharptown, however, Jackson reached a personal milestone as a head coach – his 100th win.
In typical fashion he brushed it off and quickly turned the attention away from himself.
“As far as winning one hundred games goes, I think it just means we’ve been consistent in how we approach the game of football,” said Jackson, who has coached at Buckhorn and Russellville before becoming Red Bay’s head coach. “We try to do the right things every year and make the most of the talent we have. It is a team game, and that is how we approach it.”
Jackson began his career at Buckhorn High School, where he went 3-19 in his first two years – hardly the beginning one would think would lead to a 100-win milestone.
“To me, it was just going to work every day, being consistent and taking games one week at a time.”
Jackson’s third year marked the beginning of the turnaround: he won 10 of his last 12 games that season. He would later go to back to his alma mater Russellville before landing in Red Bay.
Jackson’s Tigers wasted no time taking control of the game at Tharptown Friday night. Aaron Lewey took the opening kickoff 85 yards to paydirt. Kolby Bragwell ran the ball into the end zone for the two-point conversion to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.
“All week we focused on getting better as a team. I think we improved a lot from week one to week two, and that is key for our young football team,” Jackson said. “In our first game against Colbert Heights, we had four penalties that killed four drives. We didn’t make those kinds of mistakes this week. I thought we played a lot better and more disciplined.”
The Tigers added two more touchdowns in the first quarter. Colbie King scored with 4:47 to go on a seven-yard run to give Red Bay a 15-0 lead. Lewey added a rushing touchdown with 2:08 to go in the first quarter on a 14-yard run to make the score 21-0.
Red Bay scored twice in the second quarter. Bragwell scored on a 25-yard run to make the score 27-0 with 9:18 to go in the half. Lewey scored on a seven-yard run with 3:40 to go to give the Tigers a 33-0 halftime lead.
The Tigers added to their lead early in the third quarter on an 11-yard touchdown run by King to make the score 40-0.
The Tharptown Wildcats got their lone score late in the third quarter on a three-yard run by K.J. Hamilton. Luis Macias added the PAT to make the score 40-7.
Red Bay added two more scores in the fourth quarter: Bragwell connected with Luke Rooker for a 26-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 47-7 lead, and their final score came on a 46-yard touchdown run by Jalen Vinson.
Red Bay finished with 379 total yards while holding the Wildcats to 125 total yards.
Lewey finished the game with 10 carries for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
King had five carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns.
Red Bay plays at Mars Hill Friday night in their first region game.
