Red Bay Tigers lose second straight

By Bart Moss / For the FCT

In a game befitting a longtime rivalry, the Red Bay Tigers and Belmont Cardinals battled each other to the very end Friday night. With the game tied at 14, Belmont scored a go-ahead touchdown with just over two minutes remaining in the game to win a nail-biter and hand the Tigers their second loss in as many weeks.

Red Bay struck first with 7:44 to go in the first quarter on a three-yard run by Colbie King. The two-point conversion gave the Tigers an early 8-0 lead.

Belmont scored with 5:39 left in the second quarter on a 25-yard run to cut Red Bay’s lead to 8-6, but the Tigers extended their lead to 14-6 with 5:50 to go in the third quarter on a four-yard run by Kolby Bragwell.

Belmont tied the game just a few seconds later when the Cardinals scored on a big 55-yard run. The two-point conversion tied the game 14-14.

Belmont took the go-ahead lead with 2:19 to go in the game on a 14-yard pass to give the Cardinals a 21-14 lead.

Red Bay’s last-chance drive ended with an interception.

The statline was just as close as the game, with Red Bay gaining 257 yards to Belmont’s 254 yards.

King ran the ball 17 times for 84 yards. Bragwell passed for 67 yards, completing six of 14 pass attempts.  Jalen Vins caught three of those passes for 41 yards.

Red Bay has an open date this week. The Tigers will return home for the first time since Aug. 31 when they host Sheffield next week.