Red Bay preparing for unbeaten Fyffe
By Staff
Mike Self, FCT Sports Editor
The mood on the Red Bay sideline was festive after last week's 31-7 rout of J.B. Pennington in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs, but any celebration by the Tigers was brief-and for good reason.
Undefeated Fyffe is waiting.
The Red Devils, 11-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state, will visit Fred Bostick, Jr. Memorial Stadium on Friday for a second-round matchup with Red Bay (6-5).
As well as the Tigers played last week (they rushed for 225 yards and held Pennington to seven first downs), head coach Dale Jeffreys knows his team must play even better if they hope to pull off an upset.
"That's the way the playoffs are," said Jeffreys, who guided Red Bay to quarterfinal appearances in 2003 and 2004. "You have to raise your game to another level every week. We came out last week and were really ready to play, and we'll have to come up with another great effort this week. If we don't, we won't have a chance.
"But if we play really well and have a few things go our way, anything can happen."
Fyffe went undefeated during the regular season and then rolled past Ranburne 48-21 in last week's first round.
"They're really good, there's no question about that," Jeffreys said. "They're good on offense, on defense and in the kicking game. They've got speed at every position, and they're big up front. We have to figure out a way to stop them, which nobody has been able to do yet. They've scored at least 35 points in every game but one."
Red Bay's defense has played very well of late, holding four of five opponents to 14 points or less. The Tigers held Pennington to 173 yards of offense, but Jeffreys said the Red Devils' explosive offense will present his team's defense with its greatest challenge to date.
"I think that's probably true," he said. "We played in a tough region and faced some really good teams in Addison, Tanner and West Morgan, but those teams were good in spots. Against Fyffe, you have to worry about everybody. They run the Wing-T, and you have to watch the wideout, the wingback, the slotback, the quarterback, and on it goes. You can't afford to let any of them get loose."
Jeffreys said the Red Devils are just as fast and physical on the other side of the ball.
"They run a 50 defense, and you can't throw on them," he said. "Offensively, we did a pretty good job last week of holding onto the ball for longer and not having many three-and-outs. We have to continue doing that. We have to win the field position battle, not turn the ball over, and do all the other little things you have to do to win big games."
A big play or two on special teams wouldn't hurt either. Junior wideout Joe McKinney returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown to spark last week's win, and Red Bay also got two terrific punts from Pablo Makepeace and a 37-yard field goal from Chris Frame.
Offensively, sophomore quarterback Cody Tucker rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown, and Makepeace and Josh Senkbeil each added 63 yards on the ground.
