Red Bay routs Cherokee 48-0 to earn 12th consecutive playoff spot
- Red Bay’s defense held Cherokee to 111 total yards of offense and shut out the Indians to help the Tigers secure a playoff berth Friday night. | Scot Beard/FCT
RED BAY — Red Bay entered its final region game needing a win to extend its playoff appearance streak to 12 years. The Tigers (5-4, 4-3) got that victory in impressive fashion, shutting out Cherokee 48-0 to clinch the final playoff spot in Class 2A, Region 8.
“It’s 12 years in a row, I’m awful proud of that,” Red Bay coach Dale Jeffreys said. “The kids did a good job of doing what they had to do.”
Red Bay used a stingy defense and a quick-strike offense to score early and often.
Chase Lindsey scored on a 10-yard run to put the Tigers ahead 6-0 with 8:45 remaining in the first quarter.
Three minutes later quarterback Hunter Childers found Dmitri Humphrey with a 24-yard touchdown pass. Childers then complete the 2-point conversion with a pass to Marco Bostick.
Lindsey added another 10-yard touchdown run with 4:19 remaining in the opening quarter to give Red Bay a 21-0 advantage.
Steven Wood had an 8-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Cherokee (1-8, 0-7) threatened to score before halftime, but Kevin Hastings made a great play on fourth-and-goal to knock the ball away from the receiver’s hands twice.
The Indians held onto the ball for most of the third quarter, but Red Bay added two touchdowns on its only two plays of the quarter. Childers hit Hastings for an 80-yard touchdown pass and Matt Senkbeil added a 67-yard touchdown run.
“We were practicing for different looks,” Jeffreys said. “Hastings has done a good job of getting better and better every week. He did a good job on running the route on the touchdown.”
The Tigers time of possession in the quarter was only 27 seconds.
Cherokee drove to the Red Bay 1-yard line early in the final quarter, but back-to-back sacks by the Tiger defense resulted in a turnover on downs.
Wood rounded out the Tigers’ scoring with a 43-yard touchdown run with 9:35 remaining in the game.
Red Bay’s defense limited Cherokee to 111 yards of total offense.
“We have not had a shutout since the opening game last year against Lee-Huntsville,” Jeffreys said. “It’s always hard to shut a team out.”
Red Bay finishes the regular season next Friday at Marion County.
