In describing his team’s season to date, Red Bay football coach Michael Jackson—whether he was aware of it or not—borrowed from Steven Tyler and Aerosmith, circa 1993.
“We’re livin’ on the edge,” Jackson said, smiling as he reflected on the three down-to-the-wire finishes the Tigers have already had in their first four games. “In all my years of coaching, I can’t recall having two games in a row in the same season come down to the last play.”
Two weeks ago, in the Class 2A, Region 8 opener at Mars Hill, Red Bay was stopped inches shy of the goal line on the final play of a 26-24 loss to the Panthers. There was no drop-off in drama last Friday at Fred Bostick Memorial Stadium, where the Tigers thwarted a two-point conversion attempt by Hatton with barely a minute remaining and then recovered an onside kick to seal a 32-30 victory over the Hornets.
“That was a big win,” said Jackson, whose team improved to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in region play. “Our region, it’s top-heavy. There are a lot of good teams in this region. So that was a big win for our team.”
Big might be an understatement. With road games still to come against region favorites Lamar County (October 6) and Sulligent (October 20), a loss to Hatton (0-3, 0-1) would have placed Red Bay’s streak of 18 consecutive playoff appearances in serious jeopardy. It also would have continued a frustrating early trend that had seen the Tigers stumble to a 1-2 start despite doubling their first three opponents in total yards (1,066 to 503) and first downs (36 to 18).
If not for a handful of untimely breakdowns in a season-opening 14-6 loss at Colbert Heights and five turnovers in the game at Mars Hill, Red Bay could well be 4-0 instead of 2-2.
“Easily,” Jackson agreed. “We talk about that with our guys a lot when we’re correcting mistakes. We’ve had some major plays that have hurt us. You can look at two or three plays the whole year that have really made a big difference in our record.”
Last Friday at The Fred, the Tigers once again held a decisive statistical edge in several key categories, out-rushing the Hornets 363 yards to 38 and holding them to just 3-for-14 on third down. Hatton, which trailed by double-digits on three different occasions, nearly snapped a 21-game losing streak to Red Bay in spite of those numbers, thanks to a surprisingly potent passing attack that produced 255 yards and two touchdowns.
“Every time we got a big lead, they’d come back and make a big play in the passing game,” said Jackson, whose team had allowed a total of just 48 yards through the air to its first three opponents. “They threw the ball thirty-something times, and their quarterback had a good night. That was the first game he had played all year. Their [starting] quarterback has been injured, and they had been using their running backs at quarterback and running a lot of Wildcat stuff. That’s what we prepared for all week.
“They came out and really attacked our young corners, and we gave up some big plays in the passing game. That’s something we’ll have to work on.”
After Hatton trimmed the lead to 20-16 midway through the third quarter on a 55-yard scoring strike, Red Bay senior tailback Aaron Lewey answered with his second touchdown run of the night to make it a 10-point game again. The Hornets came right back with a touchdown on their next drive and then converted the two-point try to make it 26-24 with 1:32 left in the third.
Red Bay junior quarterback Kolby Bragwell scored his third rushing touchdown of the night with 4:28 remaining, but a missed extra point kept it a one-possession game. Hatton took advantage, cutting the lead to 32-30 on a two-yard touchdown run by David Berryman with 1:02 left to play, but freshman linebacker Cam McKinney and senior lineman Joseph Newell combined to make the biggest stop of the night for the Tigers on the ensuing try for two.
“[Hatton] ran a play they had already hurt us with two or three times earlier in the game,” Jackson said of the decisive two-point conversion attempt. “They hand it to a guy on a jet sweep, and then he throws the ball. They had scored twice with that same play, once for a touchdown and once for two points. On that last one, the jet-sweep guy didn’t throw it. He kept it and tried to score, but we were able to get him down. Cam McKinney and Joseph Newell made a big play.”
Red Bay then recovered an onside kick [the Hornets had successfully pulled one off earlier in the game] and ran out the clock. Bragwell finished the night with a career-high 188 yards rushing on 20 carries, and Lewey posted his third consecutive 100-yard game, finishing with 141 on 27 attempts.
“Their defense sort of dictated that we run the ball a lot,” Jackson said. “They were taking away our short and medium passing game, and they had safeties over the top of our receivers outside. They voided the middle of the field by doing that, and that allowed us to focus on our run game.
“We’re getting better on the offensive line. We keep rotating guys in there, trying to find the right mix. We’ve got three sophomores playing up front, but we’re getting better there. Dylan Hester, our center, played his best game of the year the other night.”
Heading into Friday’s border battle with Belmont (MS), Red Bay is rushing for an average of 261.2 yards per game and 6.4 yards per carry. Lewey leads the way with 457 yards and six touchdowns on 80 carries, and Bragwell has run 48 times for 334 yards and four scores. Together they have formed a quarterback-running back combo that has been hard to handle for opposing defenses.
“It makes us a little more multiple,” Jackson said. “We use a lot of different formations anyway, which helps us get a numbers advantage in our run game.”
The battle at the line of scrimmage will be pivotal Friday night against Belmont, a team the Tigers have beaten five straight times since a 45-11 loss in 2010. Red Bay rallied from an early 13-0 deficit to win last year’s meeting 21-13 at Belmont.
“They’re the largest team we’ll play all year,” Jackson said. “They average about 290 [pounds] on their offensive line, with a couple of guys who are six-four. They average about 290 on their D-line, too, with their three down linemen. They run the Wing-T, and they do a good job with it. They’re very physical, and they always do a good job of holding onto the football and limiting your opportunities.”
On the season, Red Bay is averaging 28.8 points and 367.2 total yards per game. Bragwell has thrown for 424 yards on 26-for-59 passing, with two touchdowns and six interceptions. Senior Luke Rooker leads the team with 14 catches for 245 yards and two scores. Senior Max Bullen has rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries while also catching five passes for 104 yards.
Defensively, the Tigers are holding teams to 19.2 points and just 199 total yards per game. McKinney leads the team with 34 tackles, 22 of which have come over the last two games.
The Tigers are happy to be playing at home for a second straight week after playing their previous seven games (the last three last season, the spring game in May and the first three this season) on the road. Jackson expects a capacity crowd at Fred Bostick Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
“This week will be the biggest crowd we have all year,” he said. “It always is. Everybody in Tishomingo County will be there. Belmont is kind of rolling right now. They’ve won two out of three, and they beat Tish County for the first time in a while. Plus, last year’s game with us went down to the wire. I expect the same kind of game again this week.”
That shouldn’t be a problem. The Tigers are getting accustomed to living life on the edge.
