By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
RED BAY - As it turned out, Brandon Colburn's 90-yard kick return was only Red Bay's second-most impressive run of the night.
Top honors had to go to coach Dale Jeffreys, who displayed remarkable mobility while eluding a postgame Gatorade shower on the sideline after the second-ranked Tigers defeated Muscle Shoals 21-10 on Friday to cap off their second undefeated regular season in the past three years.
"I can still move around a little bit," said Jeffreys, who has guided Red Bay (10-0) to a 29-1 regular season record over the past three years.
The Tigers also posted a 10-0 record in 2002 before going 9-1 last season. Only a one-point loss to Tanner in Week Three last year has prevented Red Bay from posting three consecutive undefeated regular seasons.
"I only know of one other [Red Bay] team to go 10-0 twice," said senior quarterback Kurt Kennedy, whose 8-yard touchdown pass to Randy Lowery late in the first half put the Tigers on top for good. "This means a lot to us, but it means just as much to this town as it does to this team. Everybody has been really supportive of us all the way through."
Colburn gave the Tigers some breathing room, taking the second-half kickoff to the house for a 21-10 lead after nearly breaking one for a score in the first half.
"I thought I had some running room on that first one, but I ran in to Kurt," said Colburn, whose play highlighted another strong special teams effort for Red Bay. "Kurt told me at halftime that if I just ran to the right, it would be wide open. I was able to get into the open field, and I just had one man to beat."
Was Colburn going to allow the kicker to keep him from the end zone?
"No way," he said.
Kennedy was careful not to impede Colburn's progress on the touchdown return.
"On the first one, I was looking for somebody to block but there was nobody there, so I just stopped," he said. "Brandon ran right into the back of me. As I came toward the sideline, coach [Greg] Cash was yelling at me, 'Run!' So on the second one, I made sure to get out of Brandon's way."
Colburn was also involved in two other huge special teams plays. After Byron Hellums' 31-yard touchdown run gave Red Bay a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, Colburn made a touchdown-saving tackle on the ensuing kickoff.
Late in the second quarter, Colburn was the first man on the scene as a swarm of Tigers tackled Muscle Shoals punter Steven Goedjen at the Trojan 8-yard line.
Two plays later, Kennedy hit Lowery in the end zone to give Red Bay a 14-7 lead with 26 seconds left in the first half.
Kennedy also pinned the Trojans (3-7) at their own 6-yard line with a great punt late in the third quarter, starting a drive that would end with a Brian Humphries interception.
"Our special teams play has been outstanding the last two weeks," Jeffreys said. "It's really kept us in the ball game. We talked at halftime tonight about taking back the second-half kickoff, and we were able to do it. That's the first one we've gotten this year."
The strong special teams play helped Red Bay overcome a lackluster performance on offense. The Tigers finished with only 257 yards, including just 97 in the second half.
"We were a little out of sync on offense all night," Jeffreys said. "We had a bunch of busted formations and things like that. We'll have to do better if we plan on playing much longer.
"Give Muscle Shoals credit. Their kids played hard."
Red Bay's defense turned in a solid performance, holding Muscle Shoals to just 243 yards and 11 first downs.
"I thought this was probably our best defensive game of the year," Jeffreys said. "I was worried we might have trouble tackling because of their size and speed, but our guys did a great job. We gave up 10 points, but we made some clutch stops on a couple of fourth downs."
The first big stop came on fourth-and-two from the Red Bay 7-yard line late in the first quarter, when Lowery, Matt Hester and Steven Keeton combined to stuff the ballcarrier for a 3-yard loss to preserve the Tigers' 7-0 lead.
The Red Bay defense came up with another goal line stand in the fourth quarter when Kennedy stopped Avery Jackson for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-two from the Red Bay 8-yard line.
Hellums finished the night with 74 yards on 17 carries. Kennedy completed 8-of-20 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown with one interception. He also ran for 43 yards on 13 carries.
Lowery had a team-high five receptions for 61 yards and a score.
Humphries had two clutch third-down catches to sustain a second-quarter drive, but Chris Frame's 37-yard field goal attempt missed wide right.
The Trojans tied the game 7-7 on a 36-yard scoring run by Jackson with 7:31 left in the second quarter. They scored again on a 44-yard field goal by Ross Anderson as time ran out in the first half.
Red Bay now turns its attention to first-round playoff opponent West End, which will visit Fred Bostick Jr. Memorial Stadium on Friday.
"They have a losing record, but that's deceiving," Kennedy said. "They're a good football team. They beat Geraldine, and Geraldine played [No. 1] Fyffe a 7-0 ball game. So it won't be easy. We just have to stay focused and take it one game at a time."