By Staff
Stephen Moore, Franklin County Times
RED BAY – The Red Bay' Tigers enjoyed four quarters of savage revenge at home Friday night as they mauled Shoals Christian in a 41-7 payback for their 2006 loss to the Flames.
"We played hard and made some big plays on offense," said Tiger head coach Dale Jeffreys. "We're off to a good start."
Red Bay received the opening kick-off, with Josh Senkbeil leading the Tiger drive from the 20-yard line. He plunged in from the 3- yard line for the game's first score with 9:58 left in the first quarter, and Pablo Makepiece nailed the extra point to make it 7-0.
Shoals Christian fumbled on the first play following the kick-off, and Red Bay recovered on the Flame 32. Two plays later Senkbeil rushed in from the 18 to make it 13-0 less than a minute after his first touchdown, and Makepeace added the PAT.
Shoals Christian quarterback Andrew Almon hit brother Daniel Almon for a 50-yard gain and the Flames quickly moved deep into Tiger territory. An interception with 6:07 left in the quarter stopped that drive, and Red Bay took over at their own 25-yard line. Three plays later, Tigers quarterback Anthony Horton hit Makepeace with a 36-yard bomb to make it 21-0 Red Bay.
The Flames refused to die, responding with a dogged drive into Red Bay's side of the field. The 80-yard, nine- play effort was rewarded with a Beniquez Brown touchdown run that got Shoals Christian on the board with 11:48 left in the first half.
A promising Red Bay drive was cut short when a fumble was recovered by the Flames, which seemed ready to launch a comeback. Their drive soon stalled following back-to-back incomplete passes. The Tigers' own effort sputtered out as well, ending with a blocked Makepeace field goal attempt the second quarter ran down.
Shoals Christian tried desperately to get another score on the board before halftime, but Red Bay's D. J. Elrod ended those hope by sacking Almon for a seven-yard loss.
After a fine halftime show by both bands, the Flames received the kick-off, but a penalty plus pass pressure from Elrod nipped that drive in the bud. Matching punts followed, but with 6:57 left in the third quarter, Senkbeil struck again to make it 28-7, capitalizing on a Shoals punt blocked by the Tigers' Terry Wilemon.
Five minutes later, Senkbeil scored on a 34-yard sprint to make the score 35-7.
Red Bay junior Cody Armstrong posted the fourth quarter's only score when he reached the end zone from 16 yards out to make it 41-7 with just over seven minutes left in the game.
Cody Palmer took over as Tigers quarterback for the games final plays and led Red Bay into Flame territory, but the clock expired before the host team could score again.
"We moved the ball pretty well tonight," Jeffreys said after the game ended. "We had too many penalties and turnovers though and we have got to work on that. We didn't pass as much as we might have because we didn't need to. All in all tonight was a good start to our season."
Red Bay is on the road next Friday in a Class 2A, Region 8 matchup against county rival Phil Campell at 7 p.m.