By Bart Moss / For the FCT

The Red Bay Tigers used a good old-fashioned power running game to roll past the Colbert Heights Wildcats 34-18 Friday night in their senior opener.

The Tigers piled up 323 of their 373 total yards on the ground. They ran the ball 52 times for an average of 6.2 yards per carry.

“I was pleased with the effort our guys gave,” said Red Bay coach Michael Jackson. “I think our offensive line has improved and helped us get those rushing yards.”

The Tigers defense held Colbert Heights to 226 total yards.

“Our defense played well,” said Jackson. “We were able to hold them to just over 200 total yards. That’s a pretty solid night.”

Red Bay opened the game with two straight scores to open up a 16-0 lead. Colbie King scored first on a one-yard run, and Kolby Bragwell scored the two-point conversion. Bragwell scored again a few plays later on a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown and added the two-point conversion to give the Tigers the 16-0 lead.

The Colbert Heights Wildcats scored two straight touchdowns – one at the beginning of the second quarter and kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half – but they couldn’t convert their two-point attempts, leaving the Tigers with a 16-12 advantage.

Cam McKinney scored on a 58-yard fumble return for a touchdown to push Red Bay’s lead to 22-12.

Red Bay scored again late in the third quarter on a five-yard run by Colen Humphres to give the Tigers a 28-12 lead.

Colbert Heights scored on the opening play of the fourth quarter to cut Red Bay’s lead to 28-18, but the Tigers scored their final touchdown with 6:53 to go in the game on a two-yard run by Bragwell.

King rushed for 113 yards on 18 carries and scored a touchdown. Bragwell had 85 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. He also completed four of seven passes for 50 yards.

Red Bay travels to county-rival Phil Campbell Friday night for non-region game. It will be Phil Campbell’s first regular-season game of the year.