Sequatchie’s Zach Morgan breaks a Red Bank tackle.
photo by M. A. Locke
The Sequatchie County Indians lost three regular season games to teams with a cumulative 35-1 record so facing unbeaten and third-ranked Red Bank in a second round TSSAA 3A playoff tilt Friday night wasn’t really something they feared.
But it was obvious the Indians had a very healthy respect – if not just a little bit of fear – for the Lions all-state, all-purpose back/receiver Calvin Jackson and it showed with the way in which they schemed Red Bank’s potent offense. And it worked to a degree.
The Indians (8-4) held Red Bank to its lowest scoring output in a game a healthy Jackson participated in, and still it wasn’t enough.
The Lions (11-0) overcame the tough scheme as well as a potentially devastating injury to quarterback Madox Wilkey early in the week, and rode the legs of tailback Lumiere Strickland to a 24-21 victory at Tom Weathers Field. The win sends Red Bank to undefeated Upperman (12-0) for a state quarterfinals battle next Friday.
“Did we play a perfect game? No. Do we have some things to fix? Yes. But this one guarantees us another week with these amazing kids and coaching staff. I’m just so proud and happy for them because I know how much they love coming to work every week,” said first-year Red Bank coach Chris Brown, who has yet suffer defeat as a head coach.
The Lions, who have averaged 48 points a game over the last eight weeks in games the Mr. Tennessee candidate Jackson has played, saw the Wofford football commit shadowed by several Indians in just about any position he lined up.
“I think everybody knows Calvin is the man, but you are not going to stop this team by committing to guard one player on it. We did what we had to take advantage of it,” said Wilkey, who played with a broken thumb on his usually very accurate throwing hand during practice on Tuesday.
“I was scared when it happened, especially when they started talking about surgery, but I was going to give it my all. Mentally, it was tough playing with the thumb, but I knew this was the second round of the playoffs and I was going to give it my all for this team,” added Wilkey, who completed 10 of 23 tosses for 139 yards to pull within 72 yards of a 2,000-yard passing season.
The Lions took advantage of a near empty defensive box when Jackson lined up out wide by handing the ball to Strickland time and again for big runs up the middle. Strickland finished the night with 137 rushing yards on 18 carries, including an electrifying 59-yard TD burst to put Red Bank up 14-6 at the half.
“We’ve got weapons all over the field,” said Strickland of the effort.
The Lions seized momentum early in the game when Jaden high pounced on a fumble on Sequatchie’s opening drive and drove 57 yards to paydirt thanks to two third-down conversions and a pair of fourth-down conversions, including Wilkey’s five-yard pass to Lucas Brown for the score on a fourth-and-goal play.
“Calvin got the double-team and we made them pay for it. If it hadn’t been me, it would have been someone else because that’s the mentality of this team. If your numbers gets called, you step up,’ said Brown of the catch.
The Indians answered back quickly with quarterback Collin Hudson breaking a tackle and going 71 yards to the Lions’ 1 before sneaking it in for the score. The extra point sailed wide right, though, and Sequatchie trailed 7-6 at the start of the second quarter.
“That’s just a really good football team and they are extremely well coached. I can promise you with the teams they have played, they weren’t going to back down from us and we knw it would be a fight to the end,” Brown complimented.
The Indians lost games to undefeated Meigs County and Upperman in the regular season and one-loss South Pittsburg and also beat a nine-win York Institute squad. Red Bank, by contrast, played just one team which finished the season with a winning record and it was a six-win Central team it beat in the season-opener.
Red Bank was able to control the game thanks to its ability to convert third downs, doing so at a 7-of-13 clip and converting on 3-of-4 fourth down tries. Strickland’s long run in the second quarter put them up 14-7 at the break and with the Indian’s inability to get the Lions off the field; they opened the second half by recovering an onside kick. Red Bank’s Cam Bell, though, stopped Hudson on a fourth-down keeper to thwart that momentum, and Jackson finally got loose from his shadows to put the Lions up 21-7. Jackson took a third-down Wildcat run and outraced the entire team to the corner en route to a 20-yard run for the score with 7:05 left in the third.
The Indians answered once again, however, after Landon Easterly recovered a fumble on bad snap over Wilkey’s head. Hudson found Trevor Ritchie in the end zone on a fourth-down toss from the 20 to make it a 21-13 game heading into the final period.
After exchanged punts, the Lions got the ball back with nine minutes left in the game and at their own 18 and took almost seven minutes off the clock before settling for Kyle Smith’s 30-yard field goal which turned out to be the difference in the game. It was his fourth field goal on the year and ultimately his second game-winner.
“I wasn’t really nervous. It was a good snap and a good hold, so all I had to do was kick it. It was a good feeling watching it sail through the uprights, though,” said Smith, who kicked a game winner in double overtime in the win over Central in the regular season.
The Indians drove it down the field and scored on Hudson’s sneak from the 1, but it took up all but the final eight seconds of the game, and when Red Bank recovered the onside kick, it was over.
“We’ve got three sopohomores starting on the offensive line and another one who rotates in. We have an average age of about 16 on that line, but they come to practice and to play every week. And I can’t say enough about Madox after the week he had. Last year as a sophomore he led quarterbacked this team to the state semis, but what you are seeing now is a leader out there. He is vocal, talented, and man he is just one tough kid,” said Brown afterwards.
Jackson wound up with 126 all purpose yards, rushing for 67 and catching four passes, including an incredible one-handed gem, for another 59 yards. The Indians got 88 rushing yards from Hudson, who also threw for 92 more in the losing effort.
SEQUATCHIE CO 0 6 7 8 – 21
RED BANK 7 7 7 3 – 24
RB – Lucas Brown 5 pass from Madox Wilkey (Kyle Smith kick) (1:13, 1st)
SC – Collin Hudson 1 run (kick failed) (11:47, 2nd)
RB – Lumiere Strickland 59 run (Kyle Smith kick) (8:34, 2nd)
RB – Calvin Jackson 20 run (Kyle Smith kick) (7:05, 3rd)
SC – Trevor Ritchie 20 pass from Colin Hudson (Alex Martinez kick) (3:00, 3rd)
RB – Kyle Smith 30 yard field goal (2:57, 4th)
SC – Collin Hudson 1 run (Zach Morgan run) (0:08, 4th)
SC STATS RB
12 1st Downs 16
38-169 Rush 36-189
92 Pass 139
261 Total 328
8-16-0 Passes 10-24-0
3-15 Penalties 8-65
2-32.0 Punts 2-29.5
1-1 Fumbles 3-1
Individual Stats
Rushing: Collin Hudsosn 10-88, Zach Morgan 6-28, Antonio Casey 13-26(SC); Lumiere Strickland 18-137, Calvin Jackson 14-67 (RB)
Passing: Collin Hudson 8-16-0 92 yards (SC); Madox Wilkey 10-23-0 139 yards, Calvin Jackson 0-1-0 0 yards (RB)
Receiving: Justin Lamparter 4-50, Trevor Ritchie 3-26 (SC); Calvin Jackson 4-59, Lucas Brown 4-53 (RB)
Records: Sequatchie County 8-4; Red Bank 11-0
Up Next: Red Bank (11-0) at Upperman (12-0) Class 3A Quarterfinals
(Contact James Beach via email at 1134james@gmail.com or Twitter @beachnut1134)
Red Bank players celebrate a score.
photo by M.A. Locke