Jackson, Brown Lead Red Bank Past Central

D.J. Baxter Scores On Two Long Passes, But Pounders Fall, 33-14

  • Saturday, September 24, 2016
  • John Hunt
Red Bank quarterback Calvin Jackson (5) runs for yardage as Central defensive back Bradley Vogler (40) gives chase. Jackson scored twice for the Lions in their 33-14 win over the Purple Pounders Friday night at Etter-Farmer Field.
Red Bank quarterback Calvin Jackson (5) runs for yardage as Central defensive back Bradley Vogler (40) gives chase. Jackson scored twice for the Lions in their 33-14 win over the Purple Pounders Friday night at Etter-Farmer Field.
photo by Dennis Norwood

The Red Bank Lions didn’t play error-free football at Central Friday night, but they played well enough to win and even their record at 3-3.

Calvin Jackson and Zay Brown both scored a pair of touchdowns for Red Bank in a closer-than-it-looks 33-14 final score.

It’s been a tough first-half for the Lions as two of their three losses came against Baylor and McCallie, but they played well enough to win against a vastly-improved Central squad.

The Purple Pounders, who are still trying to find their identity on offense, were within 20-14 with just over seven minutes to play, but in a span of just 62 seconds, the Lions added two final touchdowns to make what had been a close game into one that didn’t appear to be so close.

“This is our time of the season, but you guys did a great job tonight,” Red Bank coach Chad Grabowski told his guys following the final horn.

“It got close at one point, but we took it away from them.  We’re still sloppy at times as we let them hang around too long, but I’m happy with the way we finished.  We just need to stop making the stupid mistakes, but we’ll be okay if we’ll just keep doing what we’re trying to do.

“D.J. Baxter kept them in the game, but we have to get ready for Signal Mountain as that’s the big one next week,” Grabowski added.

Central’s Baxter returned the opening kickoff 79 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the Pounders were flagged for a block in the back. 

Facing a third-and-15 from their own 38, sophomore quarterback Jaheim Jones hooked up with Baxter down the left side for a 62-yard TD and Central’s lead was 8-0 following Baxter’s conversion run with 9:38 left in the opening stanza.

The Lions retaliated with touchdowns in each of the first two quarters, the first coming on a keeper by Jackson from the 8 with 6:46 left in the first quarter.  Braulio Velazquez booted the extra point and the difference was 8-7.

Two possessions later, Red Bank marched 76 yards in 12 plays, using 4:48 to take the lead when Kedric Richardson bulled into the end zone from the 3.  The extra point kick was good and the Red Bank lead was 14-8 with 7:54 left in the second.

That was the score at intermission.

The second half turned into the Zay Brown show as the Red Bank junior scored the third touchdown for the Lions on a run from the 16 and the score stood at 20-8 after McClendon Curtis blocked the extra point.

The Lions were content to keep the ball on the ground and Brown was the recipient most of the time as he had 20 of his 32 carries in the final two quarters and also gained 125 of his game-high 199 yards in that same time frame.

Central’s defense kept things close as Red Bank was simply unable to put the game out of reach and the Pounders made things interesting when Jones hooked up with Baxter on a key fourth-and-3 for a 40-yard touchdown in the left corner of the end zone.

Baxter’s run failed, but Red Bank’s lead was only 20-14 with 7:22 to play.

It didn’t take long for that to change.

Red Bank’s Mike Porter returned the kickoff from the 25 to the 44 and Jackson went the distance on the next play, going 56 yards for the TD with 7:03 left.

Then on the Red Bank kickoff, Mike Clark pounced on a Central fumble.  Taking just three plays to go 43 yards, Brown had runs of nine, five and 29 yards for the final Lion TD with 6:12 to put the game out of reach.

Central kept battling and moved the ball down to the Red Bank 14, but a pass reception in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-12 was ruled out of bounds and the Lions were able to run the clock out after that.

Central coach Cortney Braswell can see the potential in his guys, but growth is slow at times and he was frustrated with the way things turned out.

“We showed some explosiveness on offense, but it hurts because we didn’t do what we needed to do to win the game,” he told his assistant coaches afterward.

“It’s just too much of the same, but we have to fix it.  We have the potential to be a pretty good football team, but we aren’t consistent.  I thought we played pretty well for three and a half quarters, but we gave up two big plays that really hurt.

“It also hurt that we blocked a punt and got no points from it, but these kids are learning how to compete.  We just have to do a better job on the smaller stuff, but we fought to the end and I never complain about their effort,” Braswell added.

Red Bank finished the evening with 396 total yards, including 340 yards on the ground.  Brown was the leader with 193 on 32 trips while Jackson added 121 yards on 11 attempts.

Mike Porter and Clark both had two receptions for 33 and 23 yards, respectively, as Jackson completed half of his eight passes for those 56 yards. 

Central countered with 278 total yards, including 241 through the air and just 37 on the ground.

Michael McGhee had the most catches with four for 58 yards, but Baxter was the big target with 110 yards on three grabs, including the two long TDs.

Donya Parker had two catches for 20 yards while Davey Vagts had two for 18.  Moses Houston also had one catch for another 18.

Jones was the leading rusher for Central with a net 18 yards on 16 carries.  Six of those carries were for lost yardage.

Red Bank also won the first down battle by a 24-13 margin.

Central travels to Crossville next Friday to face Stone Memorial while Red Bank pays a visit to Signal Mountain.

RED BANK  7  7  6  13  --  33

CENTRAL  8  0  0  6  --  14

CEN – D.J. Baxter 62 pass from Jaheim Jones (Baxter run), 9:38 left in first;

RB – Calvin Jackson 8 run (Braulio Velazquez kick), 6:46 left in first;

RB – Kedric Richardson 3 run (Velazquez kick), 7:54 left in second;

RB – Zay Brown 16 run (kick blocked); 9:08 left in third;

CEN – Baxter 40 pass from Jones (run failed), 7:22 left in fourth;

RB – Jackson 56 run (run failed), 7:03 left in fourth;

RB – Brown 29 run (Velazquez kick), 6:12 left in fourth.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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