Red Bank's Calvin Jackson (5) rushes for a touchdown against Signal Mountain at Red Bank Community Stadium on Friday, Sept. 1, in Chattanooga, Tenn.After being eliminated in the second round of the football state playoffs two of the last three years, with a first-round exit in between, Red Bank is moving on to the 2017 Class 3A quarterfinals.
Red Bank took control early and avoided any drama in its 42-7 home win over York Institute on Friday night.
The Lions (10-2) will host Smith County, which narrowly escaped Loudon 34-33.
"It was a lot of heart, and playing hard, playing together," Lions coach Chad Grabowski said. "We played another physical game and we were able to set the tone early on defense, and our offense was clicking on all cylinders."
Red Bank put its speed to work in the first quarter, with Zay Brown bouncing back from a near fumble to score from 13 yards out. Calvin Jackson got behind the defense on the Lions' next possession and caught a 56-yard pass from Madox Wilkey in stride on his way to the end zone.
York (9-3) cut the deficit to 14-7 on Landrick Leffew's 23-yard toss to Ethan Probst with 25 seconds to go in the quarter. That was as close as the Dragons would get.
"That first quarter, there were a couple of tough calls," York coach Derwin Wright said. "We thought we got a fumble recovery there, and that was a big letdown. Then we let them get by our secondary twice, and it was just mistakes after that. We didn't bring our 'A' game and came out flat. We're a better team than we showed."
After Jackson got behind the Dragons' defense, David Cosby did the same from 55 yards out. Wilkey again threw a perfect pass to a wide-open receiver.
Brown, who finished with 63 yards on 17 carries, added his second touchdown on the ground with 3:19 to go to give the Lions a 28-7 lead at halftime.
"We want to make sure we get the ball into the hands of our athletes," Grabowski said. "We've got some guys with speed that make plays for us."
Among those playmakers is Jackson. The star junior put his stamp on the second half, with two more touchdowns and an interception on just his second defensive play of the night. He ran it all the way back for an apparent touchdown, but a penalty negated the score.
Jackson had a 5-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter and added a 70-yard scoring run in the fourth. He finished with 227 total yards - 161 on the ground and 66 through the air.
"You hate to say you expect that from Calvin, but you do," Grabowski said. "He'll make a big play and it just seems to spiral from there, and everyone keeps following him. He opens things up for everyone else."
Red Bank's defense complemented its offensive stars, keeping a dangerous York offense scoreless beyond the first quarter. Cosby joined Jackson in having both a touchdown and an interception.
"That's a team that scores 39 points per game, and we held them to seven," Grabowski said. "I'd say our defense did a great job."
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com