The Red Bank Lions started their 2023 football season in style.
With reigning TSSAA Class 2A state champion Tyner visiting Friday night, the Lions won 44-6, scoring on two blocked punts, two interception returns and running and passing plays on offense for a resounding victory to begin Ted Gatewood’s second season as head coach at his alma mater.
“I’m just ecstatic about our effort. Effort is the key,” said Gatewood, whose team reached the Class 4A semifinals last fall. “When we we play with maximum effort, there’s going to be things that happen like tonight. So making all those things happen through effort is the key, and I love that.”
The Lions scored quickly, getting on the board on a blocked punt, a 57-yard touchdown run and a field goal to lead 16-0 lead after one quarter. They kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter, scoring on a 70-yard interception return by Turner Humphrey. A 34-yard touchdown reception by Cordell Howard sent the home team to halftime with a 30-0 lead and a firm grip on a season-opening win.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night’s Chattanooga-area prep football games)
“This was just an amazing way to start, actually,” said defensive standout Kobe Smith, a member of the Times Free Press Dynamite Baker’s Dozen who has committed to Duke. “We were all energetic before the game. We’ve been hungry for this.”
Smith was responsible for getting the second-half scoring going for Red Bank when he picked off Tyner quarterback JaMarie Ballard on the Rams’ first offensive play of the third quarter and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown. The Lions capped the scoring when Brayden Baldwin took a deflected Tyner punt in to push the lead to 44-0.
Returning only six starters from last season’s Class 2A championship team, a letdown was not a complete surprise for first-year head coach Christian Mainor‘s Rams. However, the visitors showed some power late in the game, putting together a nine-play drive capped by Ballard’s 10-yard touchdown run.
Mainor, the offensive coordinator under Scott Chandler last season, said the loss will give his players and coaches a lot to work on as the team tries to rebuild after losing so much from its 2022 roster. The Rams have also moved up this season to Class 3A.
“We have four seniors, and these guys are young,” Mainor said. “Almost all of our guys have never played under Friday night lights. I’m not trying to make excuses, but we’ve got to grow week by week. I really think the team you saw tonight compared to the team you’ll see in week 10 will be very different.”
Despite the dominant win, Gatewood said there’s still much to work on for his Lions as they work to get better throughout the season.
“Every play, there’s something we can tweak and do better at,” he said. “Perfection is really hard to attain, but we work to make everything better. Our kids understand that, and film will give us a great opportunity to dive into it and show them.”
Contact Jim Tanner at sports@timesfreepress.com.