Justin Gregory finally had to give in and leave the field of play Friday night, but not before helping his Ringgold Tigers secure a satisfying 44-21 opening-game win over Catoosa County rival Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe at Tommy Cash Stadium.
The senior helped usher in the Tigers’ new balanced offense by catching two of quarterback Josh Morgan’s three touchdown passes and was one of three Ringgold defenders to turn LFO interceptions into touchdowns.
“I’ve always been told by my coaches that if you play as hard as you can, you won’t be taken off the field, but by the fourth quarter I couldn’t move,” smiled Gregory, who had four receptions for 73 yards, including first-half touchdown catches of 41 and 15 yards. “It’s a good win for us. Lakeview is usually our last game, but it’s good to get one on the board early.”
Moore was 9-of-16 for 192 yards, and Gregory took hs first pass of the game 41 yards as the Tigers wasted little time getting on the board. The Warriors, though, briefly tied the game at 7 when sophomore quarterback Trey Silmon hit Randall Eaker with the first of two touchdowns, this one from 21 yards out.
Ringgold, though, rode Moore’s hot right arm for touchdowns on consecutive drives, the first one ending with Mark Fairbanks taking a middle screen and sprinting 68 yards for a 14-7 lead, then Gregory taking a pass over the middle and scoring from 15 yards out with 3:23 left in the half. Freshman Slade Dale gave the Tigers some breathing room by taking Silmon’s first incompletion after a 9-for-9 start back 35 yards for a 28-7 lead.
“Our defense, I thought, played well, especially in the secondary,” Ringgold coach Robert Akins said. “We didn’t get a lot of pressure on them early, and that’s a concern, but we picked it up in the second half. We had some big plays called back and made some mistakes, but we hung in there and got the win. I’m not pleased with everything I saw, but we at least know what we have to work on going forward.”
Holding a 31-14 lead late in a sloppy third quarter, Ringgold put the game away with consecutive interception returns for touchdowns, Dezmond Harris taking one 40 yards and Gregory capping the scoring with a 53-yard return on the next LFO possession.
Fairbanks had a solid debut at tailback for Ringgold, amassing 115 yards on 10 carries to go with his 68-yard touchdown catch-and-run. The Tigers totaled 350 yards, though they gave up 126 on 10 penalties. Eaker added a 19-yard touchdown reception and tailback Bubba Cruz led the Warriors with 55 yards on 16 carries.