Red Bank cruises by Walker Valley, now 6-0

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - While there are a variety of words to describe Red Bank's offensive performance Friday night, one sums it up best: efficient.

The visiting Lions scored on eight of their nine possessions, racking up 422 yards of offense on their way to a 58-6 nonregion victory over Walker Valley.

"I love watching you play football," first-year Lions coach Chris Brown told his team after the game. "I love watching you warm up, I love watching you support each other. There aren't too many teams out there that love each other the way we do."

Red Bank (6-0), a Class 3A program, needed only 13 plays and 2:58 of game clock during their five first-half touchdown drives, which totaled 245 yards. It was special teams, however, that got the game started with a bang for the Lions as senior Michael Porter took the opening kickoff 85 yards.

After Class 5A's Walker Valley (0-7) was forced to punt on the ensuing possession, the Lions' offense got to work. Calvin Jackson scored on a 50-yard run on the team's longest touchdown drive of the game - a four-play, 64-yard drive that took one minute. Kyle Smith drilled a 28-yard field goal on Red Bank's next possession to put his team up 17-0 after one quarter.

Though difficult to comprehend, the Lions actually picked up the pace in the second quarter. Red Bank's next three drives consumed 58 seconds on four plays, and all of them netted scores.

The half was capped with a 31-yard touchdown strike from Madox Wilkey to Jackson, giving the Lions a 45-0 halftime lead and a running clock during the final two quarters.

"We have the best coaching staff I could ever ask for," Brown said. "Every kid gets coached in all three phases of the game, so it doesn't surprise me when we have so many kids making plays like they did."

Jackson led the Lions with 106 rushing yards on just five carries, 39 yards on three receptions and four total touchdowns. Strickland rushed six times for 85 yards. Wilkey finished the game 12-of-18 passing for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com.

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