Red Level, Pleasant Home square off Friday
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Red Level fell to the Class 1A Pleasant Home Eagles by a final score of 15-8 last season.
Friday night, the Tigers return to Pleasant Home with a perfect 4-0 record and a No. 10 ranking in the state in Class 2A. The Tigers also enter the game looking to avenge last season's loss to the Eagles.
"It means a lot to the kids in this county," Red Level Head Coach Tim Grimes said about the game. "We hope we can go down there and make a good representation of Red Level.
"We didn't feel like we did that last year," he added. "We feel like we let the people of Red Level down last year."
Grimes said this season he hopes he is able to do a better job of preparing the Tigers.
"I hope we're ready to play this year," Grimes said.
The game against Pleasant Home is one of the toughest of the season for the Tigers.
"I knew before the season started that our two toughest games would be them and Straughn," Grimes said. "Their two losses are against two good football teams.
"We're just going to go down there and play hard," he added.
The game is important because the players live in the same county and see each other a lot around town.
The good thing about the game, Grimes said, is that it will not hurt whichever team loses when it comes to making the playoffs.
Pleasant Home Head Coach Anthony Clark said he hopes the weather does not have a big impact on the outcome of the game.
"I'm hoping we can hang on to it if the weather stays how it is," Clark said. "It's going to be messy."
He said regardless of the conditions, the Pleasant Home defense must find a way to slow down the duo of Larry Hudson and Antonio "A.J." Harris.
"They have two good backs in Harris and Hudson," Clark said. "They are good on defense. They really fly to the ball.
"Hopefully, we can slow their backs down on offense," he added. "I don't think we can stop them, but hopefully we can slow them down."
Clark said he knows the Red Level running backs will gain yards and move the chains, but the Eagles must prevent giving up big plays.
"They are going to get their yardage and make plays," he said. "We just have to limit them."
Clark also said he knows Red Level has a talented team.
"They are 4-0 and a very good football team," Clark said. "Right now, we are 2-2 and a very average football team.
"We have to play an exceptional game," he added.