Tigers tame Eagles

Published 12:01 am Saturday, August 20, 2011

Red Level's Robbie O'Neal scored one rushing touchdown Friday night for the Tigers. | Andrew Garner/Star-News

Red Level head football coach Tony Ingram didn’t have anything negative to say about the Tigers Friday night after they beat Pleasant Home’s junior varsity and varsity squads at Bobby Dye Field in the annual Kick-Off Classic.

“I don’t have a whole lot of complaints,” Ingram said. “I’m sure on film we’ll find 100 things wrong. That’s the advantage of this (preseason) game.

“You get to get all of those kinks out,” he said.

The varsity team beat the Eagles 19-0, and the junior varsity team won 22-0. Each team played two quarters each. The JVs had eight-minute quarters, and the varsity had 12-minute quarters.

The only complaint Ingram had was that his team didn’t play “up tempo.”

“We conditioned them as good as we could condition them in this heat,” he said. “I don’t know if you could ever fully prepare anybody (for this heat), but overall, it was a great effort.”

The varsity Tigers got on board early in the third quarter when Raheem Bullock dashed dashed down the field 23 yards for the score.

Pleasant Home played its first game under new head coach Ronnie Douglas. With Douglas came a new passing-type offense, which was on display.

PHS senior quarterback Gabe Gunter completed six of his passes for 140 yards and had two interceptions.

Douglas said he’d like to see more quickness out of his players.

“We didn’t play as fast as we’d like to,” he said. “We’d like to play a little faster.”

Red Level added another six with 9:01 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard rush by Robbie O’Neal. The extra point attempt was no good.

To cap the night off with a bang for the Tigers, senior quarterback Troy Nolen connected with senior wide receiver James Feagin from 65 yards out for the score with 5:42 left. The extra point attempt was good by Bullock.

Pleasant Home utilized its passing game in the last few minutes of the contest.

PHS senior receiver Hunter Weaver had two receptions for 52 yards.

Ingram said his team’s offense didn’t show a whole lot.

“We were very basic (Friday night), and we’ll add to it each week,” Ingram said. “I thought the coaches made great adjustments on the fly because we didn’t have a half time. I thought it was a well-played game.

“Pleasant Home, when they get their timing down, they’re going to be trouble,” he said.

Douglas said he knows the offensive side of the ball needs to step up and make some plays.

“We’ve got to have those guys to save us on the offensive side of the ball,” he said. “They’ll get better, and we’ll keep working at it, and we’ll see what happens.”

Jacob Andrews led the junior varsity Tigers with two rushing touchdowns on four carries for 152 yards.

Red Level will travel to play Brantley next Friday night in its 2011 season-opener. Pleasant Home will travel to play Zion Chapel.

Kick off is set for 7 p.m.