Red Level eyes Goshen in upcoming region contest

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 8, 2010

“We’re fixing to face probably as a tandem, the best back field we’ve seen.”

That’s what Red Level coach Tony Ingram said Tuesday about this week’s region contest against the Goshen Eagles Friday night in Goshen.

The Tigers are coming off a 20-12 victory over New Brockton last Friday night.

Ingram said last week’s win came as a result of special teams, which the team worked on a lot.

“We had several big punt returns by Raheem (Bullock),” Ingram said. “We worked, worked and worked on special teams.

“We felt like we had done well in that aspect of the game,” he said. “We played as hard as we have played. With New Brockton, they’re a good team. Going in, we had more speed, and that was a factor in the game. We hit people. If you do that, then good things are going to happen. If you go all out every play, the good things are going to happen.”

In this week’s game, the Tigers will face two running backs in Goshen’s Marcus Jackson and Reginald Foster.

“We’re not going to kick to either one of them,” Ingram said.

Ingram said the team came Sunday afternoon, looked at film and practiced for three-and-a-half-hours.

“We worked on the logistical stuff — formations and what they’re going to give us,” he said.

At one point last week, Red Level had a 20-0 lead over New Brockton, but starting quarterback Preston Ryce got dehydrated, and Bullock had to come in in relief, Ingram said.

The Tigers (1-1, 1-0 in Class 2A, Region 2) will face a defense this week similar to theirs.

“They run a lot of formations, and their defense is similar to what we run,” Ingram said. “Offensively, they do a lot of formations.

“The keys are those big guys (at running back), and we’ve got to stop them,” he said.

In other news, Ingram said all players who are healthy will be on the field Friday night.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Red Level’s O.J. McGee punts the ball at practice earlier this season. The Tigers will travel to play Goshen Friday night. | Andrew Garner/Star-News