Red Bank 29, Bledsoe County 14Star: The Lions' Malik Davis rushed for two touchdowns, threw for two and intercepted three passes.Up next: Red Bank will play at McMinn Central; Bledsoe County ends its season at 5-6.
Malik Davis spent the first half frustrating the Bledsoe County defensive coaching staff by scampering all over Tom Weathers Field on Friday. He frustrated the Warriors offensive staff in the second half by intercepting three passes.
He paced Red Bank to a 29-14 win over the Pikeville team in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Davis rushed for 212 yards -- more than Bledsoe gained rushing and passing -- added 42 yards passing and had a hand in every point the Lions scored because he holds on extra-point kicks and converted a two-point pass in the fourth quarter.
"I came out and played like it was my last game," Davis said. "On offense, what I saw was a lot of green grass because of my O-line. On defense, two of those picks were easy."
Davis scored on a 71-yard scamper in the first quarter and a 30-yarder in the second quarter and threw quick passes to Demarcus Rivers for 12- and 18-yard touchdowns in the second half.
Bledose County quarterback Chaise Sorrows (10) tries to elude Red Bank's Gabe Smith (27)."Any time you have an athlete like that with the ball, he's a threat," Bledsoe coach Jason Reel said. "We had him hemmed up, then the next thing you know he's cutting across the field."
The Lions got the lead in large part because its defensive line neutralized the Warriors' rushing attack. Bledsoe finished with 148 rushing yards on 38 carries after gaining 31 yards on the ground before the bands took the field. Caleb Smith led the Warriors with 71 rushing yards on 15 carries.
"They had an unbelievable amount of push=back at us," Reel said. "At times they had great penetration on us."
The Lions limited the Warriors to no-gain or a loss on 13 of 38 rushes.
"Our defensive front was unbelievable," Lions coach Chad Grabowski said. "Then our linebackers, guys like Gabe Smith and Robert Perry, were able to fill gaps."
When the Warriors took to the air, they found Davis and fellow defensive back Ben Brown waiting. Brown had at least three pass deflections, including one on fourth down and one that led to Davis' first interception.
"It's pretty impressive to see that he can do anything," Brown said. "I tipped that ball, fell down, and for some reason tried to tackle Malik. Thankfully he was already down."
Davis' interceptions ended three straight Bledsoe possessions in the second halft.
"We stopped them from running the ball," said defensive end Courtney Stamper, who caught the two-point pass. "We came out and hit them."
Davis delivered the first blow. He scooted 71 yards -- starting up the middle, then deciding that going left would be a better option -- on Red Bank's second snap of the game. He gave Red Bank a 14-0 lead with a 30-yard run by going through the line and then cutting outside to the left.
Bledsoe cut the lead in half with an eight-play drive that covered 61 yards. Smith caught a swing pass to the left and walked in from 6 yards out.
The two Davis-to-Rivers screen passes gave Red Bank a 29-7 lead. But Bledsoe had the final score, a 1-yard run by senior offensive lineman Blake Sorrow in the final minute.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP