The Red Level Tigers picked up a 12-6 win over the McKenzie Tigers on Friday night in region play in McKenzie.

“That’s a big win for us,” Red Level head coach Kenny Skipper said. “Red Level/McKenzie has always been a big rivalry game and it’s usually a pretty close game.”

Skipper said that Red Level didn’t play to their potential in the opening half.

“We played about as sloppy as we could have in the first half,” Skipper said. “I told them at halftime that this game was going to be a fight and it was. After halftime, the defense played lights out. McKenzie only had a couple of positive plays in the second half. I told the defense if they would hold them that we would score and we did.”

Red Level got on the board in the first half with a touchdown from Parker Spears.

At halftime, the game was tied 6-6.

Skipper said that eighth grader Demarcus Johnson had a big game running the ball for Red Level.

“Demarcus played very well tonight,” Skipper said. “He had some good runs in the first half and then in the second half it seemed like everytime we needed a big play he would make one.”

Johnson put Red Level on top in the second half when he scored on a long run.

“These was huge for these kids,” Skipper said. “This has been a long time coming. The kids deserve all of the credit. I didn’t do anything. They executed and played hard. They are excited about the win, but they understand to enjoy the weekend and get back to work on Monday.”

Skipper said his team has been playing hard all season.

“We are starting to believe in ourselves,” Skipper said. “McKenzie was a good team and we fought our tails off and come out on the good side tonight. Last week, we fought our tails off, but ended up on the other side. We are going to continue to fight and play hard and good things will happen.”

Red Level stays in region play next week with a home game against Pleasant Home.