By: Josh Boutwell

The Red Level Tigers (1-2) broke their five-game losing streak, dating back to last season, Friday night with a dominating 41-12 performance over region opponent, the Florala Wildcats (0-4). It was the first region game for both teams in Class 1A, Region 2 in their quest for playoff berths.

 

Florala got the game jump started as quarterback Avery McNeill threw a long touchdown pass to receiver Trey Burleson to give the Wildcats the early 6-0 lead after a failed extra point. That would be the only time Florala would hold a lead in the game as the Tigers responded with a touchdown from tailback John Lee on their next possession, and an extra point gave Red Level the 7-6 lead.

 

Lee would go on to score three more touchdowns in the game including two touchdown runs more than 60 yards as he went on to rush for more than 200 yards on the night. Red Level coach James Wise III would single Lee out as one of the differences in the game for his team, “we had some big plays from John Lee, what more can you say about him?” Wise said of his star tailback.

 

Explosive plays were a huge factor in the game for Red Level with big play after big play, which helped the offense overcome several mistakes including three high snaps that went over quarterback Dylan Jordan’s head. Jordan was able to corral the bad snaps each time to keep from turning the ball over. Jordan would throw a touchdown pass on the night as well. Wesley Holley also added a 25-yard touchdown run to finish off the scoring for the Tigers.

 

The Wildcats could never seem to get on track offensively nor shut down the Tigers running game leading to their fourth loss of the season. Tigers coach Wise said this win wasn’t just for his team and his players “the community has been behind us 200 percent. This win is not just for our players but also for our community that has fallen on some hard times in football.”

 

Coach Wise hopes this win will help propel his team next week at home against region opponent Brantley Bulldogs. The Florala Wildcats will host 0-4 McIntosh.