It was a hard-fought contest, but the McKenzie Tigers pulled out a 27-12 victory over the Red Level Tigers Friday night in McKenzie.

“We had the ball in the red zone seven times and came away with zero points,” Red Level head coach James Wise said. “You can’t win ball games when you can’t execute in the red zone.”

McKenzie scored all 27 points in the first half of the game, as Red Level shut them down after halftime.

“We really fought hard in the second half,” Wise said. “McKenzie didn’t get anything in the second half.”

Wise said that his Tigers just didn’t start the game strong.

“That has been something that I can’t figure out about this team,” Wise said. “We won’t start a game with any intensity, anger or passion to win. It’s like we wait until it looks like the game could get ugly before we start playing the type of football that I know we can.”

The loss knocks the Tigers out of playoff contention, but Wise said a winning season is still up for grabs.

“We can’t make the playoffs now, so that’s one goal we can’t reach,” Wise said. “We can still get to 6-4, and that winning season goal is still on the table.”

John Lee led the Tigers with 285 yards rushing and one touchdown. Colten Dorman added nearly 100 yards rushing and one touchdown. Joe Arnold finished with 80 yards rushing.

Matt Coleman added an interception in the Red Level loss.