Red Bank used another shutdown performance on defense and a two-headed rushing attack on offense to open the TSSAA Class 4A playoffs in impressive fashion.
In a 30-0 home win over DeKalb County on Friday night, Region 3 champion Red Bank (8-3) got big games from running backs Josiah Featherstone and Olivir Merritt, who combined for 304 yards on the ground and three scores in the victory against the Tigers (5-6), the No. 4 seed from Region 4.
The Lions struck early, too, with Featherstone's 50-yard run on the third play from scrimmage setting up the home team with first-and-goal on the Dekalb 10. Four plays later, Featherstone found the end zone from 1 yard out on fourth down for the first points of the night.
"I came into this game with a positive attitude," said Featherstone, who rushed for 175 yards on 22 carries. "We've been planning for this all week, to run the ball and get as many yards as we can. That's my biggest part of the game as a running back."
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area prep football games)
Dekalb County drove the ball well on its opening possession, but the Tigers suffered a blow when Malachi Trapp sustained a serious leg injury on a running play near midfield. Play was halted for 32 minutes as an ambulance came to take the senior for medical treatment.
The Tigers continued the drive, but a a 29-yard field-goal attempt was blocked to keep them off the scoreboard.
Dekalb County had several lengthy drives in the game, but the Red Bank defense made plays when it mattered to preserve the shutout — the Lions' fourth this season. Red Bank has not allowed more than seven points in any of its wins this year.
The Lions advanced to the state semifinals last year before falling short of reaching the BlueCross Bowl title game at Finley Stadium. It was the program's third semifinal appearance over the past six seasons, a run in which the Lions have reached at least the quarterfinals every year.
"Here we are in the playoffs, and this has been a challenging season," Lions coach Ted Gatewood said. "But these kids have been resilient all year, and we told them if we get into the playoffs, we've just got to grind. And they've done that, and we're proud of them."
After the teams traded punts, Red Bank put together a nine-play drive, punctuated by a 25-yard touchdown run by Olivir Merritt that made it 14-0 going into halftime.
Featherstone got free for a 62-yard run on Red Bank's first offensive play of the second half to set up Merritt's 19-yard touchdown run, the junior's second score of the night. Merritt, who said he and Featherstone are known as "Thunder and Lightning," had 129 yards on 14 carries in the victory.
Malachi Stephenson kicked a 37-yard field goal to extend Red Bank's lead to 24-0, and Lions quarterback Caden Loveless threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Turner Humphrey to finish the scoring.
Red Bank will next face Macon County (10-1), which was ranked No. 6 in the final Class 4A poll of the season. The Region 4 runner-up defeated Region 3 No. 3 seed Loudon 41-7 in another first-round matchup Friday.
Red Bank beat Loudon 14-0 last week to wrap up the region title.
"We can still get better, and that's the key," Gatewood said. "We've just got to build off of tonight and find out what we can do better the next time."
Contact Jim Tanner at sports@timesfreepress.com.