Two separate questions were presented by Gibbs football coach Brad Turner and defensive lineman Seth Seiber on Friday night.
“How can you not be romantic about football?”
And…
“Do you want to kick a field goal, or do you want to go for it and win the game?”
Separate, but also connected.
Choosing what’s likely considered the more “romantic” option, Gibbs converted a fourth-and-1 to close out a back-and-forth rivalry win at home over Halls, 34-27.
Up by that same score on the Halls 20-yard-line with 1:49 left in the game and the Red Devils having just used their last timeout, Gibbs quarterback Keith Jones Jr. ran a sneak and just got the yard the Eagles (2-0) needed to secure their third straight victory in the series.
“There at the end of the game I said ‘do you want to kick a field goal, or do you want to go for it and win the game?’ They said ‘let’s go,’ and we got it by six inches I think,” Turner said.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Halls had a chance to tie the game at 34, but fumbled the ball into the end zone on a run one yard away from a touchdown.
The Red Devils (0-2) were also penalized 10 times for 120 yards.
“I’m not trying to take away from Gibbs because they are a good football team, but I wholeheartedly believe we bit ourselves in critical moments,” Halls coach Brent Hughes said.
“Too many penalties; too many mistakes when it mattered. And credit to them, they didn’t make as many mistakes as we did. You don’t want to see that from your football team, so my hope is we can grow from our mistakes and put our best foot forward.”
The game featured more offensive fireworks perhaps than expected with Halls racing out to a 13-0 lead and Gibbs responding with 28 unanswered points, but Seiber still stood out on defense.
The senior, who already holds the school career sacks record, added to his total Friday with sacks number 22 and 23, and three tackles for loss.
Seiber said he wanted to give his team double after missing Gibbs’ Week 1 victory over Union County.
“My biggest quote is ‘how can you not be romantic about football?’ I’ve missed it so much, not being able to practice or play with my boys,” Seiber said.
“And when I got in that locker room and looked at them tonight, something hit my chest a little bit. It was something that I had to give them what I didn’t last week.”
Aside from a couple of lost fumbles, the Eagles moved the ball consistently, and were especially efficient in the pass game.
How efficient?
Five completions, seven attempts, 200 yards and three touchdowns for Jones Jr. The math says that’s forty yards per completion.
“Him (Jones) and coach (Tyler) Kitts have a great relationship, and he knows the offense, knows what is going to happen by reading it. (He’s) doing a great job throwing the ball accurately,” Turner said.
“Those plays where he’s throwing to Dallas (Holt), even the screen passes, he’s just confident in what he’s doing. He’s worked hard and is a real good football player.”
Holt and Waylon Spierdowis were the only two players that caught passes for the Eagles, mostly of the catch and run variety.
Holt got a good block on a screen pass that wound up as a 70-yard touchdown in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 13-7.
Jones found Holt again for a 10-yard score to put Gibbs ahead 28-13 with 8:51 remaining in the third quarter.
After Halls answered in a high-scoring third, Spierdowis caught a slant about 10 yards deep, and the state champ in the 110-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and decathlon turned that all the way into a 74-yard TD.
“Dallas is one playing the H-back for us. A lot of blocking. And to be able to get him the ball some and see what he did, I’m happy for him, Turner said.
“Waylon is a track star, so we know if we can get him the ball in space, he’s gone.”
Despite the loss, Friday’s contest was a breakout of sorts for Red Devils’ quarterback Lincoln Wilson, who is taking over for the graduated Amari Lethgo.
A junior transfer from Volunteer High School, Wilson threw for 236 yards, four touchdowns – to Clemson commitment Jarrell Chandler, Eddy Soto, Maverick Sharp and Cooper Blanton – and zero interceptions.
Wilson’s 28-yard strike to Blanton made the score 34-27 Gibbs with 2:50 to play in the third, but that is where it stayed.
“He played his heart out. He created plays when plays needed to be made. He was a warrior. I hate that we as a football team didn’t play to the caliber that he played,” Hughes said about Wilson.
Gibbs travels to Alcoa next Friday, while Halls hosts Powell.
Hughes said he doesn’t take solace in the fact that the Red Devils started out last season with losses to Oak Ridge and Gibbs as well, but still reached the 5A state semifinals.
“Last year means nothing about right now. What we have to do is grow every game. And if we want to be able to repeat something that we’ve done in the past we have to take a big step forward and continue week after week.”
Article written by Matthew Lutey/5Star Preps. To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc., visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code HAMMERS for 30% off your first year or month subscription.
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