The National Weather Service may not be calling for rain tonight at Red Bank. But regardless of that, the home team expects to have "Thunder" and "Lightning" at its football field.
Those are the monikers Red Bank coach Chad Grabowski has given senior defensive ends Jamel Davis and Ivan Young, who have been pivotal players this year for the Lions (10-2), who have advanced to a TSSAA Class 3A state quarterfinal. Kickoff for the game against Smith County (9-3) is set for 7 p.m.
At 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, Davis is the thunder in the duo. Grabowski said it's not unusual to see teams try triple-team blocking him, and on occasion he has seen him occupy four blockers.
"He's the muscle," Grabowski said of Davis, who is the brother of former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga All-America defensive end Keionta Davis. "He's the brute force. He's the strongest kid on the team. He pushes everybody to get better. He's also been a huge leader on the team. He's had a lot to live up to. But from his freshman year to now, he's done a good job living up to that."
Young (6-2, 205) is the lightning.
"He's our energy guy," Grabowski said. "When he was a kid in eighth grade, he was an outside linebacker for us. Then he got put down at defensive line. He was tall and lanky. Next thing you know, he's a three-year starter at defensive end. He goes a hundred miles an hour in practices, games, all the time. He does not stop."
The offense has received most of the attention at Red Bank this season, and understandably so, considering the Lions have averaged 38.6 points per game.
But the stop unit has allowed an average of 16.1 points per game, which is reduced to 11.3 in the victories. Eight opponents have been held to 13 or fewer points.
Davis and Young agreed the defense's best game to date was on Oct. 20 in a 44-7 win at Lenoir City, which scored 20 or more points six times and reached the Class 5A playoffs this season.
The Lions' basic philosophy isn't different than any other defense. Success hinges on execution.
"If we stop the run first, then basically we make them one-dimensional," Davis said. "Then it's straight pass rush."
Said Young: "That's when we go to work, once we figure out they can't run the ball."
Davis and Young are easily the team leaders in sacks and tackles for loss, both having reached double digits in tackles in the backfield not long after the midway point of the season. There's a friendly competition there, but neither knows who is in the lead. Davis said it's something they'll check after the season is over.
"We feed off each other," Young said. "He may make a good play, then I might come back and make a good play the next play after that."
Red Bank's defense will be facing one of its stiffest challenges tonight in the Owls, who have averaged a school-record 402 yards per game. And it's not the best news for the Lions that Smith County's offense, led by senior dual-threat quarterback Carson Hackett, features some of the same traits as the teams they lost to.
Given the dynamic potential of Red Bank's offense, the defense may not be required to hold Smith County way below its scoring average of 34.5 points per game. Perhaps just a little Thunder-and-Lightning storm would be too much for the Owls to overcome.
"They're a spread team," Davis said. "What we have to do is watch film and figure out a way to stop them. We'll have a plan A. Then if that doesn't work, we'll go to plan B. They run some of the same stuff as Soddy-Daisy or Walker Valley, so basically we've seen it. Now we know what to do. We should be ready."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.