A Look Ahead: Red Devils celebrate homecoming
This is homecoming week in Vina. The Red Devils will face the Shoals Christian Flame. After two rough weeks facing the likes of Mars Hill and Waterloo, Vina has a chance to have a happy homecoming.
Russellville will be looking to keep its undefeated season alive. To do so, the Golden Tigers will have to face their toughest test to date in Jasper.
Red Bay is coming off an upset win over Colbert County that vaulted them into a three-way tie for first place. Now the Tigers have to avoid a letdown this week at Tanner.
Phil Campbell is coming off heartbreaking, high-scoring loss to Lauderdale County. The Bobcats have a good chance to get their third win of the season this week at East Lawrence, but they will have to regroup to do so.
Tharptown will host a big, tough and physical Addison team Friday night. It will be senior night for the Wildcats.
Phil Campbell (2-5; 1-3) at East Lawrence (1-6; 1-3)
The Phil Campbell Bobcats are coming off one of their best offensive performances in some time, but it was also a heartbreaking loss.
The Bobcats are facing an East Lawrence team that has had trouble scoring points all season long. The Eagles’ only win came against Lexington a couple of weeks ago, 32-16. Lauderdale County and Clements both shut East Lawrence out by a combined scored of 68-0. If Phil Campbell can shake off the last-second loss to Lauderdale County, the Bobcats should come out of Trinity with a win.
“East Lawrence has played well in recent games,” said Phil Campbell coach Kevin Barnwell. “They have a quarterback that is very fast and difficult to stop. We have to continue to play hard, and I think we will, as our guys have proven their character the last couple of weeks.”
Red Bay (5-3; 3-1) at Tanner (1-6; 1-3)
Red Bay seemed to be heading for an opening round road play-off game last week, but a big-time win over the Colbert County Indians changed all of that. Now the Tigers have put themselves in a position to host a first-round play-off game in a few weeks – and possibly win the region outright.
Right now Red Bay, Colbert County and Addison are all tied for first place, with two region games remaining. The Tigers still have to travel to Tanner Friday night and close out their region schedule with Tharptown next week.
Tanner is not the Tanner of old, but the team has played good teams in the region to a close score for at least half the game. Tanner’s lone win is against Tharptown. The Rattlers are scoring 12 points per game and giving up 39 points per game.
The biggest thing Red Bay needs to guard against is a letdown after last week’s big win.
“Our guys have to understand that everything we have worked so hard for the past few weeks is right in front of us,” said Red Bay coach Michael Jackson. “We can’t afford a letdown at this point. Tanner is very skilled and very quick in the open field. They like to throw the ball and have big, tall receivers. Defensively, they are big up front and quick in the secondary.”
Russellville (7-0; 5-0) at Jasper (6-1; 5-0)
The Russellville Golden Tigers are riding high with seven straight wins. This week, however, the Golden Tigers will likely face their biggest threat to their undefeated season on the road at Jasper High School. The Vikings average 31 points per game and allow 15 points per game. This should be a great road game for traveling Tiger fans or fans of good football in general.
“Jasper is one of the best teams in 5A in North Alabama,” said Russellville coach John Ritter. “They are big and athletic on both sides of the ball. They have an explosive offense with a great quarterback. Their defense is very stingy and really good at shutting people down.”
Tharptown (1-5; 0-4) hosts Addison (6-2; 3-1)
The Tharptown Wildcats are in the middle of the toughest three-game stretch on their schedule. The Wildcats had to face Sheffield, Colbert County and Tanner in the first half of the season, and this second-half stretch is even more brutal.
Coming off a lopsided loss to Hatton, the Wildcats have the unenviable task of taking on Addison and Red Bay back to back before they close out the season with Vina.
“Offensively, Addison runs the spread, but it’s more of a power spread,” said Tharptown coach Kevin Lacey. “Their quarterback is quick and makes good decisions. They have a good-sized fullback that runs really hard. Their skill guys block really well and run good routes when the quarterback drops back to throw.
“Defensively, they are disciplined, aggressive and fly to the ball.”
Vina (0-7; 0-4) hosts Shoals Christian (1-7; 0-4)
The Vina Red Devils have had to face two of the top 1A teams in the area in the past two weeks. They’ve weathered that storm, and now things look a little more promising.
The Red Devils face a Shoals Christian team with only one win. The Flame defeated Alabama School of the Deaf 27-24 at midseason. Shoals Christian is averaging 15 points per game and giving up 42 points per game. The Red Devils will be celebrating homecoming and have a chance to be celebrating into the night.
“Shoals Christian is quick, and they have some good speed at the skill positions,” said Vina coach Jason Harris. “We are going to have to be more physical up front and grind away on the ground so we can keep the ball away from them. We’ve had a lot of key injuries the past few weeks, and hopefully we will get some of those guys back this week.”
