Red Bay wins region opener, edging past Winston County in 29-28 thriller

The Red Bay High School varsity football team picked up its second win of the season, knocking off reigning Class 2A Region 8 champ Winston County in a 29-28 thriller at Fred Bostick, Jr. Stadium on Friday night.

The win avenges a 51-8 loss to the Yellow Jackets last season and gets the Tigers off to a perfect start in region play.

“I asked the kids all week, ‘What’s going to be the legacy of this team? Are we going to grow up and fight or lay down?’ Well, they grew up and fought tonight,” Red Bay head coach Tyler Jeffreys said. “I’m super proud of those kids and how they played.”

The Tigers started brilliantly, cracking open a 14-0 lead on the visitors early. Sophomore receiver Davien Colburn scored the game’s first touchdown on a 40-yard pass from senior quarterback Jeremiah Thorne.

On Red Bay’s second possession, the Tigers scored again, this time on the ground with a 55-yard dash by senior running back Jaxon Vinson. Vinson would end the game with 23 carries for 209 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite being down two scores early, Winston County wasn’t giving up. The Yellow Jackets stormed back to score two touchdowns of their own before halftime. Heading into the final quarter of play, Red Bay led 22-14.

Winston County scored early in the fourth quarter to make it 22-20; Vinson and fellow senior Ayden Pruitt combined to make a big defensive stop on the two-point conversion and keep Red Bay ahead.

The two teams then swapped touchdowns with the hosts taking a 29-20 lead before the Yellow Jackets trimmed the difference to 29-28, scoring a touchdown after a Red Bay fumble.

Getting the ball back again late, the Tigers still needed a few more big plays to keep Winston County’s offense on the sideline and seal the victory. Thorne connected with his earlier touchdown target Colburn for a vital first down on third and 10. Later in the drive, on fourth down and short just inside Red Bay’s own side of midfield and with just over a minute to play, Thorne and the RBHS offensive line came up big with first down on a quarterback sneak. After that, the Tigers went into victory formation to ice the game.

Offensively, Jeffreys said his team was able to effectively attack Winston County and move the ball by softening up the run defense with the passing threat.

“We attacked the edges a lot. (Winston County’s) middle six are pretty good and their outside linebackers are really good, too. We were able to get on the edges and spread them out. That helped us to be able to soften them up a little bit so we could run it in there,” the first-year RBHS head coach told the Franklin Free Press. “I have a lot of faith in our receivers. Being able to (pass effectively) sure helps us a lot in the run game.”

Defensively, Jeffreys believes his team took a leap forward in maturity Friday night.

“I think we grew up a little bit tonight,” he said. “A lot of our guys play both ways…and we really challenged them—especially the guys up front—to play low and come off the ball and affect them.

“(Winston County’s) game plan was to run it down our throats—that’s what they do,” Jeffreys added, “but defensively I was super proud of our kids tonight for making sure we were on our keys. We held up, we played how we were supposed to, and they did a great job.”

In addition to Red Bay’s solid play in all three phases—offense, defense, and special teams—Jeffreys said his team played with emotions and intensity. That, as much as anything else, helped affect the outcome, he said.

“The way they played made every bit of difference—the emotion we played with,” Jeffreys said. “We made some mistakes mentally, but we were able to overcome those because we were playing with so much energy and playing so hard.”

The victory over Winston County, a team receiving votes in the last Class 2A football poll, should bolster morale as the Tigers host region rival Lexington next Friday.

“I like our guys to play with confidence, and I think this game was obviously a confidence booster,” Jeffreys said. “We’ve got a tough ball game against Lexington next week. I think those guys have only lost one game, so they’re a tough opponent, but I think we’re a good football team, too. We just have to continue to get better day in and day out and not worry about anything else—just worry about what we’re supposed to do to get better.”