Week 5 football preview: PCHS Homecoming, Tharptown–Vina game highlight week of non-region contests
Belgreen (3-1) at Cherokee (1-4)
Date: Friday, September 26, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: W.L. Harris Stadium (Cherokee, Ala.)
Last time out: Belgreen suffered its first defeat of the season, losing 30-13 at Tanner.
Series history: BHS is 0-1 against Cherokee, losing 44-0 to the Indians last season.
What to expect: Belgreen will look to get back to its winning ways at Cherokee Friday night after suffering its first defeat of the season at Tanner. Despite the 30-13 score line, BHS head coach Jonathan Raper felt that his team had its chances to beat Tanner; there were just too many miscues to overcome. (Coach Raper told me this inside the Athens Bucc-ees last Friday, by the way.) Class 1A Cherokee, who defeated Vina last week, will give the Bulldogs an opportunity to fix those errors and get back on track with just four games left to play this campaign.
Next week: The Bulldogs have a bye week. Belgreen’s next game will be October 10 vs. Pickens County.
Phil Campbell (1-3) vs. Hackleburg (3-1)
Date: Friday, September 26, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Parrish Stadium
Last time out: Phil Campbell was beaten 56-28 on the road at region rival Winfield.
Series history: The Bobcats are 38-50-1 all-time versus Hackleburg. The series, which dates back to 1928, is the longest running series for both teams. Last season, Phil Campbell’s five-game winning streak vs. the Panthers when HHS won 42-12.
What to expect: Phil Campbell junior QB Hayston Scott had a huge game against Winfield, tossing for nearly 370 yards and four touchdowns, but the offensive firepower wasn’t enough to overcome the Pirates. This week, against a top-10 Class 1A Hackleburg, the Bobcats won’t be facing a pushover, but should have a great opportunity to get back to winning ways. It is Homecoming for PCHS, so there will be the usual distractions associated with the week-long event, but assuming the Bobcats can continue playing well on offense and return a defensive performance like that against Oakman and Vinemont, they should cap Homecoming 2025 with a win on the gridiron.
Next week: PCHS will return to region action, hosting Midfield on October 3.
Red Bay (3-1) vs. Belmont (4-0)
Date: Friday, September 26, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Fred Bostick Jr. Stadium
Last time out: Red Bay picked up a huge region win at home last week, beating Lexington 34-21.
Series history: The Tigers are 35-23-1 against Belmont. The last time these two teams met—last season—RBHS lost 40-14. These two sides first met in 1931 and have played every year since 2013.
What to expect: Belmont head coach Michael Jackson is 1-1 against his former team, but he hasn’t faced this soaring Red Bay squad coached by Tyler Jeffreys. The Tigers have been clicking on offense with seniors Jeremiah Thorne and Jaxon Vinson leading the way, giving opponents a good mix of pass and run to keep them guessing; on defense, RBHS has done what its needed to do to win the ones that matter. I can’t pretend to know how good Belmont’s Mississippi opponents are, but looking at the scores it’s apparent that the Cardinals know how to win close games. Both teams are on winning runs, but this one is at home for Red Bay and the Tigers should not be lacking any confidence after their last two games. Bragging rights in this one could be decided by a narrow margin.
Next week: Red Bay is off next week. After their bye week, the Tigers host Tharptown in their final home game of the regular season.
Russellville (3-2) — BYE
Last time out: The Golden Tigers opened the first of three straight road games with a dominate 42-7 win at region foe Ardmore.
Next week: Russellville travels to top 10-ranked Fairview in what could turn out to be the de facto Class 5A Region 7 title game.
Tharptown (0-4) vs. Vina (0-4)
Date: Friday, September 26, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Tharptown Stadium
Last time out: Tharptown dropped a region contest to Decatur Heritage 49-26. Vina lost 26-6 to region foe Cherokee.
Series history: The Red Devils hold a slight 9-7 series advantage over the Wildcats. Last season, VHS routed Tharptown 50-6. Prior to that meeting, the Wildcats had won the previous four meetings, outscoring Vina 98-0.
What to expect: One of these winless teams will walk away with a victory Friday night.
Both teams rely on the run game, therefore it will likely be a shortened, low-scoring game unless either create a lot of explosive plays. Neither have been massive scoring threats this year, but Tharptown, for the first time this season, scored more than once, putting up 26 points in a loss. Looking at the numbers: THS averages 8.5 points per game and allows 41.8; Vina averages 6.5 points per game and allows an average of 27.8 points. Something’s got to give.
Next week: Tharptown will return to Class 2A Region 8 play and host the Tanner Rattlers. Vina will travel to face region opponent Hackleburg.