Red Bay opens 2026 campaign with 36-20 victory over rival Phil Campbell

The Red Bay High School varsity football team, ranked No. 9 in Class 1A, picked up a big win in its 2026 season opener Friday night, knocking off rival Phil Campbell High School by a final score of 36-20.

The hosting Tigers got off to the best possible start to the season, scoring on the very first play from scrimmage. 

After the opening kickoff a false start penalty pushed Red Bay back five yards, but it was all negated by junior Davien Colburn, who took the handoff from sophomore quarterback Sawyer Humphries 70 yards untouched for the first score of the game. The Tigers followed up the touchdown with a successful two-point conversion ran in by junior Joshua Thorne to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.

After opening the scoring Red Bay had a couple of chances to extend its lead in the first and early second quarters but came up short.

“We got into the red zone or close to the red zone twice and left two touchdowns on the board, but Phil Campbell’s defense had a lot to do with that,” second year RBHS head coach Tyler Jeffreys said.

Early in the second quarter Phil Campbell responded to Red Bay’s score with one of its own.

Set up by a 56-yard pass from senior quarterback Hayston Scott to senior receiver Austin Elliott, junior running back Braxton Downey, two plays later, was able to dash into the endzone for a 15-yard touchdown, making it an 8-6 ballgame after the failed two-point attempt.

But on the next Red Bay drive, the Tigers answered back—and it was Colburn’s number called again.

A bold decision by Jeffries to go for it on fourth down and one from the RBHS 33-yard line paid off when Colburn, lined up behind Humphries under center, took the handoff and sprinted 67 yards down the sideline for his second touchdown.

The ensuing two-point attempt was no good, but the hosts would take their 14-6 lead into the halftime break.

Coming out of the intermission, Phil Campbell received the ball but was unable to get anything going on its first drive of the second half.

The Tigers’ defense, young as it is, played well all night and kept the experienced Phil Campbell offense under wraps.

“We’re still young. The only two seniors we had playing every down for us (on defense) were our two corners,” Jeffries said. “The success we had Friday night was because of those kids buying into what we said they needed to do. Coach (Jamie) Purser had a good plan for us defensively and those kids executed.

“JoJo (Joshua) Thorne and Cayson Collins did a good job keeping Hayston (Scott) from where he could get outside us, and Hayden (Sartin) and Devan Anderson, our two inside linebackers, had a really good game. I feel like we covered them well,” he added. “There’s definitely some things that we can clean up and keep getting better at, but I’m very pleased with everything we’ve done so far.”

After the Phil Campbell punt to start the third quarter, it didn’t take long for the Tigers to tack on six more points.

Once again it was Colburn who took the handoff in the backfield and made a big play. Rather than take it to the sidelines like he did for his first two long touchdown runs, Colburn took this run up the middle right through the heart of the Bobcats’ defense. Solid blocking made it easy for Colburn to get to the second level of the defense, and after that Colburn just needed to shake a safety before he was home free. Colburn’s third touchdown of the evening, a 48-yarder, put Red Bay up 22-6 after Thorne ran in the two-point conversion.

Phil Campbell was able to cut Red Bay’s lead back to eight points very late in the third quarter thanks to Scott’s one-yard quarterback sneak and a successful two-point conversion; however, consecutive unanswered touchdowns by the Tigers would ultimately put the game out of reach.

Red Bay sophomore wide receiver Cayson Collins looks in a pass from quarterback Sawyer Humphries, what would be Collins’ first touchdown catch of the season. (Photo by Caleb Ramey)

The RBHS quarterback Humphries connected with fellow sophomore Collins for a 32-yard passing touchdown to make it 30-14; then, after a PCHS turnover on downs deep in Bobcat territory, Humphries linked up with Collins again, this time on a 28-yard touchdown through the air. Collins’ second touchdown catch made it a 36-14 game with less than seven minutes to play.

After the game, Jeffries praised the sophomore duo for their efforts.

“Sawyer has played really well in practice and put himself in a good position to be where he’s at now,” Jeffries said of his quarterback, Humphries. “He didn’t have a great (jamboree) game against Carbon Hill, but he played like a winner against Phil Campbell. He showed a lot of poise, controlled the offense and made some big throws in crucial situations when we needed them. I think he grew up a lot and gained a lot of confidence in himself.”

Collins, Jeffries added, stepped up in his first game when the absence of a teammate placed him in a position to make a big impact.

“We’ve lost Jaxson Swann, who had over 300 yards receiving for us last season, for a couple of games and that’s where Cayson Collins has come in,” Jeffries said. “He had two touchdown catches and had a really good night doing what we asked him to do.”

Phil Campbell would add a final touchdown in the final minutes to make it 36-20. A 30-yard gain on a pass from Scott to Elliott put the Bobcats inside the Red Bay 10 yard line before the drive was capped by a six-yard touchdown run by Scott. Unfortunately for the visitors it was too little too late to make up the deficit.

The 16-point victory was Red Bay’s first over Phil Campbell since 2023. The win also extended the Tigers all-time series advantage over the Bobcats to 16 games, 50-34.

Jeffries told the Franklin Free Press the win was good for a team building confidence, but it can’t be a cause for complacency.

“There are things offensively and defensively that we have to clean up if we’re going to have a chance to compete late on in the season,” Jeffries said. “We can’t worry about everyone else, we have to worry about us.

“Phil Campbell is a good team, and I think they’re going to have a good season. For us, I want us to go into every game with confidence, but I think the biggest thing for this young team is, how do we handle success? Are we going to be complacent or do we want to continue to get better?” he added.

Red Bay will host Sheffield on Friday, August 28 in the second of four straight home games to start the Tigers’ season. Next up for Phil Campbell is its home opener vs. Central High School of Florence.