Red Bay blows out Belmont 42-22 to improve to 4-1

The Red Bay High School varsity football team routed state-line rival Belmont 42-22 at Fred Bostick Jr. Stadium on Friday night to improve to 4-1 this campaign.

Red Bay dominated on both sides of the ball to earn the victory over Belmont (4-1). Senior running back Jaxon Vinson ran wild over the Cardinals’ defense, adding three more rushing touchdowns to his tally for the season; senior quarterback Jeremiah Thorne connected with sophomore Davien Colburn on a long touchdown pass; and the Tiger defense created two scores of its own in the victory.

“That was a big win for us,” first-year Red Bay head coach Tyler Jeffreys told the Franklin Free Press.

“I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought it would be a little bit closer game, but hats off to our kids—they played really hard,” he added. “We got better this week, and we’ve just got to continue to do that.”

After both teams traded lost fumbles on their opening drives of the game, the hosts opened the scoring in the first quarter on a short touchdown run by Vinson to make it 6-0.

The visitors tied the game up on their second possession, scoring on a short run into the endzone but failing to convert on the two-point conversion.

After the Belmont score, it was all Red Bay for pretty much the remainder of the game. Colburn scored the next two touchdowns for the Tigers when, on offense, Thorne, who finished the game with 70 yards passing, found him for a 51-yard touchdown pitch-and-catch.

“Offensively, I thought we started out a little bit slow, but we got better as the game went along. We had that fumble on the opening drive, but after that it seemed like we were clicking,” Jeffreys said. “I thought Jeremiah Thorne played well, I thought Jaxon (Vinson) played well, and Davien Colburn has played his guts out the last two weeks. He’s just a tenth-grader, so I’m excited to see him for the next two years.”

After his receiving touchdown, the next time the ball hit Colburn’s hands the sophomore was on defense. Looking for an open receiver, the Belmont quarterback instead found Colburn, who picked it off and ran it back for the score to make it 22-6, Tigers.

“The pick-six from (Colburn) was huge for momentum,” Jeffreys said.

Red Bay’s defense scored the next touchdown, as well, this time on a scoop-and-score. Sophomore defensive lineman Hayden Sartin penetrated into the Cardinals backfield and sacked the Belmont QB, forcing a fumble. It was junior Jamyce Anderson who snatched the ball up and ran it the short distance for the score to make it 30-6, Red Bay, after the successful two-point try.

Right before halftime, Vinson, who finished the game with 197 yards on 21 carries, would get his second rushing touchdown of the evening, breaking tackles and running by defenders for a 34-yard touchdown to increase Red Bay’s advantage to 36-6. Red Bay took that 30-point lead into the halftime break.

Vinson’s third rushing touchdown of the night, a 48-yard scamper, would come in the third quarter and would cap the scoring for the Tigers at 42-6.

The game already out of hand, the Cardinals would go on to score two late touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the score line more respectable. Jeffreys said he was proud of the defensive effort he saw from his team Friday night, holding Belmont to just one score through three quarters.

“We worked hard all week to be better on defense because we’ve been giving up too many points in the past two games against good teams,” the RBHS coach said. “I challenged them tonight to not give up more than 14 (points) and they didn’t. We gave one (touchdown) up late with the (second string defense), and I told them that’s why it’s important to practice as hard as you can every day in practice because you never know when your time to play will be. But I’m proud of our guys for achieving that goal we set for them.”

The Tigers have now won three consecutive games after a week two loss to University Charter School and have won four out of their opening five games for the first time since 2022.

A late addition to the calendar, Red Bay will face Tupelo Christian Prep in its next game on Friday, October 3.