Red Bay earns key 34-21 win over Lexington to bolster region title hopes

The Red Bay High School varsity football team picked up a crucial 34-21 win over Lexington on Friday night in what could prove to be the de facto Class 2A Region 8 championship game when everything is said and done this season. Improving to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in region play with the win, the Tigers massively bolstered their region resume while simultaneously surpassing their win total from 2024.

“We’re just really clicking right now on offense, and we’re getting better each week. The run game, the passing game, up front—we’ve gotten better each week on that side of the ball,” first-year Red Bay head coach Tyler Jeffreys told the Franklin Free Press. “Defensively, we’re more physical than we were when we started this season.

“We still make some mental mistakes that hurt us, but we were able to overcome that Friday night,” he added. “It was a really big win, and I’m really proud of those guys.”

The two teams traded scores to start the contest with Red Bay’s first touchdown coming by way of Jaxon Vinson. The senior running back finished the game with over 120 yards rushing on 28 carries and four receptions for 87 yards.

The Tigers and the Bears swapped two more touchdowns each before halftime. Red Bay’s third score, which made it 21-20, Lexington, came with under a minute to go before the break.

After the intermission, the hosts were able to march down the field and score to take their first lead of the game, 26-21. The Tigers would add a final touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it 34-21 after the successful two-point conversion.

“The offense stepped up big the whole game,” Jeffreys said. “Except twice, every time we touched the ball we scored and that was huge.”

In addition to Vinson’s stellar night, senior quarterback Jeremiah Thorne ended the game with 223 yards on 14 completions and sophomore wideout Davien Colburn finished with 121 yards receiving.

Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers pitched a shutout in the second half. Lexington threatened to score just once in the final 24 minutes, but on that drive the Red Bay defense was ultimately able to force a fumble and keep the Bears out of the endzone.

“We made some adjustments at halftime to stop those guys. Without that, I don’t think we win that game,” Jeffreys said.

The big region win over Lexington puts Red Bay in the driver’s seat with three region games to play. The Tigers’ remaining region schedule has them hosting Tharptown on October 10 before traveling to Decatur Heritage the following Friday and then Tanner in the penultimate week of the regular season. The combined record for Tharptown, Decatur Heritage, and Tanner this season is currently 2-11.

“You can’t say that we’re the region champs just yet, but we’ve put ourselves in an opportunity to do that,” Jeffreys told the FFP. “That’s a huge step forward for this team. That’s a huge step for this program.”

Red Bay’s next game will be at home against state-line rival Belmont (MS) on Friday, September 26.