Red Bay sees off Tupelo Christian Prep 36-8 to improve to 5-1
The Red Bay High School varsity football team won its fourth straight game and improved to 5-1 after a 36-8 home rout of Tupelo Christian Prep on Friday night.
The Tigers pitched a first half shutout and led 21-0 at the break before eventually letting in a score after the game was already out of hand.
First-year Red Bay head coach Tyler Jeffreys said the Tigers aren’t playing perfect football just yet, but he’s proud of his team for getting the win.
“It was another win—another good win—and I’m proud of the guys for playing hard to get it,” Jeffreys told the Franklin Free Press. “There are things to work on on both sides of the ball and we’ve made some mistakes, but our guys have been playing so hard over the last few games that those mistakes haven’t mattered as much. We’ve still got to work hard to keep improving.”
Senior running back Ayden Pruitt scored the first touchdown of the game. It was followed up by two more touchdowns by the touchdown-scoring machine, senior running back Jaxon Vinson, who has 14 rushing touchdowns this campaign. Those scores gave RBHS a three-touchdown advantage at the halftime intermission.
In the second half junior Jaxon Swann caught two passing touchdowns to increase his team’s lead and give RBHS its 36 points.
Swann, Jeffreys said, joined the football program this year and has been a very valuable—and hard-working—addition to the squad.
“He’s a blue-collar kind of player,” Jeffreys said. “He comes to practice every day and works hard, and you never hear him complain about anything. We’re really glad to have him out with us.
“He’s a heckuva athlete, he’s a playmaker, and he’s helped us out in all phases of the game,” he added.
With the win Red Bay has won four consecutive games for the first time since 2022. The Tigers are on a roll at the moment, and with three region games left to play are in a good position to win their region for the first time since 2019.
As well as RBHS is playing right now, though, Jeffreys said he still doesn’t think his team has hit full stride yet.
“Up front we’ve gotten better on both sides of the ball, and that’s been good to see. But we’re still making mistakes that we shouldn’t be making, mistakes that will hurt us in tougher games down the road,” he said. “We’ve got to get better in that area and stop making those mistakes or they will hurt us.
“I don’t think we’ve hit our peak yet. We’re not the same team that we were in our (jamboree) game against Carbon Hill or the same team that we were against University Charter,” he added. “It’s not about the other team, it’s about us. There are things to work on in all phases of the game, and we’re trying to get better every day.”
Red Bay’s next game will be its Homecoming game against Tharptown on Friday, October 10.
Red Bay junior Jaxon Swann finds the endzone against Tupelo Christian Prep on October 3.
(Credit: Caleb Ramey)