Red Bay smashes Sand Rock 53-14 to earn first playoff victory since 2020
Red Bay’s five-year wait for a home playoff game at Fred Bostick Jr. Stadium ended on Thursday night, as did the wait for a postseason victory. In the opening round of the AHSAA Class 2A football playoffs, the Tigers routed the visiting Sand Rock Wildcats 53-14 to improve to 9-2 on the season and advance to the second round for the first time since 2020.
“This means a lot,” said Red Bay head coach Tyler Jeffreys, who has orchestrated the program’s total turnaround in his first season. “I don’t think there’s been (a playoff game) here in five years, and we just preached to the kids, ‘don’t worry about the score, just play as hard as you can’—and we did that. That, to me, means everything.”
Red Bay got off to a fast start in the game.
After the Tiger defense forced a Sand Rock three-and-out, the Red Bay offense needed just one play from scrimmage to get on the scoreboard. For those who have kept up with RBHS all season, it will come as no surprise that it was the senior running back Jaxon Vinson who opened the scoring on a 52-yard run to make it 7-0 with 9:41 left in the first quarter.
Red Bay’s next offensive possession did not go as well as the first, however.
Senior quarterback Jeremiah Thorne threw an interception to give Sand Rock the ball right back after the RBHS defense was able to get a turnover on downs. The visitors took advantage of the turnover and the good field position that came along with it, driving 46 yards to tie the game up on a 20-yard pass from quarterback Alec Ashley to receiver Alex Stone.
Apart from the interception, a mistake the RBHS head coach took the blame for—“That was my fault. It was a bad call by me,” Jeffreys said—and a few penalties, the Tigers played mostly mistake-free football.
Red Bay did not allow the game-tying touchdown to phase them. On the Tigers’ very next possession, Vinson scored his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 45-yard scamper to make it 14-7.
And once the Tigers retook the lead, they never looked back.
Thorne, after throwing a pick earlier, made up for it with an interception of his own on defense. In addition to the turnover, Red Bay forced three Sand Rock punts during the game and three turnovers on downs.
“Our defense stepped up and played really well tonight—and they’re going to have to continue to do that,” Jeffreys told the Franklin Free Press.
Thorne’s defensive takeaway eventually led to a third rushing score for Vinson after the senior powered it over the line from a yard out, giving RBHS a 21-7 advantage with 3:30 left in the half.
The Red Bay defense came up big again on Sand Rock’s next possession, forcing a punt with 40 seconds left before halftime.
The Tigers only needed about 20 of those seconds, though.
A couple plays after the punt Thorne threw his 10th passing touchdown of the year, hitting sophomore receiver Davien Colburn down the sideline for the 54-yard score to make it 28-7.
Explosive plays were massive for the Red Bay offense in the game. As has been the case all season, it was Vinson and Colburn who continually made them throughout the night.
“I think (the explosive plays) are huge for us. And I’m really proud of our offensive line for protecting and blocking for Jaxon and (Colburn),” Jeffreys said. “Those two guys are really good players. You know, (Colburn) is just a sophomore, and he’s still got a little learning to do, but he has come out of his shell and played really, really hard. Jaxon is the same way.
“Having those guys makes it a lot easier to call plays,” he added.
After the halftime intermission, Red Bay received the kickoff to start the third quarter. A couple plays later, Colburn got his second touchdown reception of the night on a 52-yard pass from Thorne to make it 36-7 after the two-point conversion.
A 31-yard field goal by Thorne put the Tigers up 39-14 with 2:02 remaining in the third, and then a 10-yard run by sophomore running back Joshua Thorne (set up by another long reception by Colburn) gave RBHS a 46-14 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Red Bay’s final touchdown of the night came on a 31-yard rush by freshman running back Andre Brownlee with 7:04 left.
The blowout win and his team’s effort—in all phases of the game—left Jeffreys with a smile at the end of the contest.
“I thought we played really hard and I think we played really well,” he said. “We made some mistakes…but our kids played really hard and I’m super proud of them.
“I’m really excited for this bunch,” Jeffreys added.
The result in the team’s first home playoff game in five years sets the Tigers up to host again in the second round of the playoffs next Friday. It will be the first time RBHS has hosted back-to-back playoffs games since 2019.
On November 14 the Tigers will welcome the Southeastern Mustangs to Fred Bostick Jr. Stadium. Southeastern eliminated Red Bay from the playoffs last season, beating RBHS 47-0. Red Bay, 7-0 at home this campaign, will look to avoid that same fate this time around.
Jeffreys said he’s looking forward to another home game as his team tries to keep the season going for as long as they can.
“I think (the atmosphere) was great tonight, and I think it will be even bigger next week with it being a Friday night,” Jeffreys said.
“I think we have to take how hard we played in this game into next week. The mistakes that we did make tonight, we’ve got to limit those and keep working to get better. Each week is going to get harder and harder and each team we play is going to get better and better, and we have to get better along with them,” he added.
“I don’t want to get complacent. I want us to keep going because I’m not ready for this season to end.”