Red Bay ‘took care of business’ against Waterloo, setting up top 10 showdown with Addison

The No. 10-ranked Red Bay High School varsity football team (7-1) routed Class 1A Region 7 opponent Waterloo High School (1-6, 1-4) on the road Thursday night, beating the Cougars by a final score of 55-13 to improve to 4-1 in region play.

The Tigers, coming off their first defeat of the season the previous week against No. 8 Hackleburg, had the Waterloo game well in hand by halftime, up 42-6 at the break, and coasted to victory in the second half.

“We came into the game really challenging the players to dominate from the start, and I felt like we did that for the first time all year,” second-year Red Bay head coach Tyler Jeffreys told the Franklin Free Press. “We took care of business, and it’s a testament to our kids for bouncing back from the week before.”

A 10-yard touchdown rush by junior running back Joshua Thorne opened the scoring for RBHS in the first quarter before a fumble by Waterloo on the ensuing kickoff return, recovered by sophomore Cayson Collins, gave the ball right back to the Tiger offense. Red Bay punched it in the endzone again a handful of plays later to go up 14-0.

Red Bay continued to make short work of the Cougars from there. 

Junior Davian Colburn made an athletic effort on a short catch to score his team’s third touchdown with just under seven minutes left in the first quarter, and then sophomore running back Andre Brownlee added a short-yardage rushing touchdown to put the Tigers up 28-0.

“Our offensive line did a great job, both our backs were finding holes, and our quarterback did a good job getting the ball out to his receivers, so you couldn’t ask for a better night,” Jeffreys said of his offense’s performance.

In the second quarter, Waterloo ended the shutout with a touchdown, but the Tigers responded immediately on the kickoff with an 80-yard touchdown return by Colburn to make it a 35-6 game.

Red Bay’s sixth and final score of the first half came via an eight-yard rush by Thorne, and the Tigers entered the intermission leading 42-6.

Red Bay added two more scores in the second half for good measure: junior defensive back Ty Hester forced a Cougar fumble and then returned it 90 yards to give his team a 48-6 advantage; later in the fourth, freshman Hendrix Plunk ran for a 55-yard touchdown to cap the scoring in the game.

Red Bay’s decisive victory over Waterloo sets up a showdown against undefeated and No. 2-ranked Addison next Friday.

Jeffreys said the Tigers will not be holding anything back against the Bulldogs, a team that’s outscored its opponents 353-13 this season.

“We’re hoping we can continue to play ball like we want to, and we’re making sure we’re doing all the things we can to improve each week because this week it’s going to be a fun, tough game,” he said.

“We don’t have anything to lose,” he added. “Addison is one of the top three teams in the state, and at the end of the day we’ve just got to get out there and see where we line up with them.”

Red Bay will host Addison in its final home game of the regular season on Friday, October 16.

“We’re very fortunate to have a lot of people at our games. Hopefully there will be a lot of people to come out and support these kids, and it’ll be a good Friday night,” Jeffreys said.