Vina earns first winning season since 1989 with 55-0 shutout of Belgreen

The Berlin Wall still stood the last time the Red Devils tore down the barriers to a winning season, but, with its 55-0 shutout at Belgreen (2-5) on Friday night, the Vina High School varsity football team pushed past .500 and secured its first six-win campaign since 1989.

“At the beginning of the year we had two goals: one of those goals was the playoffs and the second goal was to be able to have the first winning season since 1989,” Vina head coach Cody Renfrow told the Franklin Free Press. “Although we came up short of the playoffs, it was a really special year for our program to be able to get that winning season for the first time in quite some time. I’m super proud of this team for sticking together through the hard times over the last couple years, and to have the season that we did is still something to be extremely proud of.”

At Sparks Stadium, Vina jumped out to a 22-0 halftime lead thanks to two rushing touchdowns by senior quarterback Christian McCarley and, on a halfback pass, a 52-yard touchdown toss from senior Trevor Baker to freshman Branson Vick.

McCarley’s second touchdown of the game, a 14-yard dash to the endzone right before the halftime intermission, capped a drive that allowed the Red Devils to run something they’ve not had much experience with in games this season: a two-minute drill.

“We were out of timeouts, and it was really the first time all year we’ve been faced with the situation to try and push the ball down the field and score—like a two-minute offense,” Renfrow said. “The team really responded well and did well with that.”

Four different Red Devils found the endzone after the break and play resumed. Senior Cai Lawler got the scoring started early in the third quarter with a four-yard touchdown run, before senior Tristan Farr scored a few minutes later on a three-yard rush.

After utilizing his arm to score Vina’s second touchdown of the night, Baker tacked on the visitors’ fifth score using his legs; the senior back took the ball in from six yards out early in the fourth. In the final minutes of regulation, McCarley closed out the game with his third score of the contest, an 80-yard touchdown run to make it 55-0—a memorable way to end a high school football career.

After a 1-8 season in 2023, the Red Devils’ 6-4 record in 2024 represents the best single-season turnaround for the Vina football program since 1987, when the Red Devils went 7-5 and won the school’s only region title following a 2-8 record the previous campaign. Renfrow credits the perseverance of the team and the leadership ability of its senior players for his team’s success this season.

“I think it was really just the resiliency of the group we had this year,” the second-year Vina head coach said. “We’re very senior heavy and we had a ton of leadership. I really think that had the biggest impact. Coming into the year we had a large group of seniors that really bought into what we were preaching over the past couple years, especially last season. That really set the tone going into this season, and we were able to set our goals and knew if we stuck together, stuck with the process that these are attainable goals. It’s a credit to our seniors, a credit to our team for believing in that, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Renfrow added that Vina’s senior players, who battled through two winless seasons in 2021 and 2022, have displayed a lot of character and shown themselves to be more than just good football players.

“They’ve meant everything to this program and this team as a whole. Personally, they mean a whole lot to me,” he said. “Not only are they good football players and very coachable kids, they’re great kids off the field, too, and I don’t want that to be lost in everything.

“They’re great kids, very respectful, very coachable, and I think that’s one of the main things that made this senior bunch great for our program,” he added. “You can lean on them and they can take coaching, take criticism and turn it into a positive. I’m very proud of them.”

Looking ahead to next season, Renfrow said it now falls upon this year’s junior class to take up the mantle. Using the 2024 campaign as a building block, Renfrow is optimistic about the future of the program.

“We have a fairly large, for us, junior group. We’ve got six juniors and now everyone sees what we can do when everyone buys in, takes the summer seriously, and shows up willing to work,” he said. “I think our younger guys see that, they see the success that we can have. There are some guys that need to step up in that leadership role so we can lean on them in the future, but it’s a very exciting time to be a part of the program. We’re excited to be moving forward.”