Vina earns thrilling win to open campaign, beating Brindlee Mountain 52-44 in fourth overtime period

There are few things in sports more exciting than the prospect of overtime football. Fans of the game aren’t generally dismissive of more football, and the do-or-die nature of OT can get the adrenaline racing in anyone with a beating heart. For the Vina High School varsity football team, a thrilling, four overtime win over a bigger school in the season opener just might be what the Red Devils need to get new life pumped into the program—and that’s just what the football gods prescribed on Friday night.

Facing the Class 3A Brindlee Mountain Lions (0-2) at Franklin-Hester Stadium, the Vina Red Devils (1-0) started the game well, took a small lead into halftime, survived a scare and got a huge defensive stop at the end of regulation, and then, ultimately, battled through multiple overtime periods to defeat the visitors 52-44.

Vina second-year head coach Cody Renfrow said it was the first step in changing how the outside regards the programs.

“We talked all week about changing the reputation of our program,” Renfrow said. “I told them at halftime, being up 14-12, not to be too excited and proud of what we were doing. If they want to change the reputation of Vina then we have to finish. Going into overtime, I relayed to them pretty much the same message. It’s a great opportunity to change the reputation and to do it we’ve got to go out there and finish.”

And finish is what the Red Devils did in overtime—though it took a few tries. Tied 28-28 at the end of regulation, Vina had a chance to end it in the first overtime period but stopped short of the goal line. Three overtime periods and three rushing touchdowns later, however, the Red Devils were able to manage the vital stop, too, and emerged victorious.

Senior running back Trevor Baker scored all three touchdowns for the Red Devils in OT, and played a huge role on both sides of the ball for Vina in the win.

“Trevor got stronger as the game went on,” Renfrow said. “In the past he’s had issues with cramping and staying hydrated and hasn’t been able to play a full game. Well he finally did play a full game (on Friday) and it showed. He scored the three touchdowns in overtime, and he was big for us, not just on offense but on defense, too.”

Baker, just one of the key contributors for the Red Devils, in addition to his three touchdowns, ended the game with 18 rushes for 120 yards and three catches for 30 yards, plus six tackles on defense. Senior quarterback Christian McCarley threw for 115 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for over 40 yards, and added a pick on the defensive side. McCarley’s three touchdown passes went to senior Tristan Farr (2) and freshman Branson Vick.

On the defensive side, senior Cai Lawler was a force, leading the team in tackles in addition to his offensive contributions.

Aside from getting the win, Renfrow said the fight his team displayed in the overtime periods was just as gratifying.

“Both teams played their hearts out, and I hated a team had to lose that game,” Renfrow said. “But I think if we had to go through eight or 10 overtimes, our team wouldn’t have shown any quit. We were bound and determined to win that game, and they never thought about giving up.”

The victory over Brindlee Mountain was Vina’s first season-opening win since 2016. During the summer, Renfrow and some of Vina’s veteran players talked about using the team’s 2023 season finale victory over Waterloo, their only win of that season, as a springboard into the 2024 campaign. That certainly appears to have done the trick with the Red Devils now on a two-game winning streak, but Vina can’t rest on its laurels now, Renfrow said. Vina can use the Brindlee Mountain game as motivation and momentum, but the focus has to turn to region rival Phillips and its next game on September 6.

“For them to play a great, close game against a 3A football team and go into four overtimes and win, that goes such a long way for our program and reminding us what we can do,” Renfrow said. “We’re very excited about it, but now we’ve got to start moving ourselves forward to Phillips next week. I know they’re very excited to get back to work and to try to go 2-0 and 1-0 in the region.”

Vina will travel to Phillips’ James E. Glass Stadium on Friday with kickoff set for 7 P.M.