Vina routs Tharptown 50-6 to improve to 4-1

The Vina High School varsity football team got back to its winning ways on Thursday night, routing the Tharptown Wildcats (0-5, 0-1 2A Region 8) 50-6 on Homecoming night. The win improves the Red Devils’ record to 4-1 overall.

Due to the chance of severe weather on Friday, the decision was made to move the game up a day to Thursday; that change of plan didn’t appear to affect the Red Devils on the field.

“Homecoming week is always crazy and a busy week,” Vina head coach Cody Renfrow said. “When you have to pivot and make the decision to move the game up a day early it kind of adds to that, but I’m proud of the way our guys stayed focused all week and rebounded from that tough loss (the prior week) to Cherokee.

“We were excited to come out on top,” Renfrow added.

Vina received the opening kickoff, but it was the Wildcats that got the first offensive drive and the opening score. The Red Devils muffed the kick and Tharptown recovered, setting up the Wildcats for what would turn into a passing touchdown to make it 6-0 early in the visitors’ favor.

The Tharptown touchdown didn’t dampen the spirits of the Vina players, though. The Red Devils responded quickly after falling behind and would go on to score 50 unanswered points, 42 of those in the first half.

Cai Lawler, who led the team in scoring Thursday night, hit on two long touchdown rushes of 60-plus yards in the opening half; the senior would also score the final touchdown of the game, recovering a fumble on defense for another six points in the second half. Seniors Trevor Baker and Christian McCarley and freshman Branson Vick found their names on the scoresheet, as well. Baker and McCarley rushed for 15- and 10-yard touchdowns, respectively, before Vick was found for a 44-yard touchdown reception as time expired in the second quarter.

After falling behind to start the game, Renfrow said what most impressed him was his team’s ability to put that early error behind them.

“I’m really just proud of (Vina’s) composure after Tharptown went up 6-0,” he said. “Times in the past, it kinda seems like that would (turn into) a snowball effect with past teams.

“This team, they never blinked. They stayed composed and they responded extremely well,” Renfrow added. “That’s probably the number one thing that I’m most proud of from Thursday night.”

Vina’s huge non-region win swings momentum back in its favor after a tough region defeat on the road at Cherokee on September 20th, which dropped the Red Devils to 2-1 in Class 1A Region 7. Reclaimed momentum is a little different, though, from confidence, which Renfrow said the Red Devils have continued to maintain even after a small bump in the road. That swagger and confidence is what helped Vina beat Tharptown and it will be important as the Red Devils play host to region rival Hackleburg, one of the top teams in Class 3A and a program that Vina hasn’t beaten since 2001.

“I don’t believe we lost any confidence after the Cherokee loss. That’s not to say that the win over Tharptown wouldn’t help build any confidence, but our guys are confident as it is,” Renfrow said. “They responded very well coming off that loss, and they came ready to work all week.

“I know they’re going to come ready to work this week, too, as we prepare for a Hackleburg program that’s very tough, very talented,” he added. “They’re (ranked) third in the state in 1A; we know the challenge ahead of us, but I know our guys are going to come ready to compete Friday night.”

The game against the Panthers this weekend is just the first of a four-game stretch of crucial region matchups for Vina, the results of which will have major implications in the playoff race. Renfrow said each game in his team’s remaining region schedule is important, but the Red Devils can’t play them all at once—that’s the approach they have to take.

“These games are extremely important. All of them are. We know that, our team knows that, but they also understand that it’s one game at a time,” Renfrow said. “Right now it’s Hackleburg. They’re a region team, they’re the standard of our region, so it’s like another measuring stick for us this weekend.

“Then we’ve got Waterloo and Addison and Meek and we’re really just going to try to take it one game at time,” he added. “They’re all important, but the most important is the next game, so that’s the one we’re focused on right now.”

Vina hosts Hackleburg at Franklin-Hester Stadium at 7 P.M. on October 4th.