Week 3 football preview: Region play continues for four teams; BHS, THS take Friday off
Belgreen (3-0) — BYE
Last time out: Belgreen earned a 34-0 Homecoming win over rival Tharptown.
Next week: The Bulldogs return to action on Friday, September 19 at Tanner.
Phil Campbell (0-2, 0-1) vs. Oakman (1-2, 1-0)
Date: Friday, September 12, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Parrish Stadium
Last time out: Phil Campbell fell on the road at region foe Vinemont 22-16.
Series history: The Bobcats lost to Oakman in the two teams’ only previous meeting last year 28-0.
What to expect: If you’re a Phil Campbell fan it seems there are at least two good takeaways from last Friday’s game at Vinemont: (1) The defense played very well, keeping a shutout til halftime and only giving up two touchdowns (the other Vinemont TD was scored on special teams); and (2) the offense’s problems stemmed a lot from setbacks due to penalties. So, you tell your defense to keep playing how it’s playing and you try to clean up the penalties, which you’d think won’t be such a factor when playing at home. Phil Campbell also had two costly turnovers against the Eagles—that’s got to be sorted, too.
Based on Oakman’s record and its opponents so far, and the result from this game last year, I think the visitors probably walk in as the favorites. But Phil Campbell’s D should come in with some confidence and this PCHS offense clearly has a much more balanced approach, which (to my mind) gives a team more ways to hurt the opponent, even if one or two things aren’t clicking. This would be a very good win for the Bobcats if they can pull it off.
Next week: PCHS will travel to Winfield for its next Class 3A Region 5 matchup.
Red Bay (1-1, 0-0) vs. Winston County (2-1, 1-0)
Date: Friday, September 12, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Fred Bostick Jr. Stadium
Last time out: Red Bay was defeated by University Charter 30-7 in Livingston.
Series history: RBHS holds an 11-5-1 all-time series advantage over Winston County. Last year’s 51-8 victory by the Yellow Jackets snapped the Tigers’ four-game winning streak over WCHS. The two teams have met in the playoffs twice, Red Bay getting the better of Winston County both times in 2020 (26-0) and 2018 (16-14 in overtime). This will be the 10th meeting of the programs as region mates; RBHS holds a 6-3 region series advantage. The first meeting was back in 1931 when Winston County won 26-0. The one tie in this series was back in 1975, a low-scoring 6-6 stalemate.
What to expect: A tale of two weeks for Red Bay. After an exciting blowout win over Lamar County in week one, University Charter was too much for Red Bay last weekend. This will be a tough game for Red Bay at home, hosting the defending region champs from a year ago. The Yellow Jackets look to have a pretty good offense again this year, averaging 39 points per game, but their defense surrenders points at a high clip, too. And they’re clearly not infallible, having lost their season opener to Class 1A Addison by three touchdowns. Red Bay will need to have a strong performance from its defense, similar to how it played in its first game. Otherwise, the Tigers might have to produce enough firepower to beat Winston County in a shootout.
Next week: The Tigers will continue Class 2A Region 8 play by hosting Lexington.
Russellville (1-2, 1-0) vs. East Limestone (0-2, 0-0)
Date: Friday, September 12, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Golden Tiger Stadium
Last time out: Russellville defeated region rival Lawrence County 35-6 at Golden Tiger Stadium.
Series history: The Golden Tigers are 13-2 all-time vs. East Limestone and every meeting has been in region play. The Indians’ two wins in the series came in 2011, when ELHS won 37-28, and 2014, when RHS fell to East Limestone 21-14. Russellville defeated East Limestone 52-6 last season and has scored 50 or more points on the Indians in each of the previous three contests.
What to expect: If Russellville can duplicate or improve upon its performance from last week, the Golden Tigers shouldn’t have too much trouble with East Limestone. Quarterback Whit Goodwin has, for the most part, played well this year, and the RHS defense has been impressively stout considering its youth. If you’re a Golden Tiger fan, it was also nice to see them enforce their will in the ground game for the first time last week.
It is a region game—that’s enough motivation to fight—and the Indians will have had two weeks of preparation heading into this one, so you don’t want to completely rule them out. But Russellville has never lost at home to this team, and based on the results in ELHS’ first two games—losses to a middle-of-the-road 4A Westminster Christian and an underwhelming 6A Hazel Green team—the Indians may finish dead last in Class 5A Region 7 once again.
Next week: RHS will travel to region foe Ardmore.
Tharptown (0-3) — BYE
Last time out: Tharptown fell to county rival Belgreen 34-0.
Next week: The Wildcats will host region opponent Decatur Heritage.
Vina (0-2, 0-1) at Shoals Christian (0-3, 0-1)
Date: Friday, September 12, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Flame Field (Florence, Ala.)
Last time out: Vina was toppled 26-12 at home to Phillips.
Series history: VHS is 5-18 all-time against the Flame, and the two teams have met every season since 2002. Last season the Red Devils beat Shoals Christian 32-8 to snap a four-year losing skid against them.
What to expect: While it’s probably still too early in the season to make declarations of any kind, after Vina’s 41-0 season-opening loss to Brindlee Mountain and the subsequent 26-12 region defeat at home to Phillips last week, I think it’s safe to say that the Red Devils really need a win over Shoals Christian this week. The Flame finished at the bottom of Class 1A Region 7 last season and look on pace to do so again this campaign, having been outscored 174-16 through their first three games. To put it nicely, Shoals Christian is certainly the most beatable team left on Vina’s schedule, so the Red Devils need to beat them.
Next week: The Red Devils play host to region opponent Cherokee.