Week 10 football preview: Belgreen at Vina, Red Bay at Phil Campbell highlight regular season’s final week
Belgreen (5-2) at Vina (0-9)
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Franklin-Hester Stadium
Last time out: Belgreen lost to Victory Christian 49-24 and Vina fell to Meek 52-8.
Series history: Vina is 1-0 against Belgreen after beating the Bulldogs 55-0 last campaign.
What to expect: Vina would of course like to get into the win column before the season is over and do it at home. However, this Belgreen team is vastly improved from the team Vina shutout last year—and the opposite is true for the Red Devils, who haven’t been able to replace some key talent from 2024’s roster.
Belgreen, playing in its final “JV” game before becoming a fully-fledged varsity team next year, gets a win here, I think. A loss for Vina would give the Red Devils their fourth winless season since 2018.
Phil Campbell (5-4) vs. Red Bay (8-1)
Date: Friday, October 31, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Parrish Stadium
Last time out: Phil Campbell secured the fourth and final postseason spot in Class 3A Region 5 after a 76-29 rout of Hanceville. Red Bay defeated Tanner 44-21 to end its region campaign with a perfect 5-0 record.
Series history: Red Bay holds a 49-33 series advantage over Phil Campbell, but its the Bobcats with the most recent win in this matchup. Last season PCHS ended the year with a 64-22 win over the Tigers.
This series dates back to 1931—Red Bay won the first meeting 7-0—and these two teams have met almost every season since then. It’s the longest-running rivalry for the Tigers and second-longest for the Bobcats.
What to expect: Unlike some local teams playing in mostly meaningless non-region games before the start of the postseason, there’s a lot on the line for these two teams in this game, pride being near the top of the list. Both coaches, in their postgame talks with the FFP last Friday, didn’t seem like they were looking ahead to their first round playoff games; instead, they talked about how much this rivalry game means for each of their programs.
For PCHS head coach Jacob Hamilton and his Bobcats, a win over the Tigers wouldn’t just equal a rivalry win, it would accomplish a goal that they have had since Hamilton took over: finish the regular season with a winning record.
For Red Bay’s first-year head coach Tyler Jeffreys and his team, pulling the double and getting wins over rivals Belmont and Phil Campbell would be the cherry on top of a campaign that has seen RBHS complete a massive turnaround from 2024.
Whatever the final result of the game, you can expect this one to be fun and intense from the opening kickoff.
Next week: Phil Campbell will travel to face the top seed from Class 3A Region 6, Piedmont, in the first round of the playoffs. Red Bay will host Sand Rock at Fred Bostick Jr. Stadium.
Russellville (6-3) at Athens (5-4)
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Athens Stadium (Athens, Ala.)
Last time out: The Golden Tigers beat Priceville 27-13 to secure second place in Class 5A Region 7 and earn the right to host the first round of the playoffs.
Series history: Russellville holds a 20-12 record over Athens in a series that started way back in 1925. From 1988 to 2013, the Golden Tigers and Golden Eagles met 22 times—18 times as region opponents and four times in the Class 5A playoffs where RHS is 4-0 against AHS.
Last season, Athens defeated Russellville in the regular season finale 45-23.
What to expect: Athens, being the bigger Class 6A team and playing at home, is probably the favorite—the Golden Eagles’ four losses were to four very good 6A teams—but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Golden Tigers were able to go in and grab a win. Russellville’s offense has shown all year that it has the ability to score points on anybody, and the defense has played well for much of the season.
That being said… No doubt both teams will want to win this game; however, at the end of the day there are more important fish to fry. Both teams made the playoffs so thoughts may linger towards the approaching postseason clashes even before the contest is over. That could play a role in the outcome as neither squad wants to get its starters or key players banged up. I’d look for this game to be competitive for a half, perhaps a full three quarters, depending on the score.
Next week: Russellville will host the Boaz Pirates, the third place team out of Class 5A Region 8, in the first round of the playoffs.
Tharptown (1-8) vs. Phillips (2-7)
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Tharptown Stadium
Last time out: Tharptown fell to Lexington 69-6 in its region finale.
Series history: The Wildcats are 5-11 vs. the Bears, their last win in the series coming back in 2023. Last year Phillips defeated THS 30-6.
What to expect: Like Tharptown, Phillips is a small team with a new coach in his first year, trying to turn things around. This is a winnable game for the Wildcats. A win would be a nice way for THS to cap this 2025 campaign and give it some momentum building towards next season.