Football approaches mid-season
High school football is approaching the middle of the season, and there has been very little consistency – and no one expected there to be.
Records are inconsistent and a little misleading because of the number of forfeits and cancellations; however, it looks like teams are beginning to settle in for the long haul.
Local eyes will be on one intra-county game this week, as Red Bay goes to Tharptown. Russellville and Vina take to the road, while Phil Campbell has an open week and will return to play next week.
RUSSELLVILLE (4-0) AT LAWRENCE COUNTY (2-1)
The Russellville Golden Tigers will travel to Moulton this week to play the Lawrence County Red Devils.
Russellville’s defense has yet to give up a point, outscoring the Golden Tigers’ first three on-the-field opponents 43-0, including last week’s 59-0 demolition of Brewer. The Red Devils, on the other hand, have been tested with some close contests, losing their first game to Hazel Green 37-34 but then going on to defeat West Point 31-28 and Ardmore 41-21.
Russellville has won every meeting between these two teams since 2010, except for in 2017 when Lawrence County won 25-6.
Russellville won this game last year in Moulton 22-14.
THARPTOWN (2-2) HOSTS RED BAY (2-0)
This has to have been a frustrating season so far for the Red Bay Tigers. The Tigers went 12-1 this past year, losing in the third round of the playoffs. They returned 19 seniors, many of whom have played since the ninth grade, and they were chomping at the bit to make a run for a state title.
Then 2020 happened.
While most teams have played three or four games, Red Bay has played just one, a relatively easy 40-13 win over Lexington – tacking on the additional notch for the win column through a forfeit.
Tharptown started off the season 2-0 against Class 1A Shoals Christian and Phillips, but the past two weeks of region play have not been kind to the Wildcats, who lost 50-0 to Colbert County and 55-0 to Lexington.
Red Bay has never lost to the Wildcats, and the Tigers have a lot of pent-up energy ready to expend.
VINA (0-3) AT WATERLOO (2-1)
Vina has a young team, and that has showed in the early stages of the season. The Red Devils have lost three straight by a combined score of 108-16.
Waterloo is one of the teams with which Vina has a fairly long history. Vina is 27-17 all time against the Cougars, but the Red Devils have lost the past four in a row, including last year’s 48-0 shutout.
Vina’s longest winning streak against Waterloo came in the ’70s, when the Red Devils won six in a row.
Thus far this season, the Cougars beat Phillips 19-14, had a forfeit win against Hackleburg and lost to Hubbertville 40-6.
