Local teams face Week Five
For only the second time this year, Friday night will have a full slate of games involving Franklin County teams. Phil Campbell will travel to Haleyville, Russellville will host Hartselle, Tharptown will travel to Cherokee, Red Bay travels across the state line to Belmont, and Vina will go to Lynn.
All teams will take a break from region play this week.
PHIL CAMPBELL (3-1) AT HALEYVILLE (2-3)
After an open week, the Bobcats renew a rivalry with the Haleyville Lions.
Phil Campbell and Haleyville haven’t faced each other since 2007. The last time Phil Campbell beat Haleyville was when Brett Borden led the Bobcats to a 33-19 win 19 years ago in 2001. Phil Campbell has won nine of the 52 matchups between the two schools.
Haleyville won three games last year: Central, Oak Grove and Curry.
The Bobcats are coming off a 38-18 loss to Clements, their first loss of the season. The Bobcats started the year losing their best running back, Trey Leindecker, to a knee injury and suffered another blow two weeks ago, losing running back Austen Baker.
Haleyville is 2-3 with early wins over Addison and St. John Paul Catholic. The Lions have lost three straight to Northside, Good Hope and Gordo.
It will be Haleyville’s homecoming.
RUSSELLVILLE (4-0) HOSTS HARTSELLE (3-2)
Russellville improved to 4-0 last week with a win over Lawrence County. The Golden Tiger defense had pitched a shutout in the previous three games, but the Red Devils were able penetrate the Russellville defense for some touchdowns, losing 27-18.
This week the Golden Tigers host Hartselle. Hartselle is led by new head coach Bryan Moore. Moore led Jasper to two consecutive region titles and wins over Russellville in 2018 and 2019.
Hartselle finished 2019 with a 4-7 record in Class 6A, Region 8.
The Golden Tigers have dropped three straight to Hartselle by a combined score of 116-38, and two of those losses were shutouts. Russellville’s last win in the series came at home in 2012 by a 6-3 final score. All-time, Russellville has the advantage, 24-9-1.
THARPTOWN (2-3) AT CHEROKEE (0-4)
Tharptown started the season strong against two Class 1A opponents, Shoals Christian and Phillips. Region play, on the other hand, has been disastrous, with the Wildcats being outscored 161-0 by Lexington, Red Bay and Colbert County. Mars Hill still looms in the distance.
In the meantime, however, the Wildcats get to drop back down and face Cherokee – a winnable game, as the Indians are 0-4. Among their losses is a 40-6 fall to Shoals Christian, a team Tharptown beat decisively to open the season.
Tharptown needs this win heading into an off week before restarting region play in October.
RED BAY (3-0) AT BELMONT (1-2)
Red Bay will finally get a chance to play two consecutive games. The Tigers travel to Belmont this week.
This is a storied state-line rivalry that consistently goes back to 1960 – although the two teams did play once in 1930, in which the Tigers won 7-0.
Red Bay is 32-21-1 in the series. The two teams have split the past two meetings, with Red Bay winning last year 43-16.
Red Bay has played only two games this year, beating Lexington and Tharptown easily.
The inconsistency has shown, with the Tiger offense sputtering at times. The defense has been strong and will have to be there to help the offense until they can shake off the rust of a stop-start-stop-start season.
VINA (0-4) AT LYNN (1-4)
Vina will take a break from region play and travel to Lynn this week. Vina is 7-17 against Lynn, and the Red Devils have lost the past nine meetings, dating back to 1991.
These two teams last played each other in 2005.
The Red Devils have only been able to score two touchdowns in their first four games while giving up 154 points. They lost to Waterloo last week 46-0. Lynn is just 1-4, but the team has a mutual opponent with Vina – Marion County. Vina lost to the Red Raiders 35-0, while Lynn beat them 35-33.
