The Red Bay Tigers and Hatton Hornets faced off Friday night in a rivalry game for play–off positioning. Red Bay fell behind early but battled back to tie the game and take it to the fourth quarter before falling 38-32.

Red Bay finished in fourth place in Class 2A Region 7 and will travel across the state next Friday to face Fyffe.

Hatton held Red Bay’s run game in check for most of the night, holding Brady Hardin to 66 yards and Keaton Lanphear to 64 yards.

After going scoreless for much of the first quarter, Hatton struck first with 2:35 to go in the quarter to take an 8-0 lead. The Hornets scored again at the start of the second quarter to extend their lead to 14-0.

Red Bay finally got some momentum, scoring on a 4-yard run by Hardin, with 9:53 to go in the second quarter to cut Hatton’s lead to 14-6.

Red Bay tied the game just before the end of the first half on a nice throw–and–catch by Gage Edgmon to Holden Inman for 33 yards. Cody Carnes added the two-point run to make the score 14-14.

The second half began much like the first, with both teams keeping each other out of the endzone for most of the third quarter. Hatton finally scored and took a 22-14 lead with 3:41 to go in the quarter.

Red Bay answered with 9:45 to go in the game on a 5-yard run by Hardin and two-point conversion by Lanphear to tie the game 22-22.

Hatton struck quickly, however, to steal the Red Bay momentum just over a minute later and take a 30-22 lead. The Hornets added another score to put the game away on their next drive.

Red Bay will host Phil Campbell for Senior Night Friday. The two teams renew a rivalry that hasn’t been played since 2019.