Red Bay (2-7)
at Southeastern (8-2)
Date: Friday, November 8, 2024
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Southeastern Stadium
Last week: Red Bay finished out the regular season with a home loss against rival Phil Campbell, 64-22.
What to watch: The Tigers snuck into the playoffs, finishing fourth in Class 2A Region 8, after beating Tanner 46-6 in week nine, giving Red Bay the head-to-head advantage over the Rattlers. Red Bay and Southeastern average about the same number of points per game (24), but the Red Bay defense has given up significantly more points than Southeastern. The Mustangs are certainly beatable—they lost their opening three contests of the season before being awarded a forfeit win against Coosa Christian. However, Southeastern is on a seven-game winning streak going into this one, while Red Bay is coming off a big loss against rival Phil Campbell. The Tigers are an 18 point underdog in this matchup, according to AHSFHS.org; they’ll need to put together, by far, their best performance of the season to advance on the road.
Series history: This is the first meeting between Red Bay and Southeastern.
Next week: The winner between Red Bay and Southeastern will play the winner of the Pleasant Valley-Sulligent game in round two.
Russellville (7-3)
vs. Wenonah (7-3)
Date: Friday, November 8, 2024
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Golden Tiger Stadium
Last week: Russellville finished the regular season with a home loss against Athens, 45-23.
What to watch: The numbers don’t lie: Home field in the playoffs is a big advantage, one which will certainly be appreciated by Russellville head coach Dustin Goodwin and his Golden Tigers as they take on the Wenonah Dragons in the first round. Russellville is 30-7 all-time in first round playoff games, 25-3 when hosting the opening round, and 46-14 overall at home in the postseason. Another number to keep an eye on is 150: over the last two seasons, the Golden Tigers are 1-3 when all-state running back Cameron Phinizee rushes for less than 150 yards. Last season, Phinizee rushed for over 300 yards in Russellville’s first round win over Fairview, but he was held to 105 in the second round loss to Moody. The playoffs are meant for big players to make big plays—Phinizee will need to make a few to give Russellville its best chance to advance. The final number is two. In games where the Golden Tiger defense, led by ball hawks Zay Hubbard and Keifer Hallmark, record two or more turnovers, they are 6-0 and have won by an average of 30 points; in games where they’ve gotten one or no takeaways, the Golden Tigers are 1-3.
Series history: The Golden Tigers have faced off against Wenonah just once; that was in the second round of the 1994 playoffs. Russellville won the game 21-14 on the road.
Next week: The winner of the Russellville-Wenonah game will play the winner of the Moody-Arab game in the second round.
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