The Red Bay Tigers rebounded from a tough loss to Mars Hill with a shellacking of the Colbert County Indians, 30-14, to secure second place in Class 2A, Region 8 and a first-round home playoff game.

“We played well from the start,” said Red Bay Coach Michael Jackson. “We hit some big plays on offense and defense early on that help set the tone of the game. We were able to keep their skill players in check. I was excited about the effort.

“We had our best week of practice all year,” Jackson added, “and, for the first time all year, we were playing with all of our starters.”

Red Bay established dominance on both sides of the ball early in the game. The Tigers took the first drive to the end zone scoring on a 53-yard pass from Jalen Vinson to Mason Holt. Aiden Quinn added the two-point conversion to give Red Bay an 8-0 lead with 10:13 to go in the first quarter.

Red Bay stopped Colbert County’s first drive with an interception by Cam McKinney in Indian territory. The drive ended in a punt, but the tone had been set for the game.

Red Bay added another touchdown late in the first quarter on another Vinson-to-Holt connection. This time the touchdown pass went for 24 yards. Vinson added a two-point conversion run to give the Tigers a 16-0 lead with 3:43 to go in the first quarter..

Red Bay scored again with 1:15 to go in the first half on a 15-yard run by Hunter King. Vinson’s two-point run gave the Tigers a 24-0 halftime advantage.

Red Bay added another score with three minutes to go in the third quarter on a 10-yard run by King, giving the Tigers a 30-0 lead.

Colbert County added two late scores to make the final 30-14.

King led Red Bay on the ground with 138 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns.

Vinson had his best night passing of the year, completing six of nine passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns.

Holt caught both of Vinson’s touchdown passes for a total of 77 of the 131 passing yards.

In addition to the early interception, McKinney led the team in tackles with nine.

Red Bay had 340 total yards and limited Colbert County to 169 yards.

Red Bay will host Fayette County Friday night. The two teams have never met on the gridiron.

Walden Tucker, a state hall of fame coach, came out of retirement to coach the FC Tigers. This is a big game for Fayette, as a win will put the school at 700 all-time wins.