Another chapter
Familiar foes ahead for area teams still in TSSAA playoffs
Before turning the page toward a potential happily-ever-after ending to the season, three of the seven Chattanooga-area teams remaining in the TSSAA football playoffs must first avoid having this week’s opponent rewrite the storyline as a tale of postseason vengeance.
Those three — Baylor, Bradley Central and McCallie — are facing opponents they already demolished by double digits during the regular season.
Meanwhile, Boyd Buchanan and South Pittsburg will also play familiar foes, taking on teams they faced last season, while the other two — Meigs County and Walker Valley — will have first-time matchups.
Of those five area teams in rematches, only South Pittsburg will be looking to avenge a loss. The others will work to repeat the results from the first time around.
The three local private schools — Baylor and McCallie in Division IIAAA and Boyd Buchanan in DII-AA — are just one step from advancing to the BlueCross Bowl title game in their respective classifications, while the public schools have reached the quarterfinal round.
This marks the second straight week Baylor and McCallie will face opponents they already clobbered earlier. Baylor cruised past Knoxville Catholic 42-0 in the final game of the regular season, while the Blue Tornado also won by shutout, 35-0 over Montgomery Bell Academy in mid-September.
If those two Chattanooga schools can avoid upsets this week, it would set up the most unique — and likely most hyped — state championship matchup in TSSAA history as the longtime rivals would face off on Nov. 30 at Finley Stadium.
When MBA (5-6) visits McCallie (10-1) on Friday, it will not only be a rematch from earlier this season but will mark the third straight year they have met twice in a season.
The Big Red held on for a 28-27 home win in last year’s semifinals, when the Blue Tornado’s attempt for a 2-point conversion in the closing minute came up short.
When they played earlier this season, McCallie dominated all three phases while racing out to a 21-0 halftime lead.
The Red Raiders (9-2) get to host thanks to Knoxville Catholic (7-5) rallying late to upset top-ranked Memphis University School last week. After blocking an MUS punt, the Fighting Irish drove 27 yards to set up Gavin Menard’s 24-yard field goal as time expired in a 31-28 thriller.
Baylor has won four of the last five meetings in the series, including the past two by an average margin of 40 points, and when the teams met three weeks ago, the Red Raiders scored 21 points within their first 21 offensive plays.
DIVISION II-AA
Davidson Academy (10-2) at Boyd Buchanan (12-0): After Gary Rankin restored respectability with seven wins in 2022, his first year coaching Boyd Buchanan, the secondranked Buccaneers are now back among the state’s elite, reaching a semifinal for the first time in 11 years. If they advance, it would be their first appearance in a title game since 2009.
This will be the 25th time in his career that one of Rankin’s teams has reached the semifinals. The all-time leader in wins and state titles among Tennessee prep football coaches, Rankin has lost in this round only twice. Last week’s 28-3 win was only the second time this season the Bucs scored fewer than 30 points, and the defense has allowed an average of just nine points per game.
Led by senior quarterback Knox Roberts, a Tennessee Titans Mr. Football semifinalist who has thrown for 2,821 yards and 29 touchdowns, Davidson Academy relies heavily on the passing game. The Bears have three players who have 300-plus receiving yards, but their leading rusher has gained just 320 on the ground.
When these teams met last year, the Bucs avenged a 20-point loss from the 2021 season with a 39-10 thumping.
CLASS 6A
Bearden (9-3) at Bradley Central (12-0): Top-ranked Bradley Central easily handled the Bulldogs in the regularseason finale less than a month ago. In that 46-14 win, Kaleb Martin threw for 316 yards and a touchdown and ran for 75 and four scores, Boo Carter compiled 120 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and the Bears held Bearden to 238 total yards.
This is only the third time Bradley has reached the quarterfinals, and the only time the Bears advanced past the third round was in 1976, when they went on to win their only state title.
Despite being the starter for just seven games, Bearden sophomore Jayzon Thompson has rushed for 1,243 yards and 17 touchdowns for a team that relies heavily on its ground game.
CLASS 5A
Walker Valley (10-2) at Clinton (6-6): The Mustangs, who have already set a program record for wins, are in the quarterfinals for the first time in program history. They have scored more points than any team in 5A through the first two rounds this year, but now they hit the road after hosting back-to-back playoff games.
The Dragons, winners of four straight after a disappointing start to the season, have been led by Purdue-committed linebacker D’Mon Marable on defense and the offensive backfield tandem of Jawan Goins and quarterback Joshuah Keith, who have combined for more than 3,900 offensive yards.
CLASS 3A
Giles County (9-2) at Meigs County (12-0): Call it the snubbed showdown. Both teams have athletes who could have and probably should have been named Mr. Football semifinalists but weren’t.
Giles County senior Kamari Turner has 1,968 total yards — he has averaged 14.5 yards per carry for 801 rushing and 16.3 per catch for 830 receiving — with 28 touchdowns this season. Meigs County senior Ethan
Meadows has scored seven touchdowns and averaged 226 offensive yards (11.6 per touch) in this year’s playoffs.
This will be the first meeting between the programs. The Tigers are in the quarterfinals for the fifth time in seven seasons.
The Bobcats have won nine straight games by an average of 50-15 since losing by one point in overtime to 5A’s Page — which is 11-1 and still playing in its classification’s quarterfinals — and to 4A’s Hardin County, which finished 11-1 after being upset last week.
CLASS 1A
Gordonsville (8-4) at South Pittsburg (12-0): This will be the programs’ 18th alltime meeting, with South Pittsburg leading the series 12-5, but Gordonsville ended the Pirates’ 2022 season in the second round while holding them to fewer than 50 rushing yards.
The Tigers have yet to lose to a 1A foe this season and have allowed just one team in the classification to score more than 19 points all season. Meanwhile, top-ranked South Pittsburg’s defense has been a shut-down unit all season, registering six shutouts in eight games against 1A competition and outscoring opponents by an average of 56-3.