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Six things that stood out from Week 7’s action:
Patriot games: If Friday’s Oakland-Brentwood contest was a BlueCross Bowl preview, then the Bruins have some work to do to make a potential rematch competitive. The Patriots blitzed Brentwood 37-0, ending a 160-game streak where the Bruins were not shut out. Blackman was the last team to shut out Brentwood on Sept. 14, 2007, when Ron Crawford was in his sixth year of his first stint as Bruins head coach. Oakland entered the game as the top-ranked team in the Associated Press Class 6A statewide poll, while Brentwood was fifth. It was another example of how the balance of power in 6A remains in the eastern half of the playoff bracket right now.
Top 10 shakeup coming in 6A: In addition to Brentwood’s loss, Mt. Juliet will likely take a slide in the 6A poll following its 22-14 loss to Rossview. The result puts Hendersonville all alone atop the Region 4-6A standings, with Rossview, Wilson Central and Mt. Juliet each tied for second with one region loss apiece — and each of those three teams has beaten one of the other two, clouding the playoff picture considerably.
A Knight’s tale: Pope John Paul II had only beaten MBA once in 15 tries prior to Friday, but the Knights got a late field goal from Andrew Southard to leave MBA with a 38-35 victory over the previously-unbeaten Big Red and improve to 6-1 on the season. In Sawyer Watts’ absence, Kenny Minchey has stepped in at quarterback and led JPII to two victories, putting the Knights in position to potentially earn a home playoff game in Division II-AAA.
Running wild: Friendship Christian and Grace Christian put up quite an offensive show Friday, combining for 1,083 yards of total offense as the Commanders came away with a 55-46 win. Don Dunning ran for 330 yards and four scores for Friendship Christian, while Grace Christian’s Blake Barton found the end zone five times and put up 333 total yards (271 rushing, 62 receiving) on 25 touches (21 carries, four receptions).
Here we go again: Region 5-4A was a jumble at the end of last season and it could be that way again this year. Springfield and Creek Wood are out ahead of the pack, but it’s the race for third and fourth that could get quite messy in the closing weeks. Greenbrier’s shutout win over Montgomery Central, combined with White House Heritage’s loss to Creek Wood, means three teams have two region losses after Week 7. And right now, they’re battling for fourth because White House’s overtime win over Portland has the Blue Devils in sole possession of third place. The Panthers are all but eliminated from playoff contention after the loss, but everybody else in the region is very much alive for a postseason spot.
Congrats are in order: Congratulations to Green Hill for getting its first-ever win in school history on Thursday, blasting Stratford 52-6 to do so. The Hawks can’t be a playoff team this year, but they won’t have to endure the pain of a winless season to start things out and it’s a memory everyone on that team will remember forever.
