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In all of his years of playing high school football, Brentwood senior quarterback Baylor Hayes had never experienced an atmosphere quite like the one he played in Friday night.
In front of a packed out crowd on both sides, an unknown amount of media patrolling the sidelines two capacity student sections, Hayes experienced the Battle of the Woods for the first time. He didn’t shy away from it either.
Instead Hayes threw for a pair of touchdown passes and watched his defense dominate again as Brentwood shut out Ravenwood 17-0. The win not only ended a three-year losing streak to the Raptors, it also clinched the Region 6-6A title for the Bruins.
“I haven’t been here long but I feel like I’ve been here my whole life,” Hayes said. “Being able to help my team and this community, that’s all I care about. It’s a selfless win and I’m just so stoked right now.”
The night didn’t start off as a dream for Hayes and the Bruins offense. It didn’t start off great for either offense as each defense came out and immediately set the tone for the night. That tone was that nothing was going to come easy.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Hayes orchestrated a drive that eventually ended with points midway through the second. Rolling to his right before rolling back left to evade pressure, Hayes found Miller Orum in the back of the end zone for Orum’s first touchdown of the year.
On their next offensive possession the Bruins once again found the end zone as Hayes connected with Charlie Mullis over the middle with just under two minutes remaining in the half.
“That sucker doesn’t get rattled,” Brentwood coach Clint Finch said of Hayes. “He wasn’t rattled in the home opener, he wasn’t rattled against Brentwood Academy or Henry County and he wasn’t rattled against Centennial. Baylor’s very level-headed and a really good leader.
…I wish people would zoom in on him not only when he’s on the field but also when he’s on the sideline. He’s one of the best leaders we have on this team right now.”
Bruins’ post back-to-back shutouts
In their two most important region matchups of the year in back-to-back weeks, Brentwood’s defense was at its best.
Against the two teams who finished second and third in Region 6-6A, the Bruins closed out the year by shutting them out 45-0. Never letting Ravenwood sustain any offensive momentum, the Bruins limited the Raptors to 212 total yards of offense.
Of those 212, only 12 came on the ground.
“We always are just building off of each other,” senior defensive lineman Maximum Orefice said. “I feel like anyone on this defense can make a play no matter the circumstance. We just keep getting better each week.”
The back-to-back shutouts most importantly secured the region title for the Bruins meaning that the road to state on the west side of the bracket will run through Brentwood as long as the Bruins are in the postseason.
“It’s huge because our student body is going to turn out for us,” Finch said. “You always prefer being at home rather than getting on a bus. We’ve said all year that we’re not going to change our approach and continue to be who we are.
…Giving us home field advantage, I think we can play with a lot of people.”
