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As we get closer and closer to the start of the 2025 high school football season, we decided that to go forward, we needed to also take a look back.
Our coverage area is rich with its football heritage and that’s not something new. For decades, teams with a 615 area code have won region titles, posted 10+ win seasons and several have gone on to win a state title or several.
We decided to go ahead and look at each of the schools in our coverage area and narrow down the best singular season for each program.
Over the next three days we’ll look at the teams in large, medium and small class categories. While the schools may have been in another class at the time, where they are in each list is based on their classification now.
Large Class teams include 6A and Division II-AAA. Medium Class teams include 5A, 4A, and Division II-AA. Small Class teams include 3A, 2A, 1A, and Division II-A, and each grouping has roughly 30 teams in it.
Yesterday we looked at the top seasons for each our large class programs. Here are the best seasons for each of our medium class programs:
Class 5A
Beech (2012, 15–0): Dominant would be the best way to describe the Bucs in 2012. Jalen Hurd cruised to a Mr. Football award and put up a record-setting performance in their 56-35 championship win over Columbia.
Centennial (2015, 12-2): Independence was the only thorn in the Cougars’ side in 2015. Aside from a pair of blowout losses to the Eagles, the Cougars recorded a school-record in wins and won all but two of those games by double-digits.
Dickson County (1988, 15-0): In 1988 the Cougars recorded their lone state title season winning 15 games by an average of 19.1 points. They beat Oakland 10-0 in the championship game and only had three games decided by less than 10 points.
Glencliff (1999, 13-2): The Colts may be in a down period now but in the late 90’s they were a few points away from raising gold. CJ Scott led Glencliff to the Class 5A championship game where they lost to Sevier County 31-27.
Hendersonville (2001, 13-2): The Commandos have played for a state title four times. Of those teams that made it that far, the ‘01 group set a program record with 13 wins. What’s even more impressive about that stretch is that they won those 13 games in a row after starting off the year with a loss to Smyrna.
Hillsboro (2003, 14-1): While the Burros’ 2008 team raised gold by beating the powerhouse that is Maryville, their first state championship-winning team was dominant. They lost to Pearl-Cohn by 11 to open the year but rebounded with 14 straight wins, a program record, and shut out Morristown West 21-0 to complete a dream run.
Hunters Lane (1994, 11-1): The Warriors have had some great teams but none were as good as their ‘94 team. They set a program record for wins and if it wasn’t for a four-point loss to Whitehaven in the second round, a deep playoff run could have been likely.
Lawson (2023, 4-6): The Lightning haven’t been around long and playing in the region that they play in has not been forgiving. While they’ve had some struggles, Brian Lilly’s first team has been their best so far.
Nolensville (2022, 12-1): Paul Derrick’s Knights teams won a lot during his seven seasons at the helm but the ‘22 group was by far his best. Averaging 37.5 points per game, the Knights looked well on their way to playing for a state title but Page prevented that with a 35-28 win in the quarterfinals.
Page (2024, 14-1): Every year for the past four seasons it seems like the Patriots put out their best squad in school history. However, last year’s team was easily the best of this current run. Starting off the year with six straight shutouts, the Patriots went on to only allow 58 total points for the season and their championship loss to Sevier County was the only time a team finished with double-digits.
Portland (2000, 15-0): There was no denying the Panthers en route to their 2000 state title. The most their defense gave up was 14 to Greenbrier, their closest game was a 19-10 win over White House, they won by an average of 33.6 points and closed off their dominant run with a 43-0 win over Covington in the AAA championship game.
Station Camp (2006, 10-2): In 2006 the Bison recorded an average of 31.6 points per game, with a high powered offense came a heavy hitting defense as they allowed only 13.9 points per game. Station Camp had notable wins over Macon County, Creekwood, White House, and Portland before beating Howard in the postseason.
Class 4A
Creek Wood (2020, 10-2): The Red Hawks’ lone 10+ win season, they started off 2020 winning nine straight games. After opening the postseason with a 14-point win over Jackson North Side, Lexington proved to be their downfall in the next round with Creek Wood losing 28-20.
DeKalb County (2019, 8-5): In 2012 the Tigers set a program record with 10 wins, their only 10+ win season so far. However, seven years later they made their longest postseason push beating Tullahoma 45-34 and Marshall County 28-24 for their first quarterfinals appearance.
Greenbrier (2004, 13-2): The Bobcats’ best two year stretch as a program can be traced back to the 2003 and 2004 seasons. A year after going 10-4, Kirk Williams’ 2004 team lost only once in the regular season and made a run all the way to the AAA title game where they would ultimately lose to Fulton 34-6.
Liberty Creek (2023, 8-5): The Wolves first full season competing in a region was by far their best so far. Led by quarterback Brian Rager, Liberty Creek rebounded from an 0-3 start to the year by winning eight of their next nine games including their first two playoff games.
Macon County (2024, 13-2): Last year we said that the 2024 squad in Lafayette could be their best ever and boy did they prove us right. In a postseason run that included redemption wins over Upperman and White County as well as an instant-classic against Anderson County in the semifinals, the Tigers steamrolled Melrose 45-14 to claim their first football state title.
Pearl-Cohn (2023, 15-0): Pearl’s 1997 team has a strong argument for the school’s best team but the 2023 squad went unbeaten and did so in impressive fashion. After narrow wins over MBA and CPA to start the year, the Firebirds rolled through the rest of their schedule before completing a second-half comeback to beat Upperman in the Class 4A championship game.
Springfield (1993, 13-2): The ‘93 team is the squad that every Yellow Jackets team since has looked up to. After starting the year with a shutout loss to Bowling Green (Ky.) and then dropping a three-point loss to White House in October, Springfield dominated the rest of its schedule winning its next nine games by an average of 25.4 points including 28-6 win over McMinn Central in the AAA championship game.
White House (1997, 15-0): Sweeping their biggest rival in Portland and dominant from start to end, the Blue Devils ruled in 1997. Jeff Porter’s team beat others by an average of 19.3 points and capped off their season with a 30-20 win over Melrose for the AAA championship.
Division II-AA
BGA (1995, 15-0): Six gold balls have come back to BGA but none were as sweet as the first. The Wildcats won by an average of 32 points that season and capped off an unbeaten year with a 17-6 win over Bruceton.
Davidson Academy (2020, 13-0): Gold balls are nothing new to the Bears but the 2020 group was the most dominant as they capped off the three-peat. Coming from behind to beat USJ in the championship game only made the ending for this group of seniors that much sweeter.
FRA (1991, 13-2): This is a season that Panther fans will never forget. This group put a pair of narrow losses to Peabody and Westmoreland in the rearview thanks to a dominant postseason run that ended with a revenge win over Peabody for the program’s lone state title.
Goodpasture (1995, 13-2): Three-time state champs, each of Goodpasture’s state title runs were fairly similar. We’ll go with the ‘95 group that was their first and had the highest-margin of victory at 21.5 points per game.
Grace Christian-Franklin (2017, 7-5): The Lions haven’t had a lot of winning seasons since 2015 but 2017 was by far their best season so far. They started slow losing three of their first four games but rebounded winning seven of their next eight including a first round playoff win over Wayne County.
JPII (2021, 8-5): The Knights have had a couple of eight win seasons and this group may have had the most losses of those teams, but also the deepest JPII ever went into the playoffs. After losing three of their final four regular season games, Pope beat St. Benedict and Brentwood Academy for their first semifinals appearance.
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