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The 2025 high school football season kicks off on August 21st. To get ready for the upcoming season, we’re counting down the top 10 teams in the 615 Preps coverage area. Brentwood Academy is our No. 7 team.
In just one season Paul Wade turned Brentwood Academy around from its worst season in school history back into a semifinal appearance.
Now in Year 2 of the Wade Era, there’s a sense of familiarity and newfound optimism surrounding the program as Wade looks for his group to take that step towards state title No. 15.
“We break the year into three parts,” Wade said. “We’ve got games one through five, six through 10, and then the playoffs. The ideal situation for us when that third phase gets here is to be healthy, have home field and be playing our best football.”
Much of that confidence that the Eagles have comes from the defensive side of the ball, where several key pieces return in a unit that took major steps forward last season.
In 2023 the Eagles gave up an average 29.4 points. Fast forward a year and that average went down to 16.8 points.
During that run the Eagles only gave up more than 20 points in a game three times.
“Being able to build off of the same defense from last year again, rather than learn it, makes it a lot easier,” three-star Miami (Ohio) commitment Easton Joiner said. “It gives us more confidence. Last year was good, but we’re striving to be better as we want that state title game.”.
TOP 10 AREA TEAMS: No. 10 Nashville Christian | No. 9 Page | No. 8 FRA
Jointer noted that the major focus for the defense this year was something Wade stressed about forgetting plays that may have cost the team at the time.
“Coach Wade tells us to have the mind of a goldfish,” Jointer noted. “If I miss a tackle, I need to forget about it and move on. It’s a mindset thing—just being able to reset, refocus, and keep hitting.”
New star set to shine at quarterback for the Eagles
The offensive side of the ball for the Eagles will feature a new player under center for the first time in a long time. With George MacIntyre now in Knoxville, all eyes have turned to rising junior Crews Jenkins.
For Jenkins, his job has been made easy as he’ll have one of the state’s top targets to throw to in four-star Oregon commitment Kesean Bowman.
As much as MacIntyre was a stalwart for the Eagles over the last four years, defensive standouts like Joiner high expectations for the new quarterback running the show.
“Crews is a great kid—level-headed and can throw the crap out of the ball,” Joiner said. “He’s doing very well right now. The offense is picking up and throughout the year they’ll just get better and better.
…they’re constantly installing and fixing little things. Honestly, I feel like their job is a bit harder than ours on defense sometimes but I know we’ll get it running to perfection.”
Brentwood Academy’s 2025 Schedule
August 22: vs. Lawson
August 29: at Brentwood
September 5: vs. Baylor
September 12: at Chattanooga Christian
September 19: vs. Christian Brothers
September 26: vs. Ensworth
October 3: vs. MUS
October 10: at Briarcrest Christian
October 24: at Father Ryan
October 31: at Lipscomb Academy
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