The season’s first Tennessee Sports Writers Association prep football polls have been released and 13 teams from the Chattanooga area are included among their respective classification’s rankings.
Baylor and McCallie are the highest-ranked local teams, with the Red Raiders debuting at No. 1 and the Blue Tornado No. 2 in Division II-AAA. Those teams met in last year’s BlueCross Bowl state championship game with McCallie taking a 34-28 decision and have combined to claim the past five DII-AAA state titles, with McCallie winning four and Baylor one in 2022.
Baylor opened its season with a come-from-behind 21-14 decision over nationally-ranked Rabun Gap (Ga.) on Sunday in a game televised nationally by ESPN, while McCallie cruised to a 41-3 decision over Chattanooga Christian last Friday.
Boyd Buchanan, which finished state runners-up to Christ Presbyterian Academy last year and opened this season with a 26-7 win over Chattanooga Prep on Friday, is ranked No. 2 in DII-AA, behind CPA.
Other area teams included in their classification’s rankings include Cleveland (No. 10 in 6A), Walker Valley (No. 6 in 5A), Red Bank (No. 7 in 4A), Meigs County (No. 4 in 3A), Tyner (No. 9 in 3A), Marion County (No. 5 in 2A), Bledsoe County (No. 8 in 2A), Whitwell (No. 7 in 1A), South Pittsburg (No. 8 in 1A) and Chatt Prep (No. 10 in 1A).
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com