Regardless of how they got in, or what path is facing them, the goal for the 25 Chattanooga-area prep football teams that qualified for the TSSAA playoffs is to end their postseason trip at Finley Stadium in early December for the BlueCross Bowl.
Both of last year’s local state champions — McCallie in Division II-AAA and South Pittsburg in Class 1A — will host first-round games, while another trio — Baylor (D-II AAA), Chattanooga Christian (D-II AA) and Tyner (2A) — are also expected to make deep playoff runs.
The Blue Tornado hosts St. Benedict, which has never beaten a D-II AAA opponent in program history, while Baylor earned a first-round bye with its second-place region finish.
Although the Red Raiders and Chattanooga Christian each narrowly lost region championship games to unbeaten opponents over the past two weeks, both teams actually are in more favorable brackets as they would not face their classification’s top-ranked teams until the state title game.
In Class 1A, Lookout Valley is back in the postseason for the first time in four years and coming off an impressive 30-point road win over Sale Creek which secured the third seed from Region 3.
In that win, Jaxon Quails ran for 158 yards to go over 1,000 for the season, while Rylan Collins had a 95-yard interception return for a score and Jacob Winchester had 10 tackles for loss and six sacks. The Yellow Jackets are back in the playoffs for the first time in four years and will travel to Gordonsville.
“We’re still trying to find that complete game and Friday night was the closest we’ve come so that was a good sign,” said Lookout Valley coach Josh Payne. “Our kids have had a lot of adversity to overcome the last four years and it’s good to see their hard work pay off.
“Going on the road and playing so well was a good confidence boost heading into this first-round game on the road.”
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Tyner’s Marcus Lewis (6) gets loose for the first Ram touchdown. The Tyner Rams hosted the Meigs County Tigers in a TSSAA football game on October 14, 2022.In 4A, Hixson also ended a six-year postseason drought and will travel to Stone Memorial., while Central (6-4), which has its first back-to-back winning seasons since 1968-69, will travel to Upperman in search of its first playoff win in five years.
There are nine rematches from last season for area teams, including seven in which the local team will try to avenge a season-ending loss. That includes 3-4A champion East Hamilton, which hosts DeKalb County, which won 35-21 last season, and Walker Valley, which hosts a Karns team that held on for a two-point win last year in the 5A bracket.
The most favorable of the rematches is Tyner hosting Trousdale County, which has ended the Rams season each of the last four years. Although the Yellow Jackets have been a perennial power, this season has been a struggle as they began the season with eight straight losses — averaging just eight points per game including three shutouts — before consecutive wins the last two weeks over a pair of teams with a combined 6-14 record.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.