It wasn’t pretty, but in the end it was a productive trip to the midstate for both Baylor and McCallie.
The two top-ranked teams in TSAAA Division II-AAA relied heavily on their defenses while battling through a driving rain Friday night to earn narrow road wins as No. 1 Baylor held off Brentwood Academy, 7-6, and the No. 2 Blue Tornado beat Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy, 13-0.
That sets up next week’s showdown between the Chattanooga rivals with first place in DII-AAA’s East Region on the line.
At Brentwood Academy, after trailing for much of the first half, the Red Raiders (6-0, 2-0) struck for the game’s only touchdown when Shekai Mills-Knight converted on fourth-and-1 with a 4-yard run with 26 seconds left in the second quarter. That play was set up by sophomore David Gabriel-Georges’ 52-yard run to the 13.
The Eagles (3-3, 0-2) closed within one late in the third quarter on a 43-yard field goal by London Bironas, his second of the game.