Battle Ground Academy’s football team operated like a destructive bulldozer Friday night on David Stanton Field.
Boyd Buchanan was unable to find a way to keep the Wildcats from pushing into the end zone over and over — much less push back enough to make a dent on the scoreboard in the TSSAA Division II-AA semifinal showdown.
While the defense for top-ranked Boyd Buchanan swarmed to sack BGA senior Kaedyn Marable on the opening play of the game and sophomore Davie Hoover intercepted a pass two plays later, hope ran out quickly for the Buccaneers.
Marable was excellent from that point forward, as the Tennessee Titans Mr. Football semifinalist connected with sophomore speedster Max Curry for three touchdown passes in the first half, which included a 79-yard bomb and a short throw over the middle that Curry took 74 yards the rest of the way.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night’s Chattanooga-area prep football playoffs)
Boyd Buchanan vs. BGA on Nov. 21, 2025
While Boyd Buchanan held a 3-0 lead after Lukas Goins’ 27-yard field goal with 8:43 left in the first quarter, third-ranked BGA would score the remaining points in the game to win 49-3 and advance to the BlueCross Bowl for the second year in a row. The Wildcats (12-1) will face second-ranked Franklin Road Academy (11-1) with a state championship on the line at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, at Finley Stadium. FRA defeated BGA in a regular-season matchup on Sept. 26.
The Bucs, who were seeking what would have been their second BlueCross Bowl appearance in three years, finished their season 11-1.
“This is the third loss we have had in three years, and all of those will probably be against teams that went on to win a state championship,” fourth-year Bucs head coach Gary Rankin said. “We have lost three games in three years, and it’s to the state championship guys.
“We were never in the game. They did everything better than us. They were bigger, faster, stronger, and they coached better than us. There wasn’t anything they didn’t do better than us on this field tonight. I don’t know if the outcome would be different if we played them 10 times.”
Marable upped his touchdown total this season to 64 — the dual-threat star has thrown for 52 scores and rushed for 12 — and he has more than 4,000 total yards in 2025. And it’s not just the veterans who shined for the Wildcats.
BGA freshman phenom receiver Maddox Porter made a sensational catch deep down the left sideline, where he caught the ball around the defender’s back, and a few plays later broke off to the front right corner of the end zone for his state-leading 26th touchdown reception of the season to build a 42-3 lead later in the third quarter. Porter already has offers from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and several other high-caliber NCAA Division I programs.
The Bucs were handicapped from the start, too, as Mr. Football semifinalist David Green was severely limited by an ankle injury that prevented him from practicing all week.
Boyd Buchanan’s senior class finished its collective prep career with 43 wins, which included a 36-3 mark over the past three seasons. The Bucs fell to eventual state champion Christ Presbyterian Academy — which moved up this year to DII-AAA — each of the past two years.
“This program is totally different than the way we found it four years ago,” said Rankin, who won four state titles at Murfreesboro’s Riverdale and 13 at Alcoa in previous coaching stops and earlier this season notched his 500th career win. “They did a lot for this program and have a lot to be proud of.
“This game doesn’t define you, though. If it does, you have a problem.”
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.