On Dec. 1, 2022, Lipscomb Academy routed Christ Presbyterian Academy 42-0 at Finley Stadium in the TSSAA Division II-AA BlueCross Bowl.
That state championship contest was the final game for Lipscomb Academy coach Trent Dilfer, who was moving up to the college ranks to lead the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s football program. Edwin Spillman was a junior linebacker on that Nashville powerhouse, but it would not be the last time he shared a field with Dilfer.
“We’ve always talked about it,” Spillman said in a news conference this week. “Even when we were in high school, we would always talk about how at some point we were going to see each other.”
Spillman, now a redshirt freshman linebacker at Tennessee, will be looking to defeat his former coach Saturday afternoon when the No. 15 Volunteers (2-1) welcome Dilfer’s Blazers (2-1) to Neyland Stadium. The game has a scheduled 12:45 kickoff, and it will be televised on the SEC Network.
Vols sophomore defensive back Kaleb Beasley also played for Dilfer at Lipscomb Academy.