The 2026 regular season kicks off for local GHSA and TSSAA football teams with a quartet of matchups Thursday night and dozens more Friday.
Here are five prep football games in the Chattanooga area to watch this week, the start of the two-months-plus march toward the postseason and the chase for championships.
Brentwood Academy at Baylor: Not only is this the headliner for opening night locally, Thursday’s 8 p.m. showdown at the Red Raiders’ Heywood Stadium will reverberate across the state and even receive national exposure via ESPN2’s live telecast.
In a rematch of last year’s Division II-AAA BlueCross Bowl state title game that took place at Finley Stadium, this will be a who’s who of future college talent, highlighted by four of the state’s top 10 prospects according to the 247Sports.com rankings, including No. 1 David Gabriel Georges (Baylor running back) and No. 2 Kesean Bowman (Brentwood Academy receiver). Both of those players are committed to the University of Tennessee, along with Eagles linebacker Kenneth Simon II, who’s rated the No. 7 recruit in the Volunteer State.
Also worth noting, this will be the Red Raiders debut for senior quarterback Keegan Crouch, a four-star prospect and Elite 11 selection who’s committed to Ole Miss, as well as junior receiver Antwaun “Cornbread” Adams, a four-star prospect in the 2028 signing class. Both showed the potential of being special during preseason scrimmage work.