Winning field goals and INTs: Recapping a wild opening TSSAA football week

Well, that escalated quickly.

Week 1 of the TSSAA football season has our heads swimming here at The Bootleg . There have already been a few surprises and some wild endings.

How many of you had Ravenwood defeating nine-time defending Class 3A champion Alcoa on the road ? And who saw a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown deciding the Brentwood-Blackman game?

Let’s get to all the tidbits.

Wild, wacky stuff

Here’s an inside look at how a sports story comes together.

The photographers and writers work together constantly. We communicate before the game about what story options are available to us. We discuss them at halftime, then we huddle at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

But no plan can account for the unexpected. That’s where outstanding Tennessean photographer Andrew Nelles and I found ourselves Friday in Brentwood.

After spending all night chatting about what I might be focusing on for the story, Brentwood junior Jackson Allen blew up the entire plan by returning an interception 92 yards for a touchdown to basically finish the Bruins’ 24-14 comeback win against Blackman.

So, we wrote about that.

Things probably weren’t any easier for The Tennessean’s George Robinson, who covered MBA’s 20-18 victory over Pearl-Cohn , courtesy of a 53-yard winning field goal in the final seconds.

Hey, that’s what makes sports fun.

Watch out for Ravenwood

Ravenwood’s 27-17 win at Alcoa probably caused a lot of coffee shop discussion across the state. Alcoa doesn’t lose many home games — or many at all, period — and the Tornadoes blew the Raptors out last season.

Maybe Alcoa’s due for a down year, but maybe not. Maybe the preseason buzz around Ravenwood is true.

Is this the Raptors’ best chance to reach the Class 6A state championship game since it reached the 2019 finals? Femi Babalola and Maverick Chance are both good quarterbacks , and coach Will Hester could potentially use both all season. (It also helps having MTSU commit Ben Hubbard and Auburn commit Donovan Starr , two standout receivers and defensive backs.)

Here’s the number to remember: 21. Ravenwood returned 21 seniors who got significant playing time last season. Experience matters.

One more for the road

I really enjoyed this story from Jacob Shames about Hendersonville football twins Cooper and Riley Jordan .

The boys spent the first 14 years of their lives in Hendersonville. After two years in Franklin, they’re back playing for the Commandos and living their best lives on the football field.

Thanks again for reading The Bootleg .  Our team will see you at a high school football stadium this season.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Winning field goals and INTs: Recapping a wild opening TSSAA football week