The Bootleg: End-zone celebrations, what to watch in TSSAA football Week 3

We at The Tennessean predict 10 TSSAA football games each week as part of a friendly picking competition between staff members.

Entering Week 3, I’m leading high school sports editor George Robinson in our season-long quest. His record is 11-9. Mine is 14-6 after going 9-1 last week. (Not to brag — we don't celebrate in the end zone here at The Bootleg .)

Picking the correct high school football scores gets a little easier as the season goes on, but not by much. Surprises occur . Schedules become more difficult.

You must savor the good weeks.

Welcome back to The Bootleg , our high school sports newsletter. Let’s dive in.

Dream a little dream with me

Brentwood Academy defeated Brentwood 16-6 last week , and there’s no telling when the city of Brentwood’s original public vs. private school battle will resume.

The schools' two-year contract is now over with no plans to resume the series. We wrote about where the series goes from here and talked to some people who want it to continue.

It got us thinking: What are the dream Tennessee high school football public vs. private school matchups we wish we could see this season? (Or every season, for that matter.) You can see our list here .

The top Division II-AAA and Class 6A powers ought to find a way to play each other more often. The DII-AAA private schools have a legitimate claim as the top teams in the state. But the largest public schools deserve a chance to prove otherwise. Give us Oakland vs. Baylor. Give us Ensworth vs. Maryville.

We can dream.

Where do we go from here?

Two weeks of TSSAA football doesn’t offer a ton of clarity, but there’s enough to create a conversation.

For instance, we can confirm CPA is the Division II-AA favorite by a long shot. Our USA TODAY sports network high school writers in Tennessee were a little conflicted on that in the preseason — only three of them picked the Lions to win a gold ball . Three of them picked Knoxville Webb, which lost 61-48 to BGA in Week 1. The others picked Boyd-Buchanan, which is 2-0.

Take a moment to appreciate CPA’s two-game resume. Ingle Martin’s team owns arguably the two best wins in the state, defeating Brentwood Academy and defending Class 4A champion Pearl-Cohn .

On the flip side, Nashville powers Lipscomb Academy, Pearl-Cohn and MBA are a combined 1-6 after two weeks and must find a way to bounce back. There’s no shame in those records— all those teams have played tough schedules.

But Lipscomb Academy (0-2) and Pearl-Cohn (0-2) must find a way to keep the swagger that’s helped them combine for three state championships in the last three years.

And MBA has to shake off a 35-14 home loss to Ensworth . Things really snowballed on the Big Red at home , which doesn’t happen often.

We’ll have a few more answers after Week 3's games.

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: The Bootleg: End-zone celebrations, what to watch in TSSAA football Week 3