Bruins play district champions in rematch of Week 3 game By CAROL STUART
Brentwood Home Page
Brentwood High, which finished third in District 11-AAA after Friday's loss to Franklin, will play its 6A first-round football playoff game down the road at its district champ, Independence.

BHS Coach Ron Crawford, no fan of the third-year TSSAA system which has seen changes each year, was in Jackson, Tenn., as head coach of the TACA All-Star West team to pick his team when BHP informed him of the brackets.

"It gives us an opportunity to see if we've improved against a team that beat us earlier in the year," Crawford said Saturday.

Brentwood lost to Independence 13-7 at home on Sept. 2. Bruins' last stand falls against Indy  TSSAA Class 6A playoff bracket  Brentwood falls to Franklin  TSSAA Division II-AA playoff bracket BA defeats McCallie on homecoming

When asked, the Bruins coach said he had never been part of a playoff system that pitted district opponents in the opener. Crawford has coached for 20-plus years including 10 seasons at BHS.

"It's a bad system," he said.

The Brentwood-Independence winner then might face another district foe in the second round, with 11-AAA runner-up Franklin hosting 7-AAA's Smyrna in the first round.

"If nothing else it'll be good gates. The TSSAA will make some good money," Crawford said. "If nothing else, it'll be an easy trip to go to Independence. . . . It was a pretty exciting game the first time. Hopefully we've gotten better and will be competitive."

Crawford said the previous 13-7 loss to Independence in Week 3 came down to what usually decides football games -- turnovers and big plays. He said the Bruins (6-4, 3-2) didn't move the ball on offense and gave up one big play on defense to the Eagles (8-2, 5-0).

"I think our kids will be glad to have the opportunity to play this game," Crawford said.

District 7-AAA in Rutherford County had teams sent to both the Quad 3 to the West with BHS and to Quad 2 in the East. In Quad 3, undefeated 9-AAA champion Mt. Juliet (10-0) is seeded No. 1 and hosts 8th seed Oakland (6-4) in the first round, while 5th seed Siegel (7-3) plays at No. 4 and 12-AAA champ Overton (7-3).

Franklin (7-3) is seeded 3rd and Smyrna (6-4) 6th, and Brentwood is 7th against No. 2 seed Independence. Oakland, Siegel and Smyrna all play in 7-AAA, and Riverdale and Blackman were sent east for the Rutherford County district.

In Class 5A, former Ravenwood head coach Brian Rector's first Centennial team (6-4), which plays with 6A playoff teams in District 11-AAA, made the playoffs with a first-round game at (8-2) Tullahoma. Rector coached RHS to a state title in 2005 in 5A, then the highest class.

In Division II-AA, Brentwood Academy (8-2) finished third in the East/Middle Region and will host Pope John Paul II (2-8) in the first round next Friday. With a victory BA would have to travel to Memphis the next week to play at Christian Brothers (8-2), which got a bye.

Baylor (9-1), which lost to MBA, is seeded No. 1 and defending state champ Ensworth (8-2) is the No. 2 seed in the opposite semifinal bracket. Brentwood Academy's only losses were to Ensworth in Week 9 and to national power Louisville (Ky.) Trinity in the season-opener.

In Class 3A, Christ Presbyterian (9-1) and first-year coach Ingle Martin get a third seed and will play host to Cheatham County (6-4) next Friday. A victory would send CPA to a second-round game with the winner of Goodpasture (7-3)-Grundy County (6-4).