Football Roundup: Franklin Earns First Playoff Win Since 2020; BHS, NHS, PHS, More Advance

Week 1 of the TSSAA high school football playoffs took place this week as a number of local teams began the march to a potential state championship.

Let's take a look at which Williamson and Davidson County teams advanced and which ones were eliminated.

Class 3A

East Nashville 44 Ceatham County 0

Sycamore 27 Stratford 14

Liberty Creek 27 Fairview 20

White House Heritage 28 Maplewood 9

Class 4A

Pearl-Cohn 36 South Gibson 16

Class 5A

Shelbyville 42 Hillsboro 9

Nolensville 23 Tullahoma 14

The Knights (7-4) held off Tullahoma in one of the tighter matchups for any WillCo school on Friday night.

Tullahoma led 14-13 deep into the second half. But a strip sack and field goal put Nolensville ahead 16-14. They would hold the lead for the remainder of the game, scoring 10 unanswered points.

Landon Smotherman got the Knights on the board with a 94-yard kick return touchdown, and Andrew Ryan put the game away with a rushing score.

Nolensville will travel to Shelbyville (9-1) next week.

Centennial 34 Lincoln County 7

The Cougars (7-4) jumped out on Lincoln County early and held a big lead for most of the game, holding a 28-0 lead at halftime before pumping the breaks.

Azavier Tefteller and Isaac Bonds both returned interceptions to the house, while Carlos Vigil scored a rushing touchdown and Riley Turner launched a 78-yard bomb to Tay Vaughn.

Page 19 Columbia 2

The Patriots (11-0) stayed unbeaten and also continued their streak of holding opponents under 10 points with a defense-first win over Columbia.

The two teams were tied 0-0 at the end of the first and Page led just 5-0 at halftime thanks to a field goal and a safety from Class 5A Mr. Football finalist Brenden Anes.

The offense stepped up in the second half with Colt Brown and William Wiebush notching rushing scores, while the defense remained strong.

Page and Centennial will face off in Rudderville in week 2 of the playoffs.

Class 6A

Stewarts Creek 20 Independence 14

Brentwood 37 Smyrna 21

The Bruins (9-2) led by just one point, 14-13, at halftime before out-scoring Smyrna 23-8 in the second half. Senior running back Gavyn Nelson notched two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving), while quarterback JC White also scored twice, once on the pass to Nelson and once on the ground.

Brentwood also scored two defensive touchdowns: a 30-yard interception return by Jackson Allen and a 90-yard fumble return by Mason Ball.

The Bruins will travel to Stewarts Creek (10-1) next week.

Franklin 28 Antioch 14

For the first time since 2020, the Franklin Admirals (6-5) are in the second round of the playoffs. Franklin opened a 22-0 lead early in the second quarter after Brewer Wilson tossed touchdowns to Luke Thompson, Lucas Young and Sean Gaca.

Wayne Wells tacked on a pair of field goals in the second half to secure the victory.

Franklin visit unbeaten Ravenwood next week.

Ravenwood 42 Cane Ridge 0

Division II-A

GCA 37 Providence Christian 7