The Post Route - Playoffs second round
Your guide to high school football games involving Madison County teams this week.
Jackson Central-Merry (9-2) at Milan (10-1)
Previous meeting: Sept. 20 - JCM 47, Milan 38
Players to watch: JCM RB Jonas Patterson
Common opponents: The rest of Region 6-2A. Milan went unbeaten against the rest of the league to win the region championship, and JCM went 5-1 against the rest of the league.
What to know: Milan is known for its ground game, centered around Mr. Football semifinalist Jaydon Peete. The Cougars might’ve surprised the Bulldogs’ defense with their ability to hang with them on the scoreboard, particularly with their passing game as Terell Williams found a number of different targets to throw to that night that went for big gains and scores before JCM eventually pulled to a two-score lead in the fourth quarter. Milan is coached by Wade Comer, one of the most experienced head coaches in West Tennessee, who’s probably put in a few defensive adjustments to try to cut down on the Cougars’ ability to throw the ball.
More potential history: This has been a running theme all season in this part of The Post Route and JCM, but here are a couple of more markers the team can match if they were to win this game - 2005 is the most recent year the Cougars both won 10 games and made it to the state quarterfinals.
Franklin Grace (5-6) at Jackson Christian (9-1)
Previous meeting: Inaugural meeting
Players to watch: Jackson Christian DL Sky Staten
Common opponents: TCA - Grace lost to TCA 49-7 on Aug. 30 at home, and Jackson Chrisian defeated TCA 35-21 on Nov. 1.
What to know: Jackson Christian didn’t play a game last week since they got a first-round bye since they won their region championship. Head coach Darby Palmer is hopeful that any nagging injuries plaguing any of his players were got a chance to heal during the off-week. Grace comes in having struggled throughout the season. With the exception of a couple, nearly all of their losses weren’t close at all. Grace would struggle to score, usually scoring once, and their opponents would score at least 28 or 35 points, and they started having won one of their first five games. The Eagles, meanwhile, have quietly gone about their business after struggling in one game early in the season, and they’ve outscored their opponents 288-59 for an average score of 48-9.8.
Double-digit tradition?: A Jackson Christian would give the Eagles their third consecutive 10-win season and their second trip to the state semifinals in three seasons.
Trinity Christian (7-4) at Columbia Academy (8-3)
Previous meeting: TCA 54, Columbia Academy 35 in the first round of the 2021 playoffs
Players to watch: TCA LB Gabe Lee
Common opponents: Franklin Grace - Columbia Academy beat them 40-7 on Nov. 1, and TCA beat them 49-7 on Aug. 30.
What to know: The Lions didn’t play their best game last week and still came away with a 35-6 victory in the first round. The week before, they had a clear shot at winning their region championship before letting the game get away from them in the final minutes. The Lions haven’t hit their peak yet as a team but could be getting close if they put together four quality quarters of play. Columbia Academy actually lost the last time they played a West Tennessee team when they traveled to Huntingdon on Sept. 13. That ended an early run in which they played the tougher part of their schedule in which they’d gone 2-2 with a close win and a couple of multiple-score losses. Since then, they’ve gone 6-1 with a big loss to Nashville Christian and five wins against teams that either didn’t make the playoffs or made the postseason with a losing record.
Preseason hosts: This will be TCA’s second trip to Columbia Academy this year for football purposes. During the first week back from dead period each summer, Darren Bowling takes his team off to a camp a couple hours away from home. Columbia Academy’s facilities are where the Lions have gone the past two summers.
Battle Ground Academy (9-2) at University School of Jackson (10-1)
Previous meeting: BGA 41, USJ 10 in the 2017 Division II-AA quarterfinals
Players to watch: USJ TE Mills Terry
Common opponents: Webb School of Bell Buckle - BGA beat them 55-14 on Oct. 25, and USJ beat them 56-34 last week.
What to know: USJ’s two biggest wins have come in the last two weeks, and last week’s win was a shootout with a team that had a hard time stopping RB Noah Spencer. He didn’t have as many carries as he did the week before against Lausanne, but he racked up the most yards he’s had all season in one game and most touchdowns - 353 and six. BGA’s defense tackles noticeably better than Webb did. In BGA’s two losses, they were held to two or three scores, scoring 16 points in one and 14 in the other. In their nine victories, 32 is the fewest points they’ve scored, surpassing 40 points six times, 50 points four times and 60 points three times. One possible way to gauge BGA’s defensive progression this year is to look at their win over Knoxville Webb in Week 1 - 68-41, then look at the final score of their game last week - 42-7.
National nomination: Spencer’s rushing week last week - 28 carries for 353 yards and six touchdowns - has garnered USJ’s running back to be one of 25 athletes mentioned in SI.com’s national Male Athlete of the Week poll. Voting is open until Monday, and as of Tuesday afternoon, Spencer was in third place with 17 percent of the vote.
Compiled by Brandon Shields
