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Week 9 takeaways
What to take away from each result in rural West Tennessee in Week 9
Week 9 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
Early look at playoff races in each region
Who's in the playoffs, who's not, who's in contention for region championships
Top 10 teams after Week 8
Here's a look at the latest top 10 in rural West Tennessee
Week 8 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
West TN Blitz top 10 after Week 7
Here's a look at the latest top 10 in rural West Tennessee
Week 7 Takeaways
What to take away from each result in rural West Tennessee in Week 7
Week 7 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
West TN Blitz top 10 after Week 6
Here's a look at the latest top 10 in rural West Tennessee
Week 6 Takeaways
What to take away from each result in rural West Tennessee in Week 6
Week 6 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
Blitz Top 10 after Week 5
A couple of teams re-enter the ranking
Quick hits
The Bruins are fresh off a run to Chattanooga and the state championship game. While they had a hard time competing with one of the top assembled teams in the Nashville area in that game, their season accomplishments were a list of things most programs would love including a region championship, undefeated region schedule and being a failed two-point conversion in the final minute on the road away from a perfect regular season.
There are 22 seniors on this team. That would be big in Class 6A or Division II-AAA, but it should help the Bruins compete again for a region championship and another possible run to Chattanooga.
While the offense got a lot of the attention with an average of about 33.5 points per game scored and a running back that was a semifinalist for Mr. Football, the defense was salty, averaging a little less than 13 points per game. If you take out the state championship game and the 59 points allowed in that one, that average drops to about 8.7 points per game.
Stephen Britton is the Bruins’ new offensive coordinator. Britton was a longtime assistant under the legendary Gary Rankin, who’s the winningest coach in TSSAA football history, and was essentially Rankin’s right-hand man in his last few years coaching at Alcoa and his tenure at Boyd-Buchanan.
The Bruins have a number of guys with NCAA Division I FBS scholarship offers. Defensive back Bradley Stamper committed in June to play for Memphis. Tight end Jake Payne - who will be a junior this season - has four announced FBS offers from Maryland, Memphis, Mississippi State and Purdue.
Position groups
Offensive line — This will be the backbone of the team. There are seven seniors this year. Not all of them were starters last year, but they were part of the regular rotation. Pritchard said they’re all equally good, and he’d put an eighth player from the junior class in the group too and wait until late in preseason to decide on a starting lineup that could change throughout the year.
Backfield — Drew Davis and Ben Spencer are competing for time at running back to be the starter replacing Jackson Pugh. Caleb Cross is a senior trying to earn some time and game reps too. Creech was the starting quarterback last year and played some meaningful snaps in 2024 too. He’s settled into the offense and is handling more of the load mentally.
Receivers — There’s a lot of experience coming back for this group as all but one contributor is back. It’s about as deep with the number of players with ability to play well on Friday nights as the line up front. They could have as many as nine guys have the ball thrown in their direction on any given Friday.
Defensive line — Just like with the offensive line, there are at least six guys who can contribute here on Friday nights, which means they have enough for a first and second string for any three-lineman sets they might want to line up in.
Linebackers — This is the deepest group on the defensive side of the ball. Eli Yandell, Sean Dolan, Whit Barnes, Paul Rodgers and Vance Johnson all played a lot of minutes and made big plays at different times. Yandell is a four-year starter. Will Snider will play some in that role too.
Secondary — Stamper, Hudson Rushing and Deuce Davenport were all big players here last year. Jacob Snider was all-state and all-region. Drew Davis played a lot of time and got some big interceptions.
Special teams — Cohen Nabors was the region’s Kicker of the Year and is back this year. Sam Hines will be long-snapper. The coaching staff was waiting until later in the preseason to decide on punter and returners.
2026 stats
No stats yet this season. They appear here once a game's book has been read and checked.