PLAYOFF PREVIEWS: Brentwood Squares off with Kirby; Ravenwood Battles Houston

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By SAM McGAW

The Brentwood Bruins take on the Kirby Cougars in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday, while Ravenwood travels to Germantown to battle Houston.

See below for a closer look at those matchups:

Kirby (4-6) at Brentwood (6-4), 7 p.m. Friday

The Brentwood Bruins host their first playoff game since 2012 on Friday when they battle the Kirby Cougars.

Brentwood closed out the regular season with five wins in its final six games. It finished second in Region 7-5A with last week’s 33-14 win over Clarksville and Centennial’s win over Henry County.

Junior quarterback Carson Shacklett spearheads the Bruins.

He’s passed for 1,094 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions, while also rushing for a team-high 335 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His top targets are wide receivers Parker Bullion (40 rec., 416 yds, 2 TDs) and Will Leone (14 rec., 250 yds, 3 TDs) and tight end Christian LaBreche (21 rec., 300 yds, 3 TDs).

Brentwood has averaged 37.17 points per contest over its last six games.

Kirby has allowed 11.67 points per game during its three-game winning streak.

The Bruins’ defense is led by linebackers Cj Grissim and Will Stanworth.

Grissim has a team-high 82 tackles and three fumble recoveries, while Stanworth has 56 tackles, two fumble recoveries and an interception.

The duo will look to help stifle a Cougars’ offense that averages 23.1 PPG.

Ravenwood (5-5) at Houston (4-5), 7 p.m. Friday

The Ravenwood Raptors travel to Germantown Friday to take on the Houston Mustangs in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

Ravenwood took down Antioch 41-12 to round out its regular season last week.

Ravenwood RB Carter Nelson
Ravenwood RB Carter Nelson (Photo by Deb Scally)

Running back Carter Nelson rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns in the victory, while receiver John Rall had three catches for 84 yards and a score.

The duo will look to keep rolling against a Houston defense that’s allowed 40 points or more in five games this season.

The Raptors average 22.1 PPG.

Houston’s offense posts 19.44 PPG.

Sam McGaw is sports editor of Home Page Media Group. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SamMcGawSports.