Sheffield, Collier Help Independence Stun Brentwood

Independence wide receivers T.J. Sheffield and Isaiah Collier each had three touchdowns, as the Eagles held off a Brentwood rally to stun the Bruins, 42-31, at Brentwood on Friday night. 

Sheffield, the senior Purdue commitment scored his third touchdown of the evening with 5:59 left in the third quarter. That put the Eagles up 42-17, which proved too big a hole for Brentwood. He ended the night with 11 catches for 286 yards.

The Eagles rolled up an impressive 567 yards to Brentwood’s 369, as quarterback Ethan Cash threw five touchdowns. Cash was 22 of 36 passing for 466 yards.

Collier had eight catches for 170 yards, and added three rushes for 42.

Brentwood quarterback Cade Granzow was 15 of 31 for 220 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. He added 70 yards on 15 carries. Three touchdown passes went to Walker Merrill (six catches, 50 yards).

Independence jumped on Brentwood quickly in the first quarter, with Collier and Sheffield scoring first-quarter touchdowns, with Sheffield’s coming off a 79-yard Cash pass. 

Tabor Miller’s 51-yard, second-quarter field goal finally put Brentwood on the board. 

Cash hit Sheffield with another TD pass, making it 28-10 in the second quarter. A Collier touchdown catch made it 35-10 at half.

Brentwood’s other first-first-half score was Granzow’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Merrill. 

The two hooked up again on a second-half touchdown pass, with Granzow also finding Avery Williams (seven catches, 88 yards)for a second-half scoring toss. 

That loss could prove costly to Brentwood (5-2), which was the only unbeaten team in 6-A Region 6 and beat Ravenwood earlier in the year. Still, a win over Centennial in the season finale would ensure the Bruins of at least a tie.

Independence, meanwhile, can claim a share of the title by beating Dickson County in two weeks, and Ravenwood in the regular season finale. Should it do so, the Eagles would win a two-way tie-breaker with Brentwood by virtue of this win.

Ravenwood, which beat Dickson County on Friday, has its lone region game remaining against the Eagles.

The evening was a big turn-around for Independence, which beat Franklin, 24-7, two weeks ago before taking last week off. The Eagles’ lone loss in the region came to Centennial (62-40) in Week Three. 

Independence travels to CPA next week, while Brentwood hosts Father Ryan.