By Amber Pennycuff
Williamson County showcases tremendous talent on the field week after week and the 2013 Tennessee Sports Writer’s Association All-State football team picks prove it.
WR Van Jefferson represents the Ravenwood Raptors strong in the Class 6A All-State team. Tennessee commits RaShaasn Gaulden and Vic Wharton III from Independence High School join Jefferson in the cut, as well. And, Franklin’s Corey Fatony rounds up the Williamson County players for the Class 6A All-State team
For the Division II-A All-State team, WKU commit Joe Irby hails from FRA as an OL. Carter Parkey from BGA joins him, and FRA’s Keeling Hunter stands at LB on the All-State team, as well.
2013 was an extremely successful year for Williamson County’s football teams.
Ravenwood’s head coach Will Hester was named 2013 District 11-AA Coach of the Year.
Centennial’s Wes Drewery took home the Offensive Lineman of The Year award, Franklin’s Tyler Beasley stole Defensive Player of the Year, and Franklin’s Josh Filbey was named Defensive Lineman of the Year.
247sports.com ranked several local players in the top 50 of the 2013 Top Tennessee Recruits. These players include: Ensworth’s Corn Elder, Brentwood Academy’s Max Staver, CPA’s James Elliot, and Brentwood Academy’s D’Montre Wade.
Also, many were awarded at the 2013 Mr. Football Awards.
CPA’s Paul Adam’s took home Division I, Class AA Lineman of the Year, Tennessee commit Derek Barnett stole the Division II, Class AA Lineman of the Year, and Ensworth’s D’Andre Ferby snagged the Division II, Class AA Back of the Year award.
The resilient Lions took their talents all the way to the 2013 BlueCross Bowl State Championship against Alcoa. CPA was the only one of our Williamson County teams to make it all the way to the end and remain undefeated throughout the season.
One thing is for sure, most of these games were no cake-walk.
Going back to week 1, CPA’s first game of the season against Brentwood was a doozy. The determining point for the game was JR Osborn’s 36-yard field goal with only 1:16 remaining in the fourth.
It was in Week 3 when we were able to see some county-to-county action. Centennial took a win over the Bruins, Summit fell 7-56 to Independence, and Father Ryan stole a 24-20 win over Brentwood Academy.
Week 5 rolled around, and the competition got even stiffer. Centennial had a 28-7 win over Summit, Independence fell to Ravenwood 14-30, and CPA battled it out with Page for a big 52-16 win.
CPA’s Thursday night game against Milan took place at Vanderbilt, during Week 6, and the Lions took a 24-7 win over the Bulldogs.
And if you weren’t watching football in Week 7, you may have missed out.
Franklin took an epic 24-21 win over the Bruins. The two struggled to take a lead the entire game. Franklin intercepted the ball with only seconds remaining, to keep an undefeated record.
Centennial and Ravenwood battled it out on Cougar stomping grounds. Vanderbilt’s James Franklin hung out in the stands while Centennial made it a game in the second-half. The Cougars tied it up with seven-minutes left in the game, but a late FG by Ravenwood would take a win.
The following week, Centennial took a hard loss to Independence, 31-14.
Week 9 followed with another big game from the Raptors. Franklin broke its undefeated record in OT to Ravenwood with a 23-24 score. This may have been the best game of the year, with two great teams in one great football game.
Week 10 brought Franklin its second loss against top-dog Independence, 28-29. On the other side of town, The Battle of the Woods was on deck. Ravenwood took the MaxPreps recognized tradition with a 22-21 win.
In Week 11, Fairview stood its ground with a huge 57-0 win over Waverly. The Yellow Jackets had an excellent season, even making it all the way to the Quarterfinals against CPA.
Now 2014 is upon us and a new football season is just around the corner.
With seniors moving on and under-classman moving up, it will be interesting to see how this season plays out.
Photo above: CPA Lions by Brian Hill, www.brianhillphotography.smugmug.com
