CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) — After 10 weeks of high school football, we are left with only three remaining teams in Clarksville. The Clarksville Wildcats, Kenwood Knights and Montgomery Central Indians will all be in action on Friday night hoping to keep their seasons alive. All three teams will be on the road this week.
Clarksville High Wildcats
Class 6A: Clarksville (6-4, 2-3) at Cane Ridge (7-3, 6-0).
The Wildcats will make their fifth consecutive playoff appearance at Cane Ridge on Friday. This is the first season in 6A for the Wildcats, and it has been a successful experience thus far. Despite several key personnel adjustments at the beginning of the season, Clarksville won two key region games against local opponents to clinch their spot.
As for Cane Ridge, the Ravens swept Region 6, Class 6A. Their only losses came against Father Ryan, Christ Presbyterian Academy and Class 4A powerhouse, Pearl Cohn.
“The running back is electric,” said Isaac Shelby Clarksville head football coach about the Ravens. “The quarterback is a really good football player, he makes something out of nothing a whole lot when things break down.”
Shelby added that Ravens are also very good on defense and will feature a defensive end that has already committed to the University of Memphis.
In the past two playoff appearances, the Wildcats have won their first round matchup and played in the second round but have yet to make it further. They will aim to start that run on Friday.
Kenwood Knights
Class 5A: Kenwood (5-5, 2-3) at Memphis Central (8-2, 5-1)
The Kenwood Knights have been one of the most interesting teams in the area. They have several of the areas top athletes including quarterback, Jaylen Washington, and have put up two record breaking point performances on the season. The Knights enter this year’s playoffs as the three seed from Region 7, Class 5A.
Memphis Central’s two losses came in their final two weeks of the regular season. One of those losses came against Christian Brothers, the other was in the final week against Munford for the Region 8 title. Memphis Central would lose that game by one point.
As for the scouting of the Knight’s opponents Leslie Greer Kenwood’s head coach said, “They’ve got a really good running back. They are an odd front on defense. They’ve got players all around, they are a really good football team.”
Greer continued by complimenting the oppositions running back by saying, “The running back is probably going to be the best running back that we’ve faced all year. He is pretty good.”
After missing the playoffs last year, the Knights are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019. If the Knights are able to pull off the victory, it will be only the third time in program history that they have made it out of the first round.
Montgomery Central Indians
Class 4A: Montgomery Central (8-2, 6-2) at Jackson South Side (5-5, 4-1)
The Montgomery Central Indians made some noise this season in Class 4A; however, that may not have been the initial thought entering the season with powerhouses Tullahoma, Pearl Cohn, and Marshall County in the region. The Indians made sure to put an exclamation mark on this season by starting 7-0 with a 5-0 region mark and securing a playoff spot before facing one of the aforementioned teams. The Indians defeated Marshall County to take the third spot, but in their final game of the season Central gave everything they had to Pearl Cohn and only lost by 8 points.
As for Jackson South Side, the Hawks had a sluggish start to the season losing four straight games. The Hawks played their best football late in the season, however, winning five of their last six games including four region games to claim the two seed from Region 6.
“They’ve definitely got some weapons that we will have to contain,” said Jeff Tomlinson Montgomery Central head coach about the Hawks. “The good thing about that is I don’t know if there’s any worse or better than what we’ve seen over the last three weeks.”
As for the defense Tomlinson said, “they like to press the line of scrimmage and really make you hold that block on the first level.”
Tomlinson also mentioned that due to the Indians and Firebirds moving their game up to last Thursday night, they had the chance to travel down to Jackson South Side to see the atmosphere that they would be facing.
The Indians are playing in the playoffs for the seventh time as a program. Their last trip was a second round finish in 2018. The Indians will look to duplicate that season’s success and hopefully add to it starting this Friday.
Listen to the full interviews with the coaches starting at 6 p.m. Thursday on Sports Night on ESPN Clarksville online, or on-air 104.1 FM/540 AM.