FRANKLIN — I still wonder about what could have been two years ago when COVID-19’s effects first slammed the brakes on all normalcy.
The cascade of cancellations as we all locked down meant the cancellation of state high school basketball tournaments and all of spring sports that first year, not to mention so much more on a national level. It was flat-out scary and depressing.
I was in Murfreesboro covering the girls high school basketball championships and looking forward to continue watching the Nolensville Lady Knights battle for a state title.
After winning their opener in their first trip to the state tournament, everything was canceled before they played in the state semifinals. Most of the county’s spring sports athletes didn’t even get to compete. The end of 2020 extended the “new normal” of living life with COVID as sports returned last fall, but with a bevy of protocols and more health scares.
Unfortunately, this year has spelled much of the same in terms of the daunting virus, but there’s more familiarity in our sports scene, especially with fans in the stands.
High school sports returned in full this year — and Williamson County once again was represented across the board.
Early in 2021, I covered two budding powerhouse wrestling programs in Fairview and Summit. The Yellow Jackets won the Class A-AA Dual Wrestling title — the first state team title in the school’s history. The joke afterward was how the team, family members and coaches struggled to pose for the championship photo.
“None of us have done this before,” then-junior Jacob Clevenger said laughingly.
Both teams shined again in the individual state tournaments later in February. That state tournament wasn’t the same without Independence’s Tanner Willett and a banged-up Riley Lippincott of Nolensville competing. Stories featuring those two from the tournament in Chattanooga still resonate with me.
Riley Lippincott of Nolensville battles through a back injury to pin his opponent in the Class A-AA state quarterfinal round in the 132-pound division in February in Chattanooga. It was his final high school match.
Lippincott, a 2021 graduate, provided one more gutsy performance to reach the podium a final time in the A-AA tournament, overcoming essentially a stress fracture in his back to win a match to at least qualify for a podium finish.
Willett, another 2021 grad and state title contender leading up to the tournament, missed his final tournament of his high school career completely. The four-year captain for the Eagles suffered an asthma attack so bad he burst an air sac and busted a hole in his lung, sending him to the hospital in critical condition the night before the first day of the state tournament.
Both kids showed incredible resiliency, and I’ll always remember their interviews and stories.
Fairview’s Riley Bennet was a highlight from the state wrestling finals, winning his first state championship after settling for runner-up in his first three trips to the finals. I’ll also never forget how he waited to celebrate with his coaches — including dad, Jeff — until after he gave a hand shake to his opponent, his coaches and the officials — a true class act for his entire career was Bennett.
Only one Division I basketball team advanced to the state tournament from the county in March, but it was a long time coming for the Page girls. The Lady Patriots — after a tough opening-round draw — fell in their state opener but reached the big stage for the first time in school history. That entire team returned and is already off to a great start to the season with only one loss.
I still think the biggest phone call I received the entire year happened in the second week of January when Brentwood legend Barbara Campbell called me to announce her retirement after 33 years and 16 volleyball state titles.
Former Brentwood volleyball coach Barbara Campbell was surprised with a retirement celebration at Brentwood High School in late May. In January, she retired after 33 years and 16 state championships.
“It’s heartbreaking, it really is,” said Campbell, who overcame a stroke to join her team for one more state championship in October 2020 — her program’s record-setting eighth consecutive Class AAA title.
Later in the year, I was able to join her family, dozens of former players and their families for her official retirement. Some of my biggest moments in local sports feature Barb and her talented teams. I’ll always hold her to the highest regard beyond her unrivaled coaching and teaching achievements.
The coaching carousel was a big one this year. In football, Brentwood’s Ron Crawford moved on, Franklin’s Donnie Webb stepped down and, most recently, Indy’s Scott Blade ended his long tenure. Longtime area coach Will Hester did make his official return to Ravenwood before the start of the season, but it was a big adjustment without some of the pillars of local football.
Basketball added plenty of new faces as well. Brentwood is still adjusting to newly named coaches for both boys and girls with Troy Bond taking over for Greg Shirley and Marcel Williams being elevated in place of Myles Thrash. Independence also added Mark Wilkins and Tony Hill for this season as the other school with both coaches replaced on the hardwood.
Back to the timeline — sort of. I enjoyed following bowling closely for the first time, really, as the Franklin girls reached the program’s first final (they are eyeing a return later this month), and by the time Spring Fling 2021 rolled around in May, our local teams were making up for a lost season.
Brentwood Academy’s Mensi Stiff winds up for her record-breaking shot put in May. The now-junior shattered a record set in 1984 with a throw of nearly 49 feet.
The county picked up multiple state track and field titles, including a state-record heave from then-sophomore Mensi Stiff of Brentwood Academy. Her shot-put throw of 48 feet, 11.5 inches, shattered a state record set way back in 1984.
The Ravenwood boys earned a tennis team title during Spring Fling, and in boys soccer, Page and Grace Christian Academy both settled for runner-up finishes, with the Patriots falling in an absolute heartbreaker as Sevier County scored in the final seconds for a 1-0 victory in the Class AA final.
“What can I say, this really stinks,” veteran Page coach Nate Clapp said afterward.
Sevier County scored with 15 seconds left in regulation to secure a 1-0 win over Page in the Class AA state championship on May 28 in Murfreesboro. The Lady Patriots also found success by capturing the state championship in October.
After the restart to the annual marathon close to the high school sports season, Williamson County Schools announced a partnership with the Tennessee Titans to launch the state’s first girls flag football league. The announcement came in June, and the first six-week, eight-game season will debut in March.
“I feel like a lot of girls have always wanted to play football, because it’s such a popular sport,” current Page senior Tia Atkinson said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but I just thought I’d never have the opportunity until now.”
June also included the always-special WILLCO Awards, as the annual event made its return to the red carpet at The Factory at Franklin to celebrate the eight team titles, seven runners-up, 13 individual champions and 14 individual runners-up in the 2020-21 school year.
The fall sports season really kind of kicked off as we followed a group of Nolensville youngsters who reached the Little League World Series in early August, just before the start of the nearly normal football, girls soccer, volleyball and cross country seasons.
In September, I attended the most unique homecoming game ever as the Page girls soccer team — later state champs themselves — filled in for the football team to take the field on homecoming Friday night. I love the concept, and like so many of the girls that night, I hope it’s something that can become more common practice.
The Page High School girls soccer team celebrates scoring a goal during a special homecoming game in September 2021.
By October, the Nolensville girls provided an incredibly rare feat by winning a third consecutive state volleyball championship after moving up from Class AA the previous two years to win Class AAA. They dominated Ravenwood in the final even though the Lady Raptors had rolled into the final in convincing fashion.
Battle Ground Academy also clinched the school’s first Division II-A championship in volleyball that same week in Murfreesboro.
Franklin’s Sophia DiPaolo and Brentwood Academy eighth grader Blades Brown raced to individual golf titles early in October. DiPaolo clinched the school’s first individual title since 1996, and her 4-under 136 (68-68) in the championship tied the second-lowest mark in state history. Brown won his state title by six strokes and matched the seventh-lowest two-round score in state history.
The busy month included the Page girls winning the Class AA state soccer title. Battle Ground Academy fell in the DII-A final, while Ravenwood’s quest for a third Class AAA championship fell short in the state semifinals.
One of the more incredible sports moments for me came around the same time when I followed my wife, Carrie, to New York to support her in the 50th running of the iconic New York City Marathon. Watching her cruise through all five boroughs and cross the finish line in her first marathon still brings tears to my eyes. That will be forever special for this sports reporter (even after she made me compete in multiple running events leading up to the marathon).
Around the same time, the Brentwood girls repeated as state cross country champions, stretching their unbeaten streak to two years. As in, every cross country meet locally and out of state the team competed in for two years, the Lady Bruins won.
Ravenwood sophomore Miles Ramer added an individual title at the state finals as well.
Later in November came the football playoffs, which led to finals appearances by Summit in Class 6A and Page in Class 5A, along with Christ Presbyterian Academy in Division II-AA. All settled for runner-up finishes, but not without some incredible moments all along the way.
Page’s Max Collins hauled in the game-winning touchdown on Nov. 26 to cap a frenzied finish in Franklin as the local Patriots rallied for a 56-52 win against the visiting Henry County Patriots in the Class 5A state semifinals.
Without a doubt, Page’s stunning 56-52 state semifinal win in Rudderville over Henry County will remain etched in local lore for decades to come. The Patriots — somehow — rallied to erase two separate 17-point deficits in the fourth quarter to win on a Jake McNamara touchdown pass to Max Collins in the final seconds. The Rudderville boys outscored their visitors 35-21 in the fourth quarter alone.
“Incredible,” is all a speechless Page coach Charles Rathbone could mutter initially.
Summit’s Destin and Keaten Wade further cemented their local legend status with that third consecutive state finals appearances. The twins led the Spartans to the Class 5A finals in 2019, the Class 5A championship in 2020 and another silver ball in Class 6A in 2021. Both were honored as Mr. Football finalists, with Destin capturing the award. Keaten will play in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio this weekend.
Destin and Keaten Wade guided the Summit football team to a third consecutive state championship game in December. The twins led the Spartans to a 46-10 record in four years with a state championship and two runner-up trophies.
“They are gifted athletes, yes, but their work ethic is so good,” Summit coach Brian Coleman said. “A lot of gifted athletes don’t do anything with their gifts. These two work hard, their teammates want to work hard for them. It’s the culmination of being great teammates and what made a great team.”
That team went 46-10 in four seasons with the Wades, who officially inked with Kentucky on Dec. 15.
Beyond the local scene, countless former stars continued to find success beyond the county’s borders. One notable athlete is former Franklin multi-sport star Garrison Mathews, who signed a four-year contract with the Houston Rockets after a torrid streak to help turn around the franchise’s rocky start to the season. Similarly, former Brentwood Academy legend Darius Garland is producing an All-Star-worthy season for Cleveland in the NBA.
A final local story that deserves recognition this year and has turned into more of an ongoing project for this reporter included another WCS partnership with the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. The school brought the NFL’s first student section to a game against the Jaguars earlier last month.
To top it off, students not only attended the game, they worked it. Local high schoolers produced professional-quality work aired leading up to and during the NFL game. The ongoing partnership is something special, and beyond transitioning into new high school sports seasons recently, it provided a special end-of-the-year highlight to witness and cover in 2021.
However, as my colleague Joe Williams recently said, enough looking back now, let’s look forward instead. Here’s to a wonderful 2022.
Keep up with the Williamson Herald sports team, and we’ll be there for all the memorable moments to come.
