SPRING HILL — Two Williamson County football juggernauts will battle Friday in the Class 6A high school football state quarterfinals.
Unbeaten Summit (12-0), the Class 5A champions from 2020, will host Ravenwood (10-2) for a third consecutive all-county quarterfinal showdown in as many years in Class 6A.
"We figured this matchup could happen again," said Summit coach Brian Coleman, whose team claimed a 49-28 win over the Raptors on Oct. 1. "It's kind of been the theme for Williamson County football each year, having this kind of matchup.
"Hopefully the kids will keep this going."
Summit, paced by twin senior Mr. Football semifinalists and Kentucky commits Destin and Keaten Wade, is coming off a 21-3 win over Brentwood in the second round. Ravenwood went on the road and dispatched previously unbeaten Collierville 32-22 last week.
Both schools have stretched deep into the playoffs recently.
Besides winning the school's first state championship last year, the Spartans also played for the Class 5A title in 2019 and reached the quarterfinal round in 2017.
Ravenwood has reached the quarterfinal round in seven of the last eight years with two finals appearances and the 2015 state championship to boot. The Raptors beat Brentwood in the 2019 quarterfinals en route to a runner-up finish against Maryville and also topped Brentwood in 2018's quarterfinals before falling to Whitehaven in the semifinals.
The first meeting started rather explosively, the teams combining for more than 300 yards of offense in the first 12 minutes. Keaten Wade provided a huge momentum-swinging play by coming down with a deflected Parson pass for an interception in the second quarter.
The Raptors trailed 22-20 at the time, but Summit scored four straight touchdowns to blow open the tight game.
"If anything, we get to go down there and get some of that taste out of our mouth," Hester said. "Maybe they aren't 20 points better than us. We want to prove that we are a good football team as well."
Parson has thrown for more than 2,000 yards with 23 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He's also rushed for 870 yards with 15 more scores.
Destin Wade counters with just over 1,800 yards rushing, 1,047 yards passing and 38 total touchdowns. Keaten Wade has racked up 60.5 tackles with 18 for loss, including five sacks, a blocked punt, interception return for a touchdown and four pass breakups. Teammate Brady Pierce — another do-all senior — leads the team with 65.5 tackles and 14 total TDs. He's caught 24 balls for 580 yards and eight TDs as Destin's top target in the passing game. Both Pierce and Keaten also have six rushing TDs.
"We'll probably see some more Keaten on offense as well," Coleman said. "I think our defense has been playing well. Maybe we have played a bit more conservative on offense, but the defense has been there for us."
Summit entered the playoffs averaging 45 points, but is averaging 24 points in two playoff games. The Spartans defeated Houston 27-7 in the first round. They've allowed just 10 total points in the first two postseason outings.
Hester said his defense has improved week-to-week since that first meeting with Summit. The Raptors have reeled off five straight wins as well, including limiting Region 7-6A opponents Centennial and Independence to a combined 17 points.
"The defense has played better and better for us," he said. "I can't say enough about them.
"We'll see what happens."
Friday's game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. The winner will travel to the winner of Beech (9-3) at Hendersonville (9-3) next week. Ravenwood beat Hendersonville 35-28 on Sept. 24, while Summit topped Beech 39-7 the same night.
On the other side of the bracket, unbeaten Oakland (12-0) travels to upstart Lebanon (11-1), and Maryville (12-0) hosts Farragut (6-6).
Last year, Brentwood defeated Franklin in the quarterfinals to represent the county. The Bruins went on to finish runner-up in the state final against Oakland.
"The fact that we get to practice another week and play another week and earn our right to face Summit again, it means a lot," Ravenwood coach Will Hester said.
Hester's team rolled up more than 430 yards of offense against a stingy Collierville defense last week that had allowed multiple touchdowns in just two games this season prior. Junior quarterback and Florida State commit Chris Parson ran for 127 yards and a touchdown and threw for 129 more with two more TDs to pace Ravenwood, which also received big rushing games from Carter Pace and Kartuah Chapman.
Parson threw for three touchdowns against Summit in the first meeting, including two to lengthy 6-foot-3 wideout Lee Molette, who leads Raptors receivers with 31 catches for 753 yards and eight TDs.
