Inside Brentwood Academy football's Week 6 loss to Baylor: 'I want to see them in November'
Editor's note: The Tennessean is running a season-long, all-access series that takes you inside the Brentwood Academy football program and its rich history. This week we bring you inside the Eagles' 7-6 loss against top-ranked Baylor. To follow along with the project, please subscribe to The Tennessean here .
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains.
In many ways — some obvious, some not — Brentwood Academy's 7-6 near miss in an unrelenting Friday night September mist could be summed up by that 10-word line made famous by Kevin Costner's Crash Davis character in the 1988 classic film "Bull Durham."
Sometimes, like Friday against top-ranked Baylor , all three can be true simultaneously.
"You became a team tonight," assistant coach Michael Vaughn told the Eagles, who gathered around him on soggy Carlton Flatt Field after the game.
Yes, sir!
"No. 1 team in the state, and we kicked their butt and they know it," Vaughn, the first Black student and football player in school history, continued. "Keep your head up."
That was the win, especially in the wake of their 41-9 defeat seven days earlier to the other Chattanooga boarding school, McCallie.
Then it was first-year coach Paul Wade 's turn.
"Can I get a two-clap?" he asked.
He really wasn't asking as much he was insisting.
Clap clap.
"Did you see the way they freakin' acted?" Wade said of Baylor, which not long before this gathering had invaded his team's sideline, resulting in an exchange of words and some pushes and shoves before cooler heads prevailed. "They freaking celebrated."
Wade told his players how much he loved them. How proud he was of such a showing after such an embarrassing loss.
Vaughn's words were spot on: The Eagles became a team on this night.
"Celebrating? Are you kidding me? The team is supposed to be above everything," Wade continued.
He shared with his team what Baylor coach Erik Kimrey had shared with him after the game a few moments earlier.
"He said, 'I do not want to see y'all in November,' " Wade said. "I want to see them in November."
'BA doesn't celebrate losses'
Sometimes you lose.
The Eagles lost the game. They dropped to 3-3. History, at least the kind written in black and white, will reflect that.
That notion wasn't lost on Brentwood Academy senior quarterback and Tennessee football commit George MacIntyre .
MacIntyre hates losing.
Hates, with a capital H-A-T-E-S.
"I don't think it was a statement by any means," MacIntyre said after completing 17 of 32 pass attempts for 189 yards. "We lost.
"BA doesn't celebrate losses. It shouldn't be that way. Kind of a new concept to me, but I think a lot of people, a lot of players, did everything they could do to win."
MacIntyre, though, did concede that the loss had at least one benefit. Had the Eagles had another dud Friday, this season could have headed in the same direction as last year's 2-10 disaster .
BEST OF WEEK 6: Ranking Nashville area's top individual, team performances from TSSAA football Week 6
WHO'S GOT NEXT? Franklin's Brewer Wilson throws 5 TDs to lead Nashville area's top performers for Week 6
THE BEAT GOES ON: Brennan Rexrode shows he's heart of Nolensville football defense with only TD in win vs Centennial
"Kind of what it felt like last year," he said of the McCallie game, "Everything was just about to start going downhill. Our sideline really fought not to have that energy, to keep positive energy."
The Eagles had senior captain/linebacker Gavin Schaffer to thank for that.
'We have the best freaking quarterback in the state. We'll be fine.'
And sometimes it rains.
The "sometimes you win" part of Costner's line is pretty easy to decipher. Same with "sometimes you lose."
Those things are a part of life. Part of the journey.
The "sometimes it rains" portion is the unpredictable part, the gray area, the fork in the road.
It symbolizes the times when things don't go to plan.
Before the game, Schaffer addressed his team in the locker room, where there are constant reminders of this year's "DO MORE" mantra.
Schaffer had 41⁄2 tackles, including 21⁄2 for a loss of nine yards. He also had a sack.
"I love the fact that Gavin said, 'Buy in,' about 10 times," Wade said. "If you buy in, it's unbelievable."
He also encouraged the Eagles to have some "dog" in 'em. Some bark.
"You talked to me last week and I told you, 'We're not going to lose at home,' " Schaffer said. "We did lose, but they're the No. 1 team in the state."
The "but" — less an excuse and more a reality. Schaffer said this year feels so different than last.
Everything about it feels different.
This Brentwood Academy team wasn't supposed to compete with that Baylor team.
That's a fact.
This Brentwood Academy team did compete with that Baylor team. That's a fact.
"Our defense was lights-out. Seven points," Schaffer said. "Offense, we'll get that rolling. That's no problem at all. We have the best freaking quarterback in the state. We'll be fine."
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) . Follow his work here .
Meet Bill Brown, the man who founded Brentwood Academy, hired Carlton Flatt
FRIENIMIES: Stephon Shivers had full beard by 7th grade. Georgia football commit now stars at Brentwood Academy
GOOD OLD DAYS: What happens at a BA reunion with some of Carlton Flatt's first players? Lots of love, laughs
