Hillsboro vs. Oakland to be shown on ESPNU
Two of the top Division I high school football programs in Middle Tennessee — Hillsboro and Oakland — will have a national audience when they square off in their Week 2 matchup at Ray Hughes Stadium in Murfreesboro.
The game, which is set for Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU, is part of the annual ESPN High School Football Kickoff Series, a three-day event that will feature 10 high school football games from around the country.
“If you look back at last year’s game it was a great game,” Oakland coach Kevin Creasy said, referring to last season’s 36-28 triumph over Hillsboro. “It was a hard-fought game between two programs that are in two different classifications. Both programs represent their classifications well and both have top talent.”
In addition to both squads making deep postseason runs a season ago, a handful of top collegiate football recruits will also be on display when the reigning Class 5A quarterfinalist Burros take on the Class 6A semifinalist Patriots square off.
“I think what (ESPN) is looking for is those kind of athletes — the ones that are being recruited heavily,” Hillsboro coach Craig Clayton said. “Of course they have several players who are highly ranked, and we have a few guys with some pretty good offers, too. I think that's what they're looking for."
JaCoby Stevens, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound rising Oakland senior, is the top-rated athlete in the country and one of just two five-star recruits in Tennessee according to 247Sports, while fellow Patriots Kaleb Oliver (S) and Elijah Dobbins (OG) are also Division I prospects.
The Burros, meanwhile, boast one of the area’s top defensive lineman in rising senior Ben Hutch, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound three-star prospect who is considering scholarship offers from Texas A&M, Louisville and Memphis, among others.
Other notable recruits for Hillsboro include wide receiver JaVonta Payton and defensive back Matthew Jackson.
“They wanted to get at least one game from the Middle Tennessee area, and Oakland and Hillsboro are both filled with Division I talent,” Creasy said. “It makes for an appealing game.”
Both squads will also be coming off short weeks as Hillsboro and Oakland will play their Week 1 contests on Saturday, Aug. 20.
“It just makes it that much harder,” said Clayton, whose Burros take on Pearl-Cohn at Vanderbilt Stadium on Aug. 20. “Usually we like to take a day off Saturday, but we won’t be able to do that this time. We’ll play Saturday and be back Sunday morning getting after it.”
The Patriots play Jackson North Side at MTSU on Aug. 20.
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.
2016 ESPN High School Football Kickoff Series
Aug. 26
Hillsboro vs. Oakland, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Basha (Ariz.) vs. Pinnacle (Ariz.), 10 p.m. (ESPNU)
Aug. 27
Pine-Richland (Pa.) vs. St. Edward (Ohio), 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Heritage (Texas) vs. Lone Star (Texas), 12:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saguaro (Ariz.) vs. Valor Christian (Colo.), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
St. John Bosco (Calif.) vs. St. Xavier (Ohio), 5 p.m. (ESPNU)
IMG Academy (Fla.) vs. Grayson (Ga.), 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
American Heritage (Fla.) vs. Colquitt County (Ga.), 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Bishop Gorman (Nev.) vs. Cedar Hill (Texas), 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Aug. 28
Trinity Christian (Fla.) vs. Cocoa (Fla.), 2 p.m. (ESPN2)