Week 3 takeaways: Brentwood Academy loses to McCallie again, Gallatin's Briggs gives encore

The first week of region play is over. On to Week 4 and one step closer to the midpoint of the season. But before we get ahead of ourselves, here are five takeaways from Week 3.

Brentwood Academy loses to McCallie — again

Brentwood Academy entered the season as a four-time defending state champion in the largest classification in Division II.

If the Eagles want to make it a fifth straight, they will need to do it taking a similar path to 2018.

McCallie defeated Brentwood Academy 28-23, marking the second straight year the Blue Tornado beat the Eagles in the regular season. McCallie beat BA 31-27 in 2018.

McCallie's Gavin Cagle scored the game-winner on a 15-yard run with 46 seconds remaining. It was his sixth carry of the night.

BJ Harris and DeAntelo Hardy ran for 148 and 99 yards, respectively, for McCallie (3-0, 1-0 DII-AAA East). Hardy also threw for 120 and a score. 

Wade Williams led BA (2-1, 0-1) with 219 yards passing. Jordan James had 15 carries for 100 yards.

Encore for Gallatin's Spencer Briggs

What do you do for an encore after running for a school-record 314 yards? Gallatin running back Spencer Briggs had the follow-up.

Briggs had 283 yards on 24 carries and scored four touchdowns in Gallatin's 49-14 win over Hillsboro. Briggs had 314 yards on 14 carries a week earlier in a 50-0 rout of Station Camp.

"We pulled him with about eight minutes to go or he could have broken his own record," Gallatin first-year coach Chad Watson said. "He's doing a really good job of creating space and separation. He's making people miss."

Unlikely 3-0 teams

What do Northwest, Fayetteville, Stewarts Creek and Wilson Central have in common?

They are all 3-0 and are in unfamiliar territory.

Northwest went 2-8 in 2018 and hasn't been 3-0 since 2003.

Fayetteville has rebounded from a 1-9 season to go 3-0. Wilson Central needed 10 games to win three games last year. The last time the Wildcats went 3-0 was in 2016 when they went 8-3. And Stewarts Creek, which is in its seventh year as a school, hasn't gone 3-0 ever until this season.

Springfield holds off White House Heritage

A game of swapping scores ended with a missed field goal. Springfield beat White House Heritage 42-41 for its second straight win.

Heritage had a 28-yard field goal to win the game, but the kick was low and hit the Patriots' linemen.

"We swapped scores," Springfield coach Dustin Wilson said. "We had big plays. They had long drives.". 

Springfield's Cale Jones also blocked a PAT for the difference in the outcome.

Mt. Juliet back on track

With its 27-game regular-season win streak snapped in Week 1, Mt. Juliet got back to work on starting another streak with a 24-7 win over Wilson County rival Lebanon.

The Golden Bears used a rare open date in Week 2 to get healthy and tweak their offense. Duke commitment Malik Bowen missed a large part of their Week 1 game with a knee bruise. And lineman Hunter Love returned to the lineup with a rested ankle.

"(Bowen) rehabbed like crazy to get back," Mt. Juliet coach Trey Perry said.

Perry said his offense also went to more of a spread in an attempt to use more of the field and rest some of his backs who were playing on offense and defense.

"We had to make some changes," Perry said. "We came out in a different look. That was a big part of our success."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.