Most Surprising Things from Round 3 Of the TSSAA Playoffs

The third round of the TSSAA playoffs did not disappoint. There was plenty of excitement, great last-second plays and some surprising upsets that leave you craving more football.   After having a few days to dissect it all, I've come up with five shocking things that happened during this round of postseason play. Let's get into it.   <figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/02/kmarabl.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1629361" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: BGA QB [player_tooltip player_id='914547' first='Kaedyn' last='Marable']. Photo by BGA Athletics.</figcaption></figure>   How Easily BGA Manhandled Boyd-Buchanan   This was truly one of the most shocking high school football results I've seen in my 21 years of life.   When you heard that Gary Rankin and Bobby Bentley were facing off, everybody assumed it would be an instant classic ball game.   Well, it was nothing close to that.   I always thought there was a scenario where BGA won comfortably and “made a statement” after Rankin's comments last week. But Bentley and Co. had the Wildcats ready to play, as they beat the Buccaneers 49-3 in a beatdown game.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/connersmith04/status/1992061675604979718?s=20 </div></figure>   Bentley's team advances to the Division II AA State Championship game for the second straight season, where they will rematch the FRA Panthers.   <figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/dggeorges.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-1633640" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Baylor RB [player_tooltip player_id='1210671' first='David' last='Gabriel-Georges']. Photo by Baylor Athletics.</figcaption></figure>   [player_tooltip player_id='1210671' first='David' last='Gabriel-Georges']' Performance Against McCallie   [player_tooltip player_id='1210671' first='David' last='Gabriel-Georges'] is arguably the top running back in the nation, but I'd say even he would be surprised if you told him what his stat line would be against a stout McCallie defense.   The five-star tailback ran for 431 yards and seven touchdowns. Yes, you read correctly.   Now that the Baylor Red Raiders are past their archrival, they'll face the Brentwood Academy Eagles in the state championship, where Gabriel-Georges will likely dominate again.   He's been a great player all season, but the 6-foot, 205-pound running back has taken it to a different level in the postseason.   <figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/msteele.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2055476" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Centennial WR [player_tooltip player_id='1640649' first='Malachi' last='Steele']. Photo by Centennial Athletics.</figcaption></figure>   Centennial Advancing to the 5A Semifinals   Centennial started the 2025 season 2-4, then lost their head coach, Jay Graham, in mid-October. At that point, they were not even on pace to make the playoffs, let alone go on a run.   Since losing their head coach, the Cougars have gone 5-1, with all five wins being by double digits.   They stomped Henry County last week 45-24 in a somewhat shocking game, but they advance to the semifinals to face the Page Patriots.   The two teams squared off earlier in the season, where Page won 52-17. However, Centennial has been a completely different squad over the last month, so anything can happen.   <figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/10/Asa.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-1950674" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Westview RB [player_tooltip player_id='1103496' first='Asa' last='Barnes']. Photo from his X/Twitter.</figcaption></figure>   Westview Dominating A 10-1 Melrose Squad   Aside from the BGA/Boyd-Buchanan game, this contest was the most surprising result of the third round.   Westview is the clear-cut best team in 3A, but Melrose is still an excellent unit and had dominated everybody on their schedule up to then.   Led by sophomore phenom [player_tooltip player_id='1037302' first='Thomas' last='Heffner'], this was supposed to be a battle of two big-time quarterbacks. Instead, Westview won 44-6, punching their ticket to the next round.   <figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/Photo-Nov-23-2025-7-04-42-PM.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2064033" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Blackman WR [player_tooltip player_id='1103038' first='Brylan' last='Oduor']. Taken by Shayne Pickering, Prep Redzone.</figcaption></figure>   The Number of Blowout Games This Deep in the Postseason   It's typical to have blowout contests in the first round or two, with the talent gap being so wide. However, there were 19 games decided by 17 points or more, including multiple upsets.   There were certainly some great ones like Beech versus Page, Green Hill versus Oakland, etc.   But the majority of games were either comfortable wins or thrashings.   With all of the big-time teams advancing to the next round, there should be much more competitive play this upcoming week.

The third round of the TSSAA playoffs did not disappoint. There was plenty of excitement, great last-second plays and some surprising upsets that leave you craving more football.