Montgomery Bell Academy football beats Ensworth with defense, sits all alone in first place

Friday was a good night for the Montgomery Bell Academy football program.

First, the Big Red defense dominated en route to a 14-7 win at rival Ensworth to remain unbeaten in league play. 

Then, about 20 minutes after the hard-fought victory, three-time defending state champion Brentwood Academy lost — the Eagles’ first defeat in 25 games — leaving the Big Red in sole possession of first place. 

MBA (7-1, 4-0 in DII-AAA E/M) plays a Brentwood Academy (7-1, 3-1) in two weeks. 

“It’s going to be a good show,” senior linebacker Jackson Hannah said of the Big Red’s Week 10 matchup with the rival Eagles, who’ve beaten MBA in three consecutive BlueCross Bowls.

Hannah, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound linebacker, recorded a team-leading eight tackles and a sack in Friday’s win. However, the three-star Nebraska commitment was quick to give credit to the Big Red defensive line — an undersized unit that wreaked havoc in the Ensworth backfield all game long.

“Ensworth is a great team despite their record — they’ve got a lot of great four-star athletes out there — but our D-line just came in and played great,” Hannah said. “It was really all the defensive line. I’m so proud of those boys — Ian Hall, Kanayo (Offodile) and Dominic Fisher. They all played their hearts out.”

Hall, a 6-foot, 220-pound senior, recorded sacks No. 11 and 12 on the season, while Offodile and Fisher, along with linebacker Hedges Hayworth, also got to Ensworth quarterback Cole Kennon. 

“We knew it in the first quarter,” Hall said. “We made a couple plays and got into the backfield. We only had six sacks, but there were a lot more where he threw the ball away. We just try to go out there and dominate each week.”

MBA held Ensworth to just 138 yards and nine first downs. Kennon finished just 2-of-11 for 23 yards and was also picked off by Big Red defensive back Jake Herbstreit. 

“We are the smallest defense in the league size-wise, but we’ve got the biggest hearts I think,” Hannah said. “We have a great staff. Coach (Sean) Brock leads the way with our strength and conditioning behind coach (Marty) Euverard our head coach and coach (Chris) Chauvin our defensive coordinator and many others. They just teach us to play with heart and physicality.”

MBA punter Cole Crider also played a critical role in the win, landing two of his four punts at the Ensworth 2 and another at the 13. 

Patrick Wilk spotted the Big Red a 7-0 advantage with his 4-yard, first-quarter touchdown run before leaving the game shortly after with a knee injury. Quarterback William Tyrone hooked up with Tye Herbstreit on a 48-yard touchdown pass for the eventual game-winning score with 5:17 left in the third. 

“It was a phenomenal job of defense and we did just enough on offense," Euverard said. "We’ve done it all year long. It’s nothing fancy, we just kind of grind it out.” 

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Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com, 615-269-8026 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.