Lipscomb Academy win streak ends in Kevin Mawae debut, but IMG Academy plays at another level | Kreager
The 21-game win streak ended Friday night for Lipscomb Academy football.
Truth be told, it was probably over shortly after halftime.
That's not meant to knock Lipscomb Academy. The Mustangs will win their share of games this season and will be one of a handful teams contending for the TSSAA Division II-AAA state championship.
But IMG Academy, which is ranked fourth in the country according to MaxPreps, is just different. It showed in a 35-10 win over No. 19 Lipscomb Academy in a TSSAA non-region season opener in front of a packed Lipscomb Academy football stadium. Paid attendance was 4,164 and there were likely a couple thousand more in season ticket holders and individuals on pass lists.
"When you win 21 games in a row, you feel good about what you've done and who you've beat," said first-year Lipscomb Academy football coach Kevin Mawae, an NFL Hall of Fame member and former Tennessee Titans center. "Look at their schedule. They'd never played against a team like this before."
True. Last season the Mustangs opened with Milton (Georgia) and Thompson (Alabama), two powerhouses in their respective states. And Lipscomb Academy has played Oakland, Brentwood Academy and of course former region-rival CPA under former coach Trent Dilfer, who is now at UAB.
As talented as all of those teams are, they weren't at IMG's level.
"We've never seen a team like this," said Lipscomb Academy senior Kaleb Beasley, a Tennessee commitment and No. 1 recruit in the state. "It was definitely different for sure. I thought we held our own. It's a great team. If you look at their roster, they've got great players everywhere."
IMG Academy has two five-star athletes and eight four-star athletes in the Class of 2024 and eight four-star athletes for the Class of 2025.
"They've got all the best players in the country," Mawae said. "They should win games like this. The goal for teams like us is to challenge them and give them our best shot. We knew it was going to be hard. We didn't shy away from the schedule."
"I'm 0-1 as a head coach right now. That's not very fun. But nobody is perfect. There is no coach that has been undefeated his entire career."
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Transfer Deuce Knight makes debut
Mississippi transfer Deuce Knight's debut had its moments.
The Lipscomb Academy offense was far from perfect. There were times Knight had to take off running to get away from IMG's defensive front. Other times he had time to find receivers. And there were drops.
Knight was 26-of-41 passing for 259 yards and didn't throw an interception or a TD pass. He also ran for 62 yards on 16 carries. East Carolina commit Dillon Lorick led the Mustangs with 12 catches for 135 yards.
"It's a good experience," Knight said. "I feel like we're just as loaded as them. It was just a couple plays didn't go our way."
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lipscomb Academy football falls to IMG Academy in Kevin Mawae debut
