Written by: Tripp Vistica
Aug. 30, 2021
The Brothers of CBHS have now started their 2021 football season with two wins and no losses after beating Sheffield High School 59-0 on Friday night at Tom Nix Stadium, the Brothers on campus home field. However, winning their first two games were not as easy as Friday night’s score indicates. Before the Brothers hosted Sheffield, they had to survive a back and forth game that went to overtime and filled with close calls.
CBHS began their 2021 football season last weekend on Saturday night at Tom Nix Stadium against Germantown. It was a contest between the top two ranked prep schools in Memphis, and the game was a thriller that lived up to the one verse two matchup in every way.
The Brother’s started off well causing and recovering a fumble by Germantown inside Germantown’s ten yard-line, as the Brothers defense played exceptionally well for the entire game. CBHS did not waste their opportunity when running back and Ohio State commit, Dallen Hayden, rushed up the middle to put the Brothers up by a touchdown early in the game. However, Germantown threw CBHS a curveball by switching quarterbacks after the CBHS touchdown. It took a little bit, but with a couple mistakes made by Germantown, the Brothers were able to make the adjustments on defense they needed.
Germantown would tie the game on the first drive of the third quarter, but the Brother’s responded with a touchdown of their own that was aided by Germantown mistake on fourth down. Germantown was flagged for running into the punter, giving CBHS a first down. With the Brother’s drive being extended, they relied on runs by Dallen Hayden who scored his second touchdown on his last carry of the drive. But yet again, Germantown would score with three minutes left in the game to tie CBHS at 14. The game went to overtime.
In overtime, Germantown came within a yard of scoring a touchdown, but stepped out of bounds first. On fourth down from the one yard-line, the CBHS defense stuffed the run by Germantown, putting the Brothers in a great chance to win. CBHS did not waste the opportunity when quarterback, Ashton Strother, rolled right before throwing across the field into the left side of the endzone for the game winning touchdown on a play accurately named, “The Game Winner.”
It was a huge win for CBHS and gave them momentum heading into Friday night’s game against Sheffield, and the Brothers kept their momentum from the opening kickoff. CBHS wasted no time showing how deep and how talented they are when they ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. The Brothers defense shut down Sheffield all night, and their offense never let up until the last play when they took a knee to run out the clock. Sheffield could not stop the Brothers offense, despite CBHS resting their starting quarterback, Ashton Strother, so Strother could heal after the Brothers intense and physical matchup against Germantown the week before.
This 2021 CBHS football team has something I’ve never seen in any past CBHS football teams. Late in their game against Sheffield, I asked Strother, “What it was about this team that is different from year’s past?” Strother’s response was something I could relate to and fully understand.
“The difference in this year’s team is that this team is like a fraternity”, said Strother. “We don’t just play football together. We do everything together. We hang out after practice, and we hangout on weekends. It’s like we’re our own fraternity.”
Strother went on to say that he’s never been a part of team that is so close, and every one of on the team are great friends. I have to agree with Strother. Nothing will make a team play better than playing your hardest for your friends and putting in the work needed, because the last thing you want to do is to let down your friends. So, they play and give their all for each other because, in Strother’s words, “We’re a fraternity.”
I can relate to Strother’s response, because I’m a CBHS alum and a Brothers Boy too. I am also an alum of the Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) Fraternity. I was pledge brothers with my best friend who is also a Brothers Boy and CBHS alum. Towards the end of our second year at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville and members of Pike, we realized that CBHS was more of a fraternity than Pike. We are both prouder to be Brothers Boys than we are Pikes, because the CBHS community is something special that few young men get to experience. I was one of lucky to have that experience, and CBHS made me more of the man I am today way more than Pike ever did.
I want all of today’s CBHS students to realize that they are a part of something special, and to never take it for granted. It’s a community that welcomes you back with open arms, and that is a hard thing to find in life. I hope they truly mean the chant the students shouted after the 59-0 victory over Sheffield on Friday night, and that there is nothing but truth in their chant.
After the win, the CBHS students chanted, “IT’S GREAT TO BE A BROTHERS BOY!” I just hope they mean every word, because no one will ever be able to change my mind that it truly is great to be a Brothers Boy. There’s nothing like it.
With plenty of games left in the season, including Briarcrest and MUS, I hope this team’s cohesiveness will help them keep winning, and that this team forever keeps their sense of being their own fraternity.
I believe this is the team that has done all the work, come together in the right ways, and that has the ability to hopefully bring a second football state championship back to the CBHS campus since the 1977 team did it 44 years ago.
I can’t wait to see how CBHS does in their next game against Ensworth High School. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Tom Nix Stadium. I hope to see the stands full of alumni, because this is a team you don’t want to miss play if you’re a fellow Brothers Boy.
Tripp Vistica 