Football Game Preview: Ensworth Tigers vs. Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish

The Ensworth Tigers will square off against the Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Ensworth is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Tennessee's top teams: Brentwood Academy, who was ranked third at the time (Ensworth was ranked tenth). The Tigers had to suffer through a 37-7 loss at the hands of the Eagles. The defeat continues a trend for the Tigers in their meetings with the Eagles: they've now lost nine in a row.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Knoxville Catholic). They claimed a resounding 55-21 victory over Silverdale Academy. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Fighting Irish considering their ten-point performance the matchup before.

A big part of Knoxville Catholic's win came down to the chemistry between Mack Bartholomew and his top target Garrett King. Bartholomew threw for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only nine passes while King threw for 112 yards and one TD on only seven passes. Those 112 passing yards gave King a new career-high.

Knoxville Catholic's run defense was locked in: Silverdale Academy could only muster 0.8 yards per carry. The Fighting Irish hasn't allowed more than 4.6 yards per carry in three consecutive games.

Ensworth's loss dropped their record down to 4-2. As for Knoxville Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 4-1.

Everything came up roses for Ensworth against Knoxville Catholic in their previous meeting back in September of 2024, as the team secured a 35-0 win. Do the Tigers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Fighting Irish turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.