Three Former NFL QBs Reach 2020 Tennessee High School Football Championships

Tennessee's Division II high school football championships had a real NFL flavor to them, with three former NFL quarterbacks-turned-high school football head coaches going for the gold on Dec. 3, 2020.

In the Class AA title game between Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) and Lipscomb Academy, Trent Dilfer, the Super Bowl XXXV-winning QB for the Baltimore Ravens, matched wits with Ingle Martin, who played quarterback for the Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs and the Tennessee Titans during his career.

When the final horn sounded, it was Martin and his CPA players hoisting the state championship trophy after a 35-28 win over Dilfer’s Lipscomb Lions. It was Martin’s second state title in six appearances, since taking-over the CPA program in 2011.

After the game, Martin told the Nashville Post, “2020 was obviously a year like no other. Our goal at the beginning of each year is to take our team and the collection of unique individuals and get the most out of those kids. Today was certainly an example of that. Our kids left everything they had out on that field.”

In the II-A championship game John Quinn, who was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1998, led Davidson Academy to a third straight title by beating USJ 53-35. The state title is the sixth for Quinn, who has led the Bears since 2014.

In addition to the Jaguars, Quinn played quarterback for the Chicago Bears and Chiefs.

Earlier this week, both Martin and Quinn were named winners of the Tennessee Titans Coach of the Week award. Both programs received a $1,000 donation for their honors courtesy of the Titans Foundation, and both are in the running for the 2020 Titans’ Coach of the Year Award.