FRANKLIN — It’s 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 18 at Page High School. The sky is clear, the breeze steady and it’s a bit warmer than the calendar would suggest. The rolling hills of southeast Williamson County are painted in classic fall hues — trees dotted with yellow, red, brown and purple leaves — giving the Page football team a postcard-like setting for practice.
Special-teamers work on one end; the rest of the Patriots stretch on the other, needing no prompting as they work through side lunges and arm circles. There will be music tomorrow, but not right now. Today’s a big teaching day. Less distraction, more instruction.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPage (12-0), which hosts Centennial (7-5) in the semifinals of the TSSAA football playoffs on Nov. 28, is the No. 1 team in Class 5A. The Patriots have been to four straight state championship games and returned to Rudderville with four runner-up trophies. Losses to Powell (2021), Knoxville West (2022, 2023) and Sevier County (2024) are embedded deep within their psyche.
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But on this Tuesday, that’s thinking ahead. The focus is on beating Beech in the quarterfinals on Nov. 21. The Buccaneers haven’t lost since Week 1 and their smashmouth identity and pedigree looks a lot like Page’s.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBeech's quarterback, senior Kaden Powell, is a 6-foot-4, 240-pound mountain of a teenager who will be playing baseball at Kentucky next year. Coaches bark advice to make sure the Patriots’ defenders know exactly who they’re dealing with.
“You won’t tackle him by waiting for him. He will run you over!”
“Don’t be like robots. AI sucks!”
Practice ends on a leaping catch by senior Knight Wilson, drawing whoops and hollers. The Patriots huddle up, and coach Charles Rathbone enters. 73 hours from now, Rathbone says, all the talking will be finished.
‘Are y’all actually gonna win this year?’
The Patriots are happy to address the elephant in the room.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThree of their four BlueCross Bowl defeats have come by a touchdown or less. They lost 42-34 to Powell after two Hail Mary attempts fell short. In 2023, they gained twice as many yards as West and had three plays from the Rebels’ 5-yard line in the final minute, only to fall 24-19. Last season, they committed four turnovers in a 27-20 defeat to Sevier County.
As much as they’d like to forget those memories, there’s a grain of them, according to senior receiver Cayden Aukerman, in “every single thing we do.” Senior lineman Jacob Rathbone, the coach’s son, keeps a picture of him and his teammates crying after the loss to Sevier County as the lock screen of his phone.
“It’s bigger than the team being disappointed,” he said. “It’s the community.”
Added Wilson: “They show out for 15 weeks, come out to every game, traveling to state, going an hour and a half, paying money to get a hotel, and you can’t get it done. It’s tough when you come home.”
Page’s Cohen Grissom (20) and Knight Wilson (0) take a moment to relax before a game against Beech at Page High School in Franklin, Tenn., Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.MORE: How TSSAA football playoffs quarterfinals, DII semifinals changed Super 25 rankings
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When Charles Rathbone was hired, Page had only made it past the second round twice in its 36 years. In Rathbone’s 14th season, Chattanooga is the minimum expectation. Yet if the Patriots want to keep a chip on their shoulder, their coach does nothing to stop them.
Page in 2024 was led by three current Division I players — linebackers Brenden Anes (Tennessee) and Eric Hazzard (Louisville) and safety William Wiebush (Wake Forest) — and didn’t allow a touchdown until its seventh game. The Patriots gave up nearly as many points to the Smoky Bears as they did in their first 14 games (31).
“You constantly hear it everywhere you go,” Jacob Rathbone said. “ ‘Are y’all actually gonna win this year? You lost all these big guys. If you couldn’t win it last year, you’re not gonna win it this year.’ ”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut Page’s defense is still one of the best units in the state. After giving up 55 points in their first two games, the Patriots have allowed just 79 since, and won all of their games by double digits. Charles Rathbone thinks part of the reason players like Wilson, Jacob Rathbone, Sean Cunningham and Jordan Curll have been so good this season is because they didn’t get enough credit a year ago.
“The seniors make the team, and it should have been about those guys,” he said. “But looking at it as a teenager, it’s ‘Hey, what about us?’ This is our time now. Let's go prove that we can do the same thing.”
Living up to expectations
“Two hands, Otey!”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCam Kruse tosses a clean spiral to Isaac Otey, but the ball bounces off the sophomore running back’s fingers. Kruse delivers his criticism matter-of-factly. Dropping a pass isn’t a moral failing.
Before they move to the next part of practice, the junior quarterback lingers a bit longer. He makes sure to give Otey a high-five. As the Patriots begin the 11-on-11 portion, he shouts at his teammates to get off the field if they’re not playing.
Kruse is a transfer from Olathe West (Kansas) who moved to Tennessee this summer. He possesses a firm cadence under center, an equally firm handshake and the polish of a coach’s son because he is one. He might be the “new guy,” but he’s also QB1. He knows he can’t fall in line even if he wanted to.
“You're the coach on the field, and it's your responsibility to get your team into the right stuff,” Kruse said. “That’s something they’ve allowed me to do.”
Page’s Cameron Kruse listens to coaches in the locker room before a game against Beech at Page High School in Franklin, Tenn., Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.Kruse isn’t Page’s only key transfer. There’s Sloan Bass and Drew Rempel (Lipscomb Academy), James Pierre (Webb School - Bell Buckle), and Cohen Grissom and Eli Bell (Forrest). The group of newcomers has adapted quickly, picking up the returning Patriots’ motivations and goals.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I actually came to one of their games, I think it was against Shelbyville Central last year,” Grissom said. “I just saw the environment, the level of competition, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it. … It’s an expectation that we're going to state and we have to be able to hold that up.”
Even though the new Patriots weren’t around for any state title losses, they try to bring their own frustrations to the table. Pierre, who’s from Montreal, thinks about the final game he played in Canada, a painful playoff defeat to an opponent his team had beaten earlier that year.
When freshmen enter the Page program, they’re given a message, according to freshman coach Shane Williams: We want you to be the ones to get us over the hump. You’re the class to do it.
Page players prepare to head to the field before a game against Beech at Page High School in Franklin, Tenn., Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.'This is what you live for'
Gameday is a Black Out, with Page wearing black uniforms and the student section following suit. Shortly after 6:30, the Patriots finish their warmups and head to their locker room.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSome players pace around, joking with teammates and hyping them up. Some sit quietly in their lockers. Others chant along to 50 Cent’s “Many Men” and Jeezy’s “Put On.”
The Buccaneers, according to Jacob Rathbone, like to talk trash on social media. They were upset by Springfield in the quarterfinals last season, a game before they would have faced the Patriots, and they haven’t been shy about wanting that chance this year.
Rathbone doesn’t want to go back-and-forth online. He just wants to show Beech “what Page is about.”
“As a high school kid, this is what you live for,” Wilson said. “You want to come out and play in those big-time games. So that's why we're so fired up.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt 6:49, the music cuts off. Charles Rathbone calls the Patriots into the film room.
“If we win the toss, we defer,” he says. Then he gets into the meat of his speech.
Relax. Play your game. Don’t be tight. Know your assignments. Take care of the football.
“Winning as much as we’ve done, being ranked as high as we are, we have to prove it every week,” he says. “And I wouldn’t have it every other way.”
Page coach Charles Rathbone speaks to his team before a game against Beech at Page High School in Franklin, Tenn., Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.The Patriots fall behind 14-0 in the first quarter but storm back, taking the lead for good on an 86-yard touchdown pass from Kruse to Wilson in the fourth quarter. They ultimately kneel down on a 31-21 victory. There’s chippiness after Grissom picks off a pass to seal the game, and two Buccaneers are ejected, but every player on both teams still meet at midfield after the final whistle to pray.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA relative of Cunningham hugs Wilson during a postgame interview. “You saved the game!” she says.
Page is once again two games away from a state championship. Rathbone’s as tired of being the bridesmaid as anyone, but unlike the teenagers he coaches, he has a lifetime of perspective. He'll be fine without a gold ball. At the same time, he’s built a culture based on players who play hard, love each other and love to represent their school, and he’s desperate for them to be rewarded for it.
After all, Rathbone says, coaches don’t make great teams. Great players do.
“I could care less about wearing the ring," he said. "I wear the only ring that matters, and that's my wedding ring. I'm not gonna wear another one. All I care about is doing it for these kids.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJacob Shames can be reached by email at [email protected] and on X/Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Behind the scenes of Page's TSSAA football playoffs run
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