By Robert Wilson
Madison-Ridgeland Academy coach Herbert Davis saw Ravenwood’s talented senior quarterback Femi Babalola play twice in person last year when he visited his son Hayden who is an assistant coach at Ravenwood, located in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville.
Said Davis: “I knew he was really good.”
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Babalola – who has verbally committed to Boston College – showed Davis his ability once again Friday night, this time against Davis’ team and led Ravenwood to a come-from-behind victory.
Babalola completed 17 of 33 passes for 252 yards and ran 19 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns to lead Ravenwood to a 28-24 win over MRA in the season opener for both teams before an estimated crowd of 3,000 at MRA’s Patriot Field.
It was the first Davis Bowl, a matchup between Herbert, who has won 246 games and five state championships in his 29 year head coaching career, and his son Hayden, who played quarterback for his father at MRA and played at Copiah-Lincoln Community College and Delta State and was promoted to offensive coordinator this year at Ravenwood.
Ravenwood – a public school which plays in the highest class in Tennessee (Class 6A) – is ranked No. 8 in Tennessee by MaxPreps this year. The Raptors won their first 13 games last season before losing to Houston 24-21 in the 6A semifinals. Oakland beat Houston 42-20 in the championship game.
MRA knows about Oakland, losing to them in 2022 when Oakland was nationally ranked.
MRA – which has 11 returning starters from last year’s team, which finished 9-3 and lost to eventual champion Hartfield Academy 17-14 in the MAIS Class 6A semifinals – has beaten bigger public schools before like Ravenwood, which is about four times as many students in high school as MRA. For example, MRA defeated defending MHSAA Class 7A state champion Oak Grove 51-13 last season.
MRA jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter before Babalola got his team going. He led his team on five consecutive scoring drives (two field goals and three TDs) and Ravenwood took its first lead of the game at 28-24 with 6 minutes, 33 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. During the comeback, Babalola ran for a 70-yard TD in the third quarter.
Babalola – who is rated as the No. 21 best player in Tennessee and the No. 39 best quarterback in the country by 247 Sports and has 19 Division I offers – had a big second half. He completed 7 of 11 passes for 82 yards and ran for 120 yards and his two TDs.
“We did a good job on him early,” Herbert Davis said, “He missed a few passes and we put pressure on him for a sack. Then, we had some missed assignments in the secondary, and he made some good throws and got going. The rest is history. They had three big plays, two big runs and a big pass play down the sideline.”
Herbert Davis saw some good things from his team as they built a 17-0 lead. Senior kicker Wade Hanford made a 33-yard field goal, Jack Poole ran for a 2-yard TD and Jack Ridgway blocked a punt and James Downee returned it for a 39-yard score. MRA held a surprising 17-0 lead with 8:52 to play before halftime.
“We had a good tempo in the first half when build our lead,” Herbert Davis said. “We ran the ball well early, But Ravenwood was more physical and executed better than we did for the last three quarters. They didn’t do anything different. We did a poor job of executing.”
MRA senior quarterback Samuel Stockett completed 21 of 30 passes for 238 yards. Senior wide receiver Case Thomas (photo below) – a member of the Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Elite 11 Team – had seven catches for 110 yards.
MRA was led on defense by senior defensive back Jack Ridgway, who had a team high 6 tackles, 1 for loss, an 84-yard interception return, 1 pass breakup and 1 blocked punt.
But the MRA defense could not slow down Babalola once he got rolling.
“Last night was a showcase of the development that Femi has made as a true Dual threat quarterback,” Ravenwood coach Ricky Rodriguez said. “We have seen glimpses of it during games and all the time in practice. For him to lead our team last night was just a testament to his work ethic and character. Not a lot of people know this but Femi is a 16 year old senior. He looks physically like he’s 20. We needed him to provide a spark and that’s exactly what he did. I’m sure he will tell you he would have liked to be more accurate on some throws and he missed a few more opportunities running the ball, but as a coach to see that performance last night, I was so proud of him.
“I think the first half was a combination of things. First of all MRA is one heck of a football team, they made plays in all three phases of the game, and when we put a primary emphasis on winning the special teams battle every week, and they still were able to block a punt, my hats off to them. I also think I could have done a better job of preparing our kids for such a long road trip. We didn’t have much down time on Friday, so I think the travel/schedule absolutely played a factor.
“My message to them at halftime was simple. This group is different, we don’t panic. We have absolute confidence in each other that no matter the score, we keep throwing jabs, at some point we’re gonna connect on a power punch. We don’t rise to the occasion, we sink to the level of our training.”
Rodriguez was impressed with MRA.
“It was an unbelievable experience for our entire program and community,” Rodriguez said. “MRA does high school football the right way. It was an honor and blessing to compete with that program. We look forward to hosting them in 2026.”
Darla Davis, Herbert’s wife and Hayden’s mom, Hayden’s wife, Holly, and her parents and other family members sat in the end zone.
“They have a very special group and are a really good football team,” said Hayden, who coached with his father on the MRA 2021 state championship team and also coached at Lamar School for two years before going to Ravenwood, “I thought we did a poor job in the red zone and had too many penalties in the first half. We knew going into the second half that we just had to settle down and finish.
“It was definitely emotional playing Pops. It was a lot to take in, but I wouldn’t be anywhere without him.”
