High school football’s Week 1 slate continues tonight across Tipton County, with Brighton, Tipton-Rosemark Academy and Covington all opening their 2026 seasons \u2014 one night after Munford kicked off the county’s season Thursday. All three games are set for 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals open their 2026 campaign tonight at home against PURE Academy, the second straight year Brighton has opened its season against the Royals. Last year’s meeting went to PURE Academy, 24-7, in Memphis \u2014 the Cardinals will look to flip that result tonight.<\/p>\n
Head coach Keith Setler is entering his fourth season after taking over a rebuilding program in 2023. Brighton has trended upward each year since: a 3-7 debut spent installing new systems, a 4-7 season in 2024 that still earned a Class 5A playoff berth, and a 3-8 mark in 2025 that belied a strong finish \u2014 wins over Millington Central (41-21) and Overton (50-26) closed the regular season, and a 2-2 region mark was enough for a second straight playoff trip before a first-round loss to Kirkwood.<\/p>\n
Brighton’s formula tonight is built up front: control the line of scrimmage, manage the clock and lean on the physical run game that carried the offense down the stretch last fall. Defensively, the Cardinals are focused on solid tackling and discipline to keep PURE Academy’s playmakers out of open space.<\/p>\n
Matchup: <\/strong>PURE Academy Royals at Brighton Cardinals<\/p>\n When: <\/strong>Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n Where: <\/strong>Brighton’s home field (8045 Highway 51 S, Brighton, Tenn.)<\/p>\n On deck: <\/strong>Brighton stays home Friday, Aug. 28, to host Dyersburg.<\/p>\n Covington hits the road tonight for a non-region opener at Lakeland Preparatory, the first step in what the Chargers hope is finally a run to a state championship. Covington enters the year ranked No. 5 in Class 3A in the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s preseason poll \u2014 one spot behind the team that has ended each of its last two seasons, Martin Westview, which sits at No. 1.<\/p>\n Few programs in West Tennessee have been as consistent as Covington under head coach J.R. Kirby: an 11-3 season in 2022 that included a 5-0 sweep of region play and a run to the Class 3A semifinals, a 10-3 season in 2023 that ended in the quarterfinals, an 11-2 mark in 2024 that fell to Westview in the quarterfinals, and a 12-2 run in 2025 that saw the Chargers roll through the first three rounds of the playoffs \u2014 beating Wooddale 63-0, Sycamore 56-14 and Dyersburg 42-21 \u2014 before falling to Westview again, 40-34, in a semifinal that was their third meeting of the season.<\/p>\n Covington’s identity starts up front: a heavy, physical running game between the tackles paired with a defense that flies to the ball. Setting that same physical tone from the opening series \u2014 on the road, against a Lakeland Prep program the Chargers beat a year ago \u2014 will be Kirby’s top priority tonight, with ball security and pre-snap discipline the difference in a clean Week 1 win.<\/p>\n Matchup: <\/strong>Covington Chargers at Lakeland Preparatory Lions<\/p>\n When: <\/strong>Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n Where: <\/strong>Lions Field (5020 Lions Crest Drive, Lakeland, TN 38002)<\/p>\n On deck: <\/strong>Covington returns home Friday, Aug. 28, to host rival Haywood.<\/p>\n Tipton-Rosemark Academy opens its 2026 season at home at the Paul Barret Jr. Sportsplex against Donelson Christian Academy, a non-district measuring stick against one of Division II-A’s traditional powers. DCA eliminated the Rebels from the playoffs two years ago, and tonight gives TRA an early chance to answer that history.<\/p>\n The Rebels have kept a steady postseason presence over the past three seasons despite a demanding schedule: a 6-4 mark in 2023, a 6-5 season in 2024 that ended with a first-round playoff loss to DCA, and a 4-7 campaign in 2025 that still produced a return trip to the postseason before a first-round exit against Friendship Christian.<\/p>\n TRA’s plan tonight centers on winning the point of attack on both lines, sustaining early-down drives and controlling the clock. Defensively, the Rebels need strict assignment discipline to keep DCA from breaking off explosive plays, and winning the turnover battle will go a long way toward protecting home field in the opener.<\/p>\n Matchup: <\/strong>Donelson Christian Academy Wildcats at Tipton-Rosemark Academy Rebels<\/p>\n When: <\/strong>Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n Where: <\/strong>Paul Barret Jr. Sportsplex (8696 Rosemark Road, Millington, TN 38053)<\/p>\n On deck: <\/strong>Tipton-Rosemark stays home Thursday, Aug. 27, to host Halls High School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" High school football’s Week 1 slate continues tonight across Tipton County, with Brighton, Tipton-Rosemark Academy and Covington all opening their 2026 seasons \u2014 one night after Munford kicked off the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[700,19],"tags":[701,720,721,702,722,723,724,703,725,726,727,728,35,634,729,709,730,710],"class_list":["post-648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","category-sports","tag-2026-football-season","tag-brighton-cardinals","tag-class-3a-football","tag-class-5a-football","tag-covington-chargers","tag-division-ii-a-football","tag-donelson-christian-academy","tag-high-school-football","tag-j-r-kirby","tag-keith-setler","tag-lakeland-preparatory","tag-pure-academy","tag-tipton-county","tag-tipton-rosemark-academy","tag-tipton-rosemark-rebels","tag-tssaa","tag-week-1-football","tag-west-tennessee-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nCovington Chargers<\/h2>\n
Tipton-Rosemark Rebels<\/h2>\n