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By Ryan Callahan

ryanc@thedailytimes.com

Not long after the Maryville High School football team's victory at Farragut last month, Rebels coach George Quarles started thinking about a possible rematch.

It seemed almost inevitable that his team would end up playing the Admirals again in the playoffs.

"I was afraid we'd have to," Quarles said with a laugh.

Sure enough, five weeks after Maryville rallied past Farragut for a 35-32 win, the top-ranked Rebels (11-1) and the No. 7 Admirals (10-2) will meet again at 7 p.m. Friday in the Class 6A quarterfinals at Shields Stadium.

Maryville used 28 unanswered points to overcome a 17-point, second-quarter deficit Oct. 16 and leave Farragut's Bill Clabo Field with sole possession of first place in District 4-AAA.

The Admirals bounced back to win their next four games by a combined score of 121-17.

The Rebels, who went on to claim the district title and a No. 2 seed in the playoffs, now are on an 11-game winning streak since their season-opening loss at rival Alcoa.

And now, here they are again: the same two teams battling for a shot at fourth-seeded Riverdale or No. 6 seed Oakland in next week's semifinals.

"I said, 'I bet we'll have to play these guys again,' and it turns out we're the two teams left out of this (quadrant of the playoff bracket)," Quarles said. "We're happy to be playing it at our place instead of having to go (to Farragut), but I don't think it's a big shock to many teams that we're the two that are left."

Farragut coach Eddie Courtney said his team, a No. 5 seed, reached this point largely because of the loss to Maryville.

"I liked how (the players) responded after the game," Courtney said. "They were disappointed. They were hurt. ... Our kids have learned since that game and responded, and we've bounced back and won the games since then. We've gotten better by that."

Both teams, Quarles said, have something to prove.

"I think it's definitely a redemption game for Farragut. In some ways, I think it is for us, too," he said. "We played pretty poorly, I thought, in the first half (against Farragut) and were able to rebound from that."

But playing a team twice in the same season can be tricky. The Rebels learned that firsthand last week when they squandered a 14-point lead and trailed early in the second half of a 28-20 win over No. 3 seed McMinn County, a team they beat 49-6 during the regular season.

"The second time, it's harder to beat a team than the first time just because they know what you're doing," Maryville sophomore running back Jacob West said. "They've got a feel for what your team is like, what the speed of the game is, stuff like that. But I think we've both gotten better, and it should be a good game."