Marshall County coach Thomas Osteen will be going into a familiar situation when his Tigers host Nolensville (8-1, 4-0) on Friday night for the Region 4-4A championship.

The Knights? Not so much.

The Tigers beat Page in Lewisburg 42-24 in 2015 in a battle for the region crown before falling at Knoxville Catholic in the state semifinals.

MCHS went on the road to demolish Page 51-0 in 2016 for the region title before falling versus Knoxville Central at Preston Hopkins Field in Lewisburg in the second of three straight semifinal appearances.

Nolensville, however, will be playing in its first-ever region title tilt in just its third season of playing a full varsity schedule of its fourth year of existence.

The game will present a total turnaround from last season when the final game featured the two teams battling for the third and fourth seeds in the playoffs, which Nolensville won 21-17 just a year after the Tigers beat the Knights 49-6 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Seventh-ranked Nolensville enters the game with a single loss to 6A Franklin in week nine 25-23 and the Tigers bounced back from a close loss to archrival Giles County with a 45-13 homecoming win against Spring Hill to set up the showdown between the two unbeaten squads.

"Nolensville will be coming into the game at 8-1," wide receiver A'Ky Howard, who is second on the team with 16 receptions, said. "We know what we have to do to win this region championship and also it's at home, so that's going to give us more momentum as a team."

Ninth-ranked Marshall County (7-2, 4-0) is balanced on offense with 181 rushing yards per game and 153 receiving yards per game with 40 touchdowns.

Sophomore signal caller Bryson Hammons has produced a standout season during his first full season as a starter, passing for 1,357 yards on 97-of-152 attempts for 13 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

Hammons also started against the Knights as a freshman in 2018.

The passing attack will be complimented by senior running back Kel Greer (783 yards, 14 TD) and Connor Hilton (146 yards, TD), who averages 7.7 yards per carry.

Hammons favorite targets on offense are Howard (270 yards, 2 TD) and senior Devon Wilson (31 receptions, 348 yards).

Jon Estes has proven to be as a reliable a kicker as there is in the state by entering the contest making 11-of-12 attempts.

The defense has produced 14 interceptions and eight sacks, led by Kaden Whitson, Deonte Davis, and Christian Stacey with three picks each.

Hilton leads the squad with 67 tackles while Tez Allen anchors a stout defensive line with 51 tackles and 14 tackles for a loss.

Andrew Gold adds 50 tackles, nine TFL, three sacks, and 11 quarterback hurries.

The Tigers will have to tend to a pair of studs on the Nolensville defense.

At 6-4 and 221 pounds, linebacker C.J. Ware is committed to Miami (OH) with offers from Ball State, Louisville, Memphis, Toledo, and Western Kentucky.

Defensive back Tim Coutras, who leads the state with eight interceptions, is committed to Liberty, but just picked up an offer from SEC participant Missouri last week to go along with offers from ETSU, Eastern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, and UT-Martin.

"We have to shut down their defense and some threats on the offensive side of the ball," Howard explained. "We shut their threats down and we have a shot to have hardware in our hands before going to the playoffs."

The Region 3-4A seeds are already locked in place with the Marshall County/Nolensville winner hosting last season’s champion and four-seed Stone Memorial (3-6, 1-3) and the loser hosting the three-seed Macon County (5-4, 2-1).

Region 4 has overwhelmingly dominated Region 3 with two straight sweeps in the first round.

Last season #4 Marshall County shocked #1 Stone Memorial in an epic overtime battle in Crossville before losing at Tullahoma in the second round.

Nolensville knocked off #2 Livingston Academy 21-14 before losing a close 26-21 contest to Maplewood.

The 2019 #1 seed from 3-4A will be undefeated Livingston Academy (9-0, 3-0) with the #2 seed belonging to DeKalb County (5-4, 2-1).