PREP PRESEASON: Goal of state title pushes Outlaw, Pike Road this season

Pike Road’s Braylon Outlaw is one of the top players in the River Region and is one of the key leaders for the Patriots this season. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Braylon Outlaw has some lofty goals for the 2025 football season.

After reaching the semifinals of the 6A state playoffs the last two seasons, the Pike Road senior would like to go a step farther in the playoffs.

“As far as the team, I want us to get to a state championship,” he said. “I definitely want to lead the team to that.”

Personally, one of the state’s top linebackers knows his team probably won’t get there if his performance doesn’t go a step farther as well.

“For me, I would say just double what I did last year,” he said. “Do better than I did last year. Last year was my first year at middle linebacker. I just feel like my second year has got to be even better.”

That would be scary good. Last season, Outlaw had 172 tackles, including eight tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. He also intercepted two passes, returning them 48 yards.

Outlaw’s ability to make plays was obvious to head coach Granger Shook and his coaching staff, who responded by giving the senior a handful of plays on offense last year. Outlaw carried the ball six times (for 48 yards) and he scored on three of those six carries. He also caught one pass for 28 yards.

“He is the leader, not just of our defense, but probably our entire team,” Shook said. “When he speaks, everybody listens, Not only does he have instincts, but the speed and agility and the explosion to make plays a lot of people can’t make.”

At 6-foot, 200 pounds, Outlaw is slightly undersized for major college football, but uses leverage and speed to make the tackle.

“I’m in the weight room,” he said. “I have the strength to take on any lineman. It’s just using my speed as well. In my game, you don’t have to use strength to get past a lineman. Just be elusive and use my speed as well.”

Outlaw’s ability has attracted attention from college recruiters and late last season he committed to play football at the University of Tennessee.

“I felt the most comfortable there,” he said. “When I look at a school, I want to see if I could live there, see myself enjoying my life there the next two to four years. I definitely found a home. I can tell the program can really develop me and get me to the next level where I want to be.”

First, he wants to lead the Patriots to a championship and Pike Road certainly has a championship-caliber defense with a linebacker corps that includes Outlaw, Rufus Boone and Catholic transfer Miles Khatri, or the “Big Three” as Outlaw called them.

“I feel like we’re going to do some great things this season,” he said. “I have a lot of confidence in us three as a group.”

His teammates feel the same way. Offensive tackle Braiden Watkins said he can judge the success of the Pike Road offense by going against the defense every day in practice.

“Our defense is great,” Watkins said. “I feel like if our offense can block and score against our defense then we’re going to have a great season. Our defense is that good. The linebackers, Miles and Braylon and Rufus, are just dogs.”

 Outlaw believes the only thing missing from a championship run last season was his team’s mental approach. This year, he believes his team has the mental makeup to make it to the semifinals. And beyond.

“We get on a run and when we make it to that fourth round, we’ve been on a run for a minute, winning games,” Outlaw said. “I feel like, as a team, we just get complacent and our mindset shifts away from our main focus. We’ve just got to continue to stay focused on our main goal and use that to get over the hump.”