What Vanderbilt football's Diego Pavia said to Georgia commit Jared Curtis in TSSAA football win

Nashville Christian quarterback Jared Curtis chugged across the goal line and released a howl in the back of the end zone. 

Wearing a No. 2 jersey with fire flickering in his eyes, he could’ve been mistaken for another star around town: Vanderbilt football QB Diego Pavia. 

Curtis, a Georgia football commitment, scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 8-yard run with 50 seconds in the fourth quarter, leading Nashville Christian to a tense 49-42 victory over Chattanooga Tyner (7-1) in Week 8 of the TSSAA football season. 

More: Tennessee high school football scores for Week 8, 2025 TSSAA season

With Vanderbilt enjoying an off week, Pavia watched the first half of the game from the stands, speaking briefly with Curtis in the second quarter. 

“He just said what’s up and told me to keep balling and I said, ‘you too,’ ” Curtis said. “I like watching him on the weekends. I hope he continues to do his thing.” 

Pavia stayed for just a half but got the full Curtis experience. Curtis was 19-of-31 passing for 312 yards and four passing TDs for the Eagles (7-0) to go with his running TD. 

“He’s talented, I'll tell you that. He’s nasty,” Pavia told The Tennessean. 

Pavia came as a guest of Joshua Smith, whose son, Hudson, is a sophomore for the Eagles and logged an interception in the first half. Smith is friends and a former Vanderbilt classmate of Ryan Downton, the attorney who represented Pavia in an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA. 

“I came out to support all the boys, you know. I just wanted to see them win. I want to see them accomplish their goals, get offers, do all the stuff they dream to do,” said Pavia, who played for Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “New Mexico football is not like this. There’s no people all on the sidelines, on the field. This is different football. I like this football.”

The fireworks didn’t really start until after Pavia left. 

Tyner, a Class 3A state title contender with an athletic roster that includes USC commitment Peyton Dyer and sophomore Dion Edwards, who has a Tennessee offer, gave Nashville Christian all it could handle. The Rams rallied from a 42-28 deficit and had a chance to tie the game after forcing a Curtis fumble late in the fourth quarter. 

Curtis reaggravated an ankle injury that has hampered him for the past three weeks on the play, but he got another chance after Nashville Christian’s Colt McClary recovered with a fumble on Tyner’s next possession. 

Pavia was still in attendance for Curtis' most dazzling play of the night came, when he scrambled toward the boundary, stiff-armed a Tyner defender to the ground and zipped a 16-yard TD off his back foot to Javin Drewelow.

“He’s got a competitor’s mentality, a gunslinger's mentality. He’s got a poise in the moment that’s rare. Do guys like (Pavia) have that? Yes," said Nashville Christian coach Jeff Brothers, a former Vanderbilt quarterback. "Things break down but they still have the poise in that moment, they don’t freak out and start running, they look down field for someone to throw to.”

Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.

He also helps write The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Georgia football commit Jared Curtis met Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia