After sluggish start, Wildcats double scoring output in second half

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:35 a.m. Sept. 13.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats got off to a sluggish start in the first half on Friday, but doubled their scoring output in the second.

All of the second-half points—four touchdowns—came in the third quarter of the 42-0 win over the Halls Red Devils, the second shutout of the season for the Wildcats.

Junior running back T.J. Allison (six carries, 53 yards) rushed for three touchdowns for the Wildcats, one in the first half and two in the second.

Red Devils coach J.D. Overton said Halls is a young, inexperienced team that was playing without a half-dozen starters on Friday night at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge. He declined to say why the players were sitting out the game. Two of those starters play offense and defense.

“They didn’t play tonight,” Overton said. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

 

He said Oak Ridge is a well-coached team that has “the whole package.” The Red Devils had two freshman starters on Friday and four that saw significant playing time, and they joined a team that already had nine to 10 starting sophomores.

“Our back was against the wall,” Overton said.

This year’s game bore some resemblance to Oak Ridge’s performance at Halls last year, when Wildcats coach Joe Gaddis said the team got off to a sloppy start. But this year, Oak Ridge (3-0, 2-0 District 3-AAA) played much better, especially in the second half, Gaddis said.

“You all definitely came out in the third quarter and did exactly what we had to do,” he told the football team in a post-game huddle.

Gaddis said Oak Ridge, which was coming off two rivalry wins over Farragut and Clinton, had a few missed alignments and gave up a few big plays against Halls (1-2, 0-1), a district opponent.

“We just weren’t inspired in the first half,” Gaddis said.

The mark of a good team is to beat the teams you should beat, he said. Oak Ridge got better in the third quarter, he said, and repeatedly forced Halls to punt without picking up a first down in the second half.

 

Oak Ridge, which relied more on a running attack in the second half, finished with 304 yards of total offense, compared to 137 for Halls. The Wildcats picked up 181 yards rushing, while Halls gained only 39 on the ground.

Junior running back Jaylen Nickerson led the Wildcats in rushing on seven carries for 73 yards, while junior running back Isiah Jones added five carries for 33 yards.

Two senior wide receivers, Malik Hardy and Brandon Bonds, rushed for touchdowns, Hardy on a 16-yard carry near the end of the third quarter and Bonds on a 10-yard run to open the scoring near the end of the first.

Junior quarterback Logan Fadnek completed five of 10 passes for 123 yards and one touchdown: a 56-yard pass to junior wide receiver Jordan Dunbar.

Allison’s scores were on a five-yard run with 3:25 remaining in the second quarter, a 10-yard run at 10:09 in the third, and an 11-yard run less than four minutes later, at 6:33 in the third.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

 

Here are preliminary stats, courtesy of Mark Haste:

TEAM STATISTICS
Oak Ridge		Halls
	FIRST DOWNS
11	Total	6
7	By rushing	2
3	By passing	4
1	By penalty	0
	RUSHING
29	Attempts	27
209	Yards gained	63
28	Yards lost	24
181	Net yards	39
	PASSING
5	Completions	10
11	Attempts	24
45.45%	Percentage	41.67%
0	Intercepted	0
123	Net yards	98
	TOTAL OFFENSE
304	Net yards	137
	PUNTS
4	Attempts	8
44	Average	25.5
	RETURN YARDS
16	Punt returns	4
10	Kickoff returns	0
0	Interception returns	0
	FUMBLES
0	Total	1
0	Fumbles lost	1
	PENALTIES
3	Total	4
30	Yards lost	35

 

Rushing Stats

Num	Player	Total_Carries	Total_Yards	Long	Average	Yards_Gained	Yards_Lost	Carries	FD	TD
29	Nickerson, Jaylen	7	73	38	10.43	74	1	10,  3,  38,  13,  5,  5, -1	3
6	Allison, TJ	6	53	12	8.83	53		7,  12,  5,  8,  10,  11	1	3
20	Jones, Isiah	5	33	15	6.6	34	1	5,  15, -1,  2,  12	2
15	Hardy, Malik	1	16	16	16.	16		16		1
14	Dunbar, Jordan	2	11	13	5.5	13	2	13, -2	1
81	Bonds, Brandon	1	10	10	10.	10		10		1
17	Fadnek, Logan	2	-2	4	-1.	4	6	4, -6
10	Kimbro, Chase	2	-4	4	-2.	4	8	-8,  4
28	Hutson, Chance	2	-4	1	-2.	1	5	-5,  1
12	Mortl, Stefan	1	-5	-5	-5.		5	-5

 

Receiving Stats

Num	Player	Completions	Yards_Gained	Yards_Lost	Total_Yards	Catches	FD	TD
14	Dunbar, Jordan	1	56		56	56		1
5	Higgins, Tee	1	24		24	24	1
99	Middleton, Darel	2	22		22	6,  16	1
29	Nickerson, Jaylen	1	21		21	21	1

 

Passing Stats

Num	Player	Completions	Attempts	INT	Percent	Yards_Gained	Yards_Lost	Total_Yards	Catches	FD	TD
17	Fadnek, Logan	5	10		50.00%	123	0	123	6,  24,  16,  21,  56	3	1
11	Warrington, Gavin		1			0	0

 

Tackles by Position

No.	Name	Tack	Assists	TOT	Yards	Sacks	Yards	INTs	Yds	Fum	Rcv	Fum	Blk	Blk	Blk
					Lost		Lost			Rec	Yds	Cause	FG/EP	Punt	Pass
35	Manookian, Adam	4	4	8	1
99	Middleton, Darel	2	5	7	10
16	Chitwood, Ricky		6	6	3
4	Kaczocha, Tommy	3	2	5
81	Bonds, Brandon	1	4	5											1
34	Warmbrod, Matt	1	4	5
22	Myer, Riley	1	3	4	2
78	Fleming, Shawmain		4	4
11	Warrington, Gavin	1	2	3											1
66	Alcorn, Alex		3	3	2
10	Kimbro, Chase		2	2
23	Hall, Jemiah		2	2
24	Freeman, Trevon	1		1
86	Waddell, Ryan	1		1
18	Hurd, Tomarrea		1	1
33	Hannah, Jordan		1	1
36	Hammer, Wilson		1	1
65	Hostetler, Alex		1	1	1
80	Kaczocha, Mark		1	1
84	Miner, Jaret		1	1
87	Lawless, Alex		1	1
1	Mitchell, Ted			0											1
66	Alcorn, Alex			0											1
53	Henderson, Jamalcolm			0						1
	GameTotals	15	48	63	19	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	4