Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge boys’ cross country team finishes sixth in state championship

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Oak Ridge Cross Country Wesley Robinson

Junior Wesley Robinson had the top finish for the Oak Ridge Boys Cross Country team at the state championship in Nashville on Saturday. Robinson finished 29th overall, and Oak Ridge placed sixth. (Photos courtesy of Karen Fitchpatrick)

The Oak Ridge boys’ cross country team finished sixth in the state championship in Nashville on Saturday.

It was the Wildcats’ best finish since 2009, when Oak Ridge placed second, Coach Allen Etheridge said.

“It’s a really solid step for us,” Etheridge said.

He said the young team ran okay on the Percy Warner Park Steeplechase Course in Nashville, but it wasn’t Oak Ridge’s best race. Etheridge said the five-kilometer (3.1-mile) course and the intensity of the competition and other factors might have surprised the boys a bit. [Read more…]

Wildcats to play East Hamilton in Chattanooga in first-round playoff game

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Oak Ridge Wildcats and Farragut Admirals

The Oak Ridge Wildcats, pictured above at Farragut earlier this year, will travel to Chattanooga to take on the East Hamilton Hurricanes in a first-round playoff game on Friday.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats (7-3) will take on the East Hamilton Hurricanes (8-2) in Chattanooga on Friday in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs. The game starts at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Anderson County Mavericks (9-1) will stay at home to battle the Cherokee Chiefs (5-5) from Rogersville.

The 2013 playoff brackets were announced Saturday morning by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, or TSSAA. The Class 5A bracket is available here. [Read more…]

Mavericks win district title 19-6 as Wildcats struggle on offense

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Mavericks Tyler Hicks and Wildcats Harry Boston

Harry Boston, senior defensive end for the Oak Ridge Wildcats, pursues Tyler Hicks, senior quarterback for the Anderson County Mavericks. The Mavericks won the district championship at Blankenship Field on Thursday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

With a chance at a district championship hanging in the balance, the Oak Ridge Wildcats fell to the Anderson County Mavericks 19-6 on Blankenship Field on Thursday.

The Wildcats (7-3, 6-2 District 3) struggled offensively throughout the night, recording only 239 yards of total offense, 58 of which came from a single deep ball from Jaylin Henderson to Jiminquas Johnson late in the fourth quarter.

The offensive woes, however, did more than just keep Oak Ridge—who also saw their three-game district winning streak come to an end with the loss—off the scoreboard as they kept the defense out on the field and in tough situations for most of the game.

“We just didn’t get it done on the offensive side. If we do anything offensively, they probably don’t score 19 points, but we kept giving back to them over and over,” Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis said. “Our defense played pretty well, giving up 19 points while having to play defense all night long. I think their defense and our offense was the biggest key of the ball game.” [Read more…]

Registration available for Oak Ridge youth basketball program

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Registration packets are now available at the Oak Ridge Civic Center for teams interested in participating in the City of Oak Ridge Youth Basketball program.

The leagues offered will be Junior Boys and Junior Girls for players in grades 7, 8, and 9, and Senior Boys and Senior Girls for players in grades 10, 11, and 12. The early registration deadline for all leagues is Nov. 11, but late registrations (with a late fee) will be taken through Nov. 15. [Read more…]

Wildcats extend district win streak to 3-0 at Central; play Anderson County on Halloween

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Isiah Jones

Oak Ridge Wildcats sophomore Isiah Jones runs for 138 yards on 18 carries on Friday night at Central High School. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Wildcats extended their district win streak to 3-0 against the Central High School Bobcats on Friday in Knoxville.

The final score was 24-13.

Next up is district rival Anderson County on Halloween. It’s the last regular-season game and a district title could be at stake.

Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis has emphasized that he wants the Wildcats to go 4-0 in the final four district games. [Read more…]

Second-place finish for boys’ cross country sends ORHS to state

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Oak Ridge Cross Country's Wesley Robinson

Wesley Robinson, a junior and top finisher for the Oak Ridge High School boys’ team, finished sixth in a 5K race during a cross country regional championship at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday. (Photos by Nichole Zawisza)

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge High School boys’ cross country team finished second in a regional championship in Knoxville on Thursday and will race in the state championship in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 2.

The girls’ team ran well but finished fourth, meaning they won’t get to compete in the state championship. It’s only open to the top three teams in the region.

Finishing first in the 5K race for the Oak Ridge boys, and sixth overall, was junior Wesley Robinson. He had a time of 16:44.31. That was his best race all year, Robinson said.

“I was very happy with my race,” he said. The course—two loops around Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville and a downhill finish—had several difficult hills and some rocky areas, Robinson said. [Read more…]

Roane rallies around injured student-athlete

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Information from WYSH Radio

Classmates of a Kingston High School sophomore football player who broke his neck on the first play of last week’s game against Sequoyah showed their support and rallied the community’s support for him on Tuesday.

Seth Haynes shattered the third vertebrae in his neck in the game and underwent surgery at the University of Tennessee Medical Center over the weekend. He could be released from the hospital as early as today and has expressed interest in attending the Yellow Jackets game this Friday night. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats’ soccer season ends with 2-0 loss to Hardin Valley

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Oak Ridge Lady Soccer Cats and Hardin Valley Academy Hawks

Lady Wildcat Mahala Myers, left, a senior, battles for the ball with a Hardin Valley player during a season-ending subregional game on Tuesday in Oak Ridge.

The Lady Wildcats’ soccer season ended with a 2-0 loss to Hardin Valley Academy in a subregional game on Tuesday.

Coaches said the game featured two good, evenly matched teams, but the Hawks took advantage of opportunities while Oak Ridge did not. Among the missed opportunities for Oak Ridge was a free kick that hit the crossbar with less than three minutes left in the game.

“They just finished theirs,” Lady Wildcats coach Jason Schmieg said. “We didn’t finish ours.” [Read more…]

Wildcats prevail over Powell in 21-14 comeback

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Isiah Jones Touchdown Catch

Sophomore running back Isiah Jones catches the second touchdown for the Oak Ridge Wildcats at Powell on Friday night.

POWELL—The Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the Powell Panthers in a thrilling 21-14 come-from-behind win on Friday night in Powell.

The Wildcats were down two touchdowns at halftime, but a fired-up football team returned in the second half, scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and prevented Powell from scoring again.

“I’m so proud of this football team right now,” Wildcats Coach Joe Gaddis said. “You find out a lot about yourself when you stare adversity in the face.”

In some ways, it resembled the season opener against Farragut, when Oak Ridge struggled to score in the first half but came alive in the second.

[Read more…]

Wildcats beat Karns 56-28; three ‘big’ district games remain

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Oak Ridge Wildcats and Karns Beavers

Jaleel Luster, right, a junior running back, was one of six Oak Ridge Wildcats to score during a 56-28 win over the Karns Beavers on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

Note: This story was last updated at 10:47 a.m.

Six players scored eight touchdowns as the Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the Karns Beavers 56-28 on Blankenship Field on Friday.

It was the third time this season that the Wildcats have scored more than 50 points.

Coach Joe Gaddis said the Wildcats (5-2, 4-1 in the district) played well on offense, but he was troubled by a few passes the defense allowed when Oak Ridge was in control of the game.

“We don’t want to give up those long touchdowns,” Gaddis said. [Read more…]

Wildcats QB ties school record with five touchdown passes in 57-28 victory

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Ted Mitchell Reception

Junior wide receiver Ted Mitchell catches a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jaylin Henderson near the end of the first quarter during the 57-28 homecoming victory against the Gibbs Eagles on Friday. (Photo courtesy Julio Culiat)

Oak Ridge quarterback Jaylin Henderson threw a record-tying five touchdown passes as the Wildcats rolled over the Gibbs Eagles 57-28 during a homecoming game at Blankenship Field on Friday night.

Oak Ridge (4-1, 3-0 in the district) had eight touchdowns total as they scored on drive after drive and kept the Wildcats band busy playing touchdown tunes.

Junior wide receivers Ted Mitchell and Brandon Bonds each had two touchdown catches in the first half, and senior Michael Baker caught one in the second. [Read more…]

Two sacks prove critical in Wildcats’ 600th win

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Ted Mitchell

Ted Mitchell, a junior wide receiver for the Oak Ridge Wildcats, tries to go around a defender for the McMinn County Cherokees on Friday at Blankenship Field.

Two sacks late in the fourth quarter proved critical in the milestone 600th win for the Oak Ridge Wildcats on Friday.

The Wildcats (3-1) were leading 28-19 with less than three minutes to play, but the McMinn County Cherokees had driven downfield and were threatening to score with 2:32 left in the game.

But the Cherokees’ drive stalled with back-to-back sacks by two Oak Ridge defenders, sophomore linebacker Gavin Warrington and senior defensive end Kyler Jones. The Cherokees (1-4) were pushed back from a second-and-7 at the Oak Ridge 18 to a fourth-and-long at about the Oak Ridge 38. [Read more…]