Oak Ridge Today

Former football coach Joe Gaddis coming back to Oak Ridge

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Note: This story was last updated at 3:31 p.m.

Former Oak Ridge High School football coach Joe Gaddis is returning to Oak Ridge, school officials announced Monday.

Gaddis will be a teacher and head football coach at Oak Ridge High School. He will replace Scott Blade, who resigned to accept a position in Williamson County.

Gaddis has an overall 258-112 record in his 30 years as head coach. Almost half of those wins—or 119 of them—came while he served as head coach at Oak Ridge High School, where he coached from 1988 until 1998, an Oak Ridge Schools press release said.

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Oak Ridge Wildcats win regional championship over Maryville

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats boys basketball team won a regional championship game 71-54 over the Maryville Rebels on Thursday night.

Oak Ridge took an early 14-0 lead and never looked back, although Maryville was able to occasionally cut the lead to single digits. Oak Ridge had a 20-point lead with less than a minute to play.

The Wildcats will host the Sevier County Smoky Bears at 7 p.m. Monday at the Wildcat Arena.

Atomic Rowing offers free rowing lessons this weekend

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Atomic Rowing

Atomic Rowing (Submitted photo)

The Atomic Rowing team is looking for East Tennessee student athletes (13-18) interested in trying the sport of rowing.

The team will hold two free youth learn-to-row lessons, followed by a no obligation eight-day trial period, for all prospective spring walk-ons. It is recommended that athletes interested in making the crew attend the lessons, but it is not required.

During tryout periods, prospective rowers will be taught equipment handling, basics of rowing technique, and safety. Students will be evaluated on overall athletic potential, character, team-first attitude, and ability to be coached.

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Last-minute steal seals deal for Karns

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Oak Ridge and Karns Basketball

The Oak Ridge Wildcats lost a close, high-scoring game to the Karns Beavers in Oak Ridge on Friday night. Karns won 84-81.

It was a high-scoring game with many lead changes, but a last-minute steal by Karns essentially sealed the deal.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats were ahead of the Karns Beavers 81-80 with less than a minute to play at Wildcat Arena on Friday night.

But shortly after missing two free throws and with about 30 seconds remaining, Karns (17-4, 9-2) stole the ball from Oak Ridge (17-4, 7-4) and scored.

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Oak Ridge football coach moving back to Middle Tennessee

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Oak Ridge High School football coach Scott Blade has resigned and is moving back to Middle Tennessee, where he will coach at Independence High School south of Nashville.

Blade has coached the Oak Ridge Wildcats since 2009, compiling a 35-15 record. He resigned Thursday, ORHS Athletic Director Mike Mullins said.

Mullins said Blade’s parents live in Franklin in Middle Tennessee, and Blade came to Oak Ridge from Hillsboro High School in Nashville. In addition, his wife received a job promotion in the medical field, and Independence quickly hired Blade.

“It was a job opportunity that he just couldn’t turn down,” Mullins said.

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ORHS boys soccer boosters have Dec. 1 pancake breakfast

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Oak Ridge High School Boys Soccer

Oak Ridge High School boys soccer team (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge High School Boys Soccer Booster Club is sponsoring a pancake breakfast on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 8 to 9:45 a.m. at Applebee’s in Oak Ridge.

Tickets are $5 each and can be obtained from boys soccer players and parents. Tickets also are available at the door on the day of the pancake breakfast. Proceeds support the ORHS boys soccer team.

For more information, contact Michelle Ward by phone at (865) 850-2921 or by e-mail at airnurse@gmail.com.

Applebee’s is at 1213 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Wildcats show promise in third, fall to Rebels in fourth

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Oak Ridge had a strong third quarter, scoring twice against Maryville and tying a Friday night second-round playoff game at 25.

But it wasn’t enough. The top-ranked Rebels answered with two touchdowns of their own in the fourth quarter and beat the Wildcats 39-25.

The Wildcats were down 25-10 at halftime, but the football team mounted a comeback in the third quarter with a 16-play drive and an interception by quarterback Rian Hall.

But the momentum shifted back to Maryville and its running game in the fourth quarter, and Hall was injured and had to leave the game with a little more than eight minutes to play.

It was the second match-up between the Wildcats (10-2) and Rebels (12-0) this year. Oak Ridge lost both, one during the regular season and the second during Friday night’s Class 6A playoff game in Maryville.

The Rebels will play the Dobyns-Bennett Indians (12-0) in Maryville next week.

Oak Ridge beat Science Hill 35-28 in a first-round playoff game last week.

The Wildcats finished the regular season 9-1, the best since 2005, and the football team was undefeated in the district and also district champions.

Hall touchdown propels Wildcats to 35-28 playoff victory

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Play Science Hill

Oak Ridge Wildcats quarterback Rian Hall, pictured at center above trying to outrun Science Hill defenders, rushed for a game-winning touchdown with 29.8 seconds to play in a first-round playoff game on Friday.

A six-yard touchdown run by Oak Ridge quarterback Rian Hall with 29.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter broke a tie Friday night and propelled the Wildcats to an exciting 35-28 first-round playoff victory over Science Hill.

Hall’s game-winning run followed a crucial 12-yard catch by Wildcats receiver Robert Valdez on a fourth-and-4 play with 1:02 left to play at Blankenship Field.

Oak Ridge (10-1) had a few two-touchdown leads during the game—ahead 21-7 in the second quarter and 28-14 in the third—but the Hilltoppers (9-2) rallied back behind Science Hill quarterback Reed Hayes to tie the game at 28 with 3:38 remaining.

“Tonight, we had to fight for everything, every first down, every yard,” Oak Ridge coach Scott Blade said, calling it an incredible game between two good teams.

The Wildcats travel to Maryville next week to play the top-ranked Rebels in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. Maryville, which gave Oak Ridge its only loss during the regular season, eliminated Hardin Valley 42-10 on Friday.

Oak Ridge Wildcats beat Campbell County 33-8, finish season 9-1

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Note: This story was updated at 4:44 p.m. Oct. 27.

Oak Ridge beat Campbell County 33-8 in the last game of the regular 2012 football season.

The Wildcats finished the season 9-1, the best since 2005, and were undefeated in the district and were also district champions, according to David Clary and the staff on “Voice of the Wildcats” radio show on prepradio.com.

The Wildcats’ one loss this season was to Maryville on Sept. 20.

Oak Ridge will play Science Hill (9-1) in a first round playoff game at Blankenship Field at 7 p.m. Friday.

Pumpkin Fest, regatta, car show this weekend

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From a regatta and football to a car show and pumpkin festival, there is much to do in Oak Ridge this weekend.

Tonight, the Oak Ridge Wildcats football team wraps up its regular season with a 7:30 p.m. game at Campbell County.

On Saturday, the Secret City Head Race starts at 8 a.m. at the Oak Ridge Marina, and the annual Pumpkin Fest starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. in Grove Center.

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Lady Wildcats lose regional soccer match to Knoxville Catholic

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Lady Wildcats and Knox Catholic Soccer

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats lost an exciting, hard-fought regional tournament soccer match to Knoxville Catholic at Oak Ridge High School on Tuesday night.

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats lost in a penalty kick shootout during a regional tournament soccer match with Knoxville Catholic on Tuesday night.

The game was tied 1-1 after 80 minutes of regular time and 30 minutes of extra time at Oak Ridge High School. Knoxville Catholic beat Oak Ridge 4-2 in the best-of-five shootout that followed, coming up with two crucial saves.

Both teams had missed opportunities to score during the game, and Oak Ridge had several shots bounce off the crossbar and posts.

“You’ve got to finish those,” Lady Wildcats soccer coach Tom Gorman said. “Close doesn’t cut it.”

It was a disappointing finish to an exciting, hard-fought game for the Lady Wildcats.

Oak Ridge beat Hardin Valley in the district tournament game last week and finished the season 17-1-3, Gorman said.

Knoxville Catholic goes on to play Farragut on Thursday.

Rebels beat Wildcats 38-23

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats lost their first football game of the season on Thursday, falling to the Maryville Rebels 38-23 at Blankenship Field.

The Wildcats are now 4-1, and the Rebels are 5-0.

The Wildcats, who are undefeated in the district, play Anderson County on Friday, Sept. 28, at Blankenship Field.