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.
Oak Ridge also scored on back-to-back runs by junior running back Jaleel Luster in the second half and sophomore backup quarterback Jordan Dunbar in the first.
Henderson finished with 392 passing yards and was 15 of 19.
“He gets better every week,” Coach Joe Gaddis told Prepadio.com. “It’s on-the-job training.”
Mitchell had 178 yards, seven receptions, and two touchdowns, and Luster ran for 42 yards and two touchdowns, the radio station said.
The Wildcats scored first on Friday on Dunbar’s one-yard run about halfway through the first quarter. They followed up a few minutes later with a 42-yard pass play on a third-and-20 from Henderson to Mitchell, who ran left to right across the field and into the end zone. The score was 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Oak Ridge scored on back-to-back touchdown passes of about 10 and 16 yards from Henderson to Bonds, including one that followed a fumble recovery in Gibbs’ territory. The Wildcats also scored on a safety when a high snap sailed over the head of the Gibbs’ punter, making the score 30-0.
But the Eagles answered by stripping the ball on a kickoff return and running for a touchdown.
The Wildcats came back with a roughly 11-yard touchdown pass play from Henderson to Mitchell. Gibbs responded with a 56-yard pass play to Ethan Warden with less than a minute to play in the half, followed by a one-yard quarterback sneak by Preston Booth.
The score was 37-14 at halftime in favor of Oak Ridge.
The Wildcats scored on the opening drive of the second half on an eight-yard pass to Baker with 9:35 in the third quarter.
The Eagles answered with a one-yard run by Booth. The score was 44-21.
Oak Ridge then scored on back-to-back eight- and three-yard touchdown runs by Luster. The second score followed an interception by Wildcats’ sophomore linebacker Matt Warmbrod, and Oak Ridge was up 57-21.
Gibbs scored once more from two yards out with three minutes left in the game, but it wasn’t enough. Gibbs is 2-4 and 1-3 in the district.
Oak Ridge plays at Campbell County (5-1, 3-1) next week.
Note: This story was updated at 4:09 p.m.
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