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.”
The Mavericks held the Wildcats’ top rusher, sophomore Isiah Jones, to 27 yards on 10 carries during the last regular season game at Blankenship Field on Thursday.
The key factor for the offense’s inability to move the football was their inefficiency on third downs as the Wildcats only converted on two of the 12 third downs they faced on the night.
“I would say we didn’t do good on first down or second down, but third downs are critical and we just didn’t get the job done,” Gaddis said.
The Wildcats went into halftime down 13-6, and managed to keep the Mavericks (9-1, 7-1 District 3) from tacking on to their lead, but a big 92-yard touchdown on fourth down by Anderson County’s Matt Fox to end the third quarter seemed to be the finishing blow.
“That hurt us because of our inability to do anything on the offensive side,” Gaddis said. “A ballgame comes down to a few key plays, and they made them all.”
Fox, a junior running back, finished the night with more than 250 yards and three touchdowns, including a 15-yard run in the first quarter and a nine-yard run in the second.
Oak Ridge’s one touchdown came on a 22-yard pass from Henderson, a senior quarterback, to wide receiver Blake Goins with 3:01 left in the first quarter.
Wildcats Coach Joe Gaddis jumps in the air as he pleads his case on the Oak Ridge sideline.
Although the Wildcats weren’t able to come through, Gaddis believes his team will get over the loss and bounce back to prepare for next week’s matchup in the first round of the playoffs.
“I’m sure it’s hard, but they are resilient; they will be ready to go on Monday,” Gaddis said. “They didn’t want to lose this game for sure because it’s Anderson County plus we had the possibility of a district championship.”
The victory for Anderson County clinched them the Class AAA, District 3 Championship, while the loss for the Wildcats means there will be no home playoff games in Oak Ridge.
The playoff bracket for the state tournament will be posted on the TSSAA website at 11 a.m. EST Saturday.
See the preliminary stats from Thursday night’s game, courtesy of Mark Haste: Oak Ridge Wildcats and Anderson County Mavericks Preliminary Stats.
About the author: Troy Provost-Heron is a freelance writer and assistant sports editor at The Daily Beacon at the University of Tennessee.
Note: This story was last updated at 2:40 a.m.
Sam Hopwood says
I think what Joe is trying to say is that Anderson County was the better team and they just kicked our butts. Their line was dominating both on offense and defense and we had no answer for #43 Matt Fox. The really bad news is that we will see him again next year. As an old Wildcat from way back in the days of yore, OR has some work to do.
johnhuotari says
Sam,
What areas do you think need the most improvement?
Sam Hopwood says
John,
OR is well coached and they are aware of where improvements are needed. If it were me, I would hope to make the offensive line a little more offensive. But at the end of the day 7-3 is a successfull season, it just doesn’t win championships. This may be what the future holds as school enrollment continues to drop for reasons that OR cannot come to grips with…… Just my view.
Dave Smith says
Sam, you should consider applying for a job as an ESPN analyst.
I haven’t heard such gridiron perspicaciousness since Coach Billy Joe Tom Bob Parker was coaching the Fightin’ Possums of Clyde Clod College.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/feb/04/the-ol-coach-still-has-it/
foxman34357 says
This was a well fought game and the Mavericks were able to control the line for the advantage. My son commented to me that this was his toughest yardage all season and we highly respect Oak Ridge. Good luck in your playoff games and we look forward to another tough challenge next year.