• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




Caleb Jackson scores twice, recovers two turnovers in Wildcats’ win at Lenoir City

Posted at 5:39 pm September 18, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

oak-ridge-lenoir-city-football-caleb-jackson-run-2-sept-16-2016-web

Oak Ridge senior Caleb Jackson (25) scored two touchdowns for the Wildcats on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, and he recovered two Lenoir City turnovers during a 45-8 win over the Panthers in Lenoir City. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

LENOIR CITY—Oak Ridge senior Caleb Jackson scored two touchdowns for the Wildcats on Friday, and he recovered two Lenoir City turnovers during a 45-8 win over the Panthers.

Senior wide receiver Tee Higgins, a Clemson commitment, added three touchdowns for Oak Ridge.

The Wildcats scored on their first four drives, once after intercepting Lenoir City sophomore quarterback Gabe Williams.

Halfway through the regular season, Oak Ridge is undefeated at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in Region 3-5A.

Lenoir City fell to 1-4 and 0-2 with the loss at home on Cecil Thomas Field.

Oak Ridge plays Sevier County (1-4, 1-1 Region 1-5A) at home on Blankenship Field at 7:30 p.m. September 23. It’s Homecoming Night.

For the first time this season, Oak Ridge sophomore running back Jordan Graham had no touchdowns. Normally an offensive playmaker, especially when he gets to the outside and can run down the sideline, Graham was held to 27 total yards on eight carries. He turned his ankle during the game, Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis said.

In the previous four games, Graham rushed for between 146 yards and 271 yards per game.

Advertisement

Higgins, another offensive playmaker who led receivers Friday, had 149 yards on eight catches and the three touchdowns. He now has 10 touchdowns this season, compared to nine for Graham. Higgins again had athletic catches where he had to leap high to catch the ball, even while double-teamed, and touchdown receptions where he had to beat at least two defenders to get into the end zone.

“They had no answer to Tee,” Gaddis said of Lenoir City. Oak Ridge could probably throw to Higgins on every play, he said. But, he added, “our offense can’t just depend on one guy.”

It was the second touchdown of the season for Jackson. The first was a week earlier during a 48-34 win over Anderson County.

Also scoring for Oak Ridge at Lenoir City on Friday was sophomore Tre Jackson. He rushed for a touchdown on a 26-yard run at the end of the Wildcats’ opening six-play drive. It was also the second TD this year for Tre Jackson.

Junior Carson McGhee added a 41-yard field goal with four seconds left in the first half. That score followed Caleb Jackson’s interception of a Lenoir City pass in the end zone.

That interception by Jackson killed what could have been a 74-yard touchdown drive for the Panthers.

It was one of at least three Lenoir City drives that ended with the Panthers not being able to convert on a scoring opportunity. On the Panthers’ second drive, Williams, the Lenoir City quarterback, scrambled right and threw to junior wide receiver Landon Miller at the right side of the end zone on a fourth-and-15, but Miller came down with the ball out of bounds.

Advertisement

The Panthers came close to scoring again late in the third quarter, with the clock running because Oak Ridge was ahead by more than 35 points. On a fourth-and-10, Lenoir City junior fullback Brantley Stockett made it to about the Oak Ridge half-yard line, but he appeared to be stopped there by Wildcats senior Jacob Gross and other defenders.

Oak Ridge played without three starters on defense who had shoulder injuries: senior linebacker Kyndall Clark, junior safety Adarius Simpson, and senior lineman Wilson Hammer. Gaddis hopes to have them back this week against Sevier County.

But a fourth defender, sophomore Caelan Thompson, could be out another month with a knee injury, Gaddis said.

The coach said the Wildcats tackled “much, much better” against Lenoir City than they did the week before against Anderson County. They caused turnovers, and with the exception of a three-yard touchdown run by Lenoir City after an Oak Ridge fumble early in the fourth quarter, had a shutout.

Oak Ridge also contained the quarterback better than they did a week earlier against Anderson County, Gaddis said.

But the offense didn’t block well, including up front, he said. Oak Ridge had a few big plays with Higgins and some key running plays.

oak-ridge-lenoir-city-football-johnny-stewart-handoff-sept-16-2016-web

Oak Ridge junior quarterback Johnny Stewart (2) hands off the football during a 45-8 win at Lenoir City on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. Stewart threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and he had 12 completions on 20 attempts (60 percent). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

At 5-0 now, “we certainly control our own destiny,” Gaddis said.

Higgins scored on a 14-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Johnny Stewart into the right side of the end zone late in the first quarter, followed by a 21-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter, and a 58-yard TD pass early in the third.

Caleb Jackson had five-yard and two-yard touchdown runs in the second and fourth quarters.

Williams had the lone touchdown for Lenoir City. The Panthers were successful on the two-point conversion.

The Wildcats finished with 375 yards total against Lenoir City, with 174 on the ground and 201 through the air.

The Panthers had 223, with 60 rushing and 163 passing.

Oak Ridge was led in rushing by senior Chase Kimbro with 55 yards on three carries.

Stewart, the Oak Ridge quarterback, threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and had 12 completions on 20 attempts (60 percent).

In defensive highlights, junior Adarius Cox had three tackles and four assists, senior Jacob Gross had four tackles and two assists, and Caleb Jackson had five tackles. And Oak Ridge senior Jaret Miner intercepted Williams early in the second quarter, setting up the Wildcats’ fourth touchdown drive.

Oak Ridge last played at Lenoir City in 1965. The two teams last played in 2015 on Blankenship Field, their first meeting since a 1966 game in Oak Ridge.

See Tee Higgins’ first touchdown catch here, with video courtesy Myles Hebrard:

Another pretty catch in the sunset. @teehiggins5 @ORSchools @OakRidgeToday #FridayNightLights pic.twitter.com/ntFezD2vEd

— Myles Hebrard (@myleshebrard) September 17, 2016

See a run by Caleb Jackson here, with video courtesy Myles Hebrard:

Strong run by this big fella. @cjackson_25 pic.twitter.com/XM1D48gs7t — Myles Hebrard (@myleshebrard) September 17, 2016

See more photos and videos here.

oak-ridge-lenoir-city-football-team-stats-sept-16-2016-web

Advertisement



oak-ridge-lenoir-city-football-scoring-summary-sept-16-2016-web


Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Front Page News, High School, Slider, Sports, Sports, Top Stories Tagged With: Adarius Cox, Adarius Simpson, Anderson County, Blankenship Field, Brantley Stockett, Caelan Thompson, Caleb Jackson, Carson McGhee, Chase Kimbro, Gabe Williams, Jacob Gross, Jaret Miner, Joe Gaddis, Johnny Stewart, Jordan Graham, Kyndall Clark, Landon Miller, Lenoir City, Oak Ridge, Panthers, Region 3-5A, Sevier County, Tee Higgins, Wildcats, Wilson Hammer

Advertisements

 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Sports News

Oak Ridge, others cheering for Higgins in Super Bowl

People in East Tennessee and others across the country will be cheering for former Oak Ridge Wildcat Tee Higgins in the Super Bowl this evening (Sunday, February 13), and another former Wildcat, Zach Witherspoon, will be … [Read More...]

Oak Ridge Healthy Waters Program hosting Ijams River Rescue

The Oak Ridge Stormwater Division and Healthy Waters Program will host a volunteer cleanup on Melton Hill Lake in March. It's the 33rd Annual Ijams River Rescue, which is a volunteer cleanup event hosted by Ijams Nature … [Read More...]

Hike with park ranger, learn history

You can hike with a park ranger and learn about history on Cedar Hill Greenway this month. "Grab your boots and jacket to join us on a hike through the Secret City," a press release said. "Manhattan Project National … [Read More...]

Submit comments about county parks plan

Anderson County government is asking residents to comment about the future of parks and recreation in the county. The county is using a citizen survey to inform a comprehensive parks and recreation master plan, a … [Read More...]

Wildcats finish 4th in KISL swim meet

The Oak Ridge Wildcats swim team finished fourth out of 40 teams in the Knox-area Interscholastic Swim League (KISL) City Championship Meet at the University of Tennessee on Sunday. With the fourth-place finish, the … [Read More...]

More Sports

Recent Posts

  • REAC/TS welcomes new team members: John Crapo, Josh Hayes and David Quillen
  • NASA Postdoctoral Program seeks early career and senior scientists for prestigious fellowships at its locations across the U.S.
  • ORAU names Brandon Criswell associate general counsel
  • Update on downtown Oak Ridge Tuesday
  • TVA has virtual open house for Clinch River Nuclear Site
  • Science and supercomputers at ORNL topic of Mar. 8 talk
  • First Presbyterian offers free meals & groceries on Mar. 10
  • Secret City Academy student charged with terrorism after alleged shooting, bomb threats
  • ORHS Masquers presents ‘Into the Woods’
  • Oak Ridge’s first girl Eagle Scout named a “Scout of the Year”

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2022 Oak Ridge Today