Note: This story was updated at 12:30 a.m.
Oak Ridge lost 35-9 to the undefeated Greeneville football team on Friday.
The Wildcats (2-5, 2-1 Region 3-5A) made some improvements. But it wasn’t enough against the Greene Devils, who remained undefeated overall (8-0) and in Region 1-4A (4-0).
Greeneville, about 90 minutes east of Oak Ridge, scored four of their five touchdowns in the first half. Junior quarterback Brady Quillen run for three touchdowns and threw for two, according to The Greeneville Sun.
The Wildcats scored their only touchdown about halfway through the third quarter.
Oak Ridge was visiting Greeneville for the first time since 1947, according to Wildcats broadcaster David Clary, who operates Prepradio.com.
Both teams have played in recent state championship football games. Oak Ridge finished as state runner-up in Class 5A in 2020, while Greeneville won the state championship in Class 4A in 2018.
This year, the Greene Devils have scored a minimum of 35 points in every game they have played.
Against Oak Ridge on Friday, they had more than twice as many yards, finishing with 386 compared to 180 for the Wildcats, according to preliminary statistics by Mark and Shawna Haste.
Despite the loss, Oak Ridge coach Joe Gaddis told Prepradio.com that the Wildcats blocked better up front than they had all year, and the team ran hard. Oak Ridge also had no turnovers and no penalties.
But the defense game up some big plays, Gaddis said.
Greene Devils coach Eddie Spradlen told the Sun newspaper that Oak Ridge was the most physically skilled team his players have encountered this year, but they made defensive stops when they had to and kept the Wildcats out of the end zone when the Wildcats had good field position.
Greeneville scored first on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Quillen to senior Jakobi Gillespie after moving 55 yards in five plays in the first two minutes of the first quarter.
The Wildcats responded with a 44-yard field goal by junior kicker Efrain Rodriguez with about 3.5 minutes left in the first quarter.
But the Greene Devils answered less than two minutes later with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Quillen to Jaden Stevenson-Williams, The Greeneville Sun said.
Greeneville scored twice in the second quarter to take a 28-3 halftime lead. The first touchdown that quarter was on a one-yard run at 8:01 by Quillen, and the second was with less than a minute left in the half by Quillen after faking a handoff.
The Wildcats scored their one touchdown at 6:38 in the third quarter on a six-yard run by sophomore De’Jauvis Dozier. The extra point was blocked.
Greeneville’s final touchdown came on a 20-yard run by Quillen with 3:02 left in the third quarter.
Greeneville was led on the ground by senior Mason Gudger, who ran a game-high 194 yards on 18 carries to move into third place in career rushing yards for Greeneville High School, according to the Sun newspaper.
Quillen, the quarterback, ran 54 yards on 10 carries with his three touchdowns. The Greene Devils rushed for 270 yards total on 33 carries.
Quillen threw for the two touchdowns and 117 yards on seven completions, and Greeneville was led by Gillespie with 55 yards receiving on two catches and the touchdown.
Oak Ridge was led on the ground by Dozier, who ran for the touchdown, and senior Kendall Jackson. Each had 37 yards rushing on nine carries, according to the preliminary statistics. The Wildcats finished with 134 yards rushing.
Wildcats junior quarterback Hayden Tarwater was 8-of-13 passing for 46 yards and no interceptions. Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Heyward was held to 19 yards on two receptions.
Oak Ridge will play at Karns next week. Both teams are 2-1 in Region 3-5A, while Karns is 5-2 overall. The Beavers have junior DeSean Bishop, who has been the nation’s leading rusher. Gaddis said Bishop is averaging just under 300 yards per game.
Karns lost 35-14 in a non-regional game at Halls (4-4) on Friday.
The Karns game is the second-to-last regional game for Oak Ridge. They will finish the regular season hosting a regional game against Campbell County (6-2, 1-2) on October 29. In between, they will host a non-regional game on October 22 against Dobyns-Bennett (5-2, 2-1 Region 1-6A) of Kingsport in upper East Tennessee.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. This is a free story. Thank you to our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. You can see what we cover here.
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!
Alternatively, you can donate to support our work here. Thank you for your support!
Copyright 2021 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
