Wildcats prevail over Powell in 21-14 comeback

POWELL—The Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the Powell Panthers in a thrilling 21-14 come-from-behind win on Friday night in Powell.

The Wildcats were down two touchdowns at halftime, but a fired-up football team returned in the second half, scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and prevented Powell from scoring again.

“I’m so proud of this football team right now,” Wildcats Coach Joe Gaddis said. “You find out a lot about yourself when you stare adversity in the face.”

In some ways, it resembled the season opener against Farragut, when Oak Ridge struggled to score in the first half but came alive in the second.

“We’ve been here before,” Gaddis said.

But the outcome was better this time; Oak Ridge won.

The Panthers (5-3, 4-2) started without All State senior quarterback Hagen Owenby, who was injured in an Oct. 11 game against Halls, and they used several quarterbacks.

Powell scored first Friday on a one-yard run by Marcus Weaver, who is listed as a wide receiver but filled in as quarterback, with 7:36 left in the second quarter.

They scored again on a 31-yard run by quarterback Conner Sepesi with 2:28 left in the half. They were unable to score again.

Oak Ridge didn’t score until the fourth quarter, when junior wide receiver Ted Mitchell caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jaylin Henderson with 11:52 to play in the game.

The Wildcats tied the game with 7:27 left when Henderson hit sophomore running back Isiah Jones, who was wide open on the left side of the field, on a 21-yard pass play on fourth-and-11. Jones—who “ran tough” in the second half, Gaddis said—also finished the night with 20 carries and 85 yards rushing.

Junior wide receiver Brandon Bonds scored the Wildcats’ winning touchdown on a 42-yard pass play with 5:36 remaining, breaking tackles as he ran up the right side of the field and into the end zone. Bonds led receivers with six receptions for 83 yards.

Gaddis said the Wildcats played well defensively throughout the game, and he told the players at halftime that they could come back.

“This is a big win,” he said.

The coach hopes to go 4-0 in the last four district games, and Oak Ridge is 2-0 in the last two. Up next are Knoxville Central (4-4, 4-2) and Anderson County (7-1, 3-0).

The game against the Bobcats starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Knoxville. The Anderson County game is at home on Halloween.

See the preliminary statistics from Friday night’s game here, courtesy of Mark Haste: Preliminary Football Stat Sheet – Oak Ridge and Powell. (The official stats come out Wednesday.)

This story was last updated at 4:45 p.m. Oct. 20.