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COVID-19 emergency delays start of football, girls soccer seasons

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Blankenship-Field-James-Mitchell-Aug-2019
Blankenship Field—the city’s football field—is pictured above in August 2019. (File photo by James Mitchell via City of Oak Ridge)

The extension of the COVID-19 emergency in Tennessee has delayed the start of the high school football and girls soccer seasons.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has extended the COVID-19 state of emergency until August 29. A prior order by the governor includes limitations and restrictions on contact sporting events and activities.

In an update sent to member schools on Tuesday, Bernard Childress, executive director of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, said member schools cannot have any competition or scrimmage with other schools while the governor’s order is in place. The schools cannot have close contact activities during practice for football, 7-on-7 football, girls soccer, wrestling, and basketball. Football and girls soccer cannot begin their seasons as originally scheduled, Childress said.

The Oak Ridge football season opener had been scheduled for August 21.

The TSSAA Board of Control had a special meeting Wednesday and voted unanimously to require that member schools follow the governor’s executive order for sports activities.

The board discussed the effect that the extended COVID-19 state of emergency will have on contact sports in the fall. Football, girls soccer, and competitive cheer are considered contact sports.

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Bengals pick Higgins in NFL draft

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Wildcats Tee Higgins Catch at Ooltewah Nov. 13, 2015
Tee Higgins, who was then a junior at Oak Ridge, makes a catch during a 26-17 loss at Ooltewah in a second-round Class 5A playoff game on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

The Cincinnati Bengals picked former Oak Ridge wide receiver Tee Higgins in the second round of the NFL draft on Friday.

Higgins, a star football and basketball player at Oak Ridge High School, played three years at Clemson University in South Carolina before being drafted into the National Football League in the 33rd pick, the first pick of the second round on Friday.

Higgins, 21, joins Joe Burrow, the number one pick and a quarterback from Louisiana State University, at Cincinnati. Higgins was the second pick for the Bengals.

Higgins (6-4, 215) is tied with NFL stars Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins for the all-time touchdown record for a Clemson receiver (27). He caught 135 passes for 2,448 yards and 27 touchdowns during his three-year career, according to the Clemson Tigers. He played in two national championship games, winning one, the national championship game against Alabama in 2019. Higgins had three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown in that game.

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State basketball tournaments suspended

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The BlueCross Basketball Championships, the state tournament games that were scheduled to include the Oak Ridge boys team, have been suspended because of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.

It’s not clear yet if the games will be rescheduled.

The state basketball tournaments were suspended after quarterfinal games in the girls tournament on Thursday.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats had been scheduled to play in a quarterfinal game of the Class AAA boys tournament on Wednesday of next week.

“Whether we will be able to reschedule these events will depend on the length of the suspension and the availability of facilities,” the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association said.

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Attendance being limited at state basketball tournaments

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Attendance will be limited at the boys and girls state basketball tournaments starting Friday, and that will affect an Oak Ridge team and its fans and cheerleaders.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats are one of the eight teams playing in the Class AAA boys basketball tournament, which starts Wednesday, March 18.

The attendance limits are because of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus. The limits were announced Thursday by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association.

“Like many other athletic associations and leagues throughout the country, TSSAA has decided that the health and safety of our student-athletes and spectators alike require that we limit fan attendance at our girls’ and boys’ state basketball championships,” the organization said.

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Higgins will enter 2020 NFL draft

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Wildcats Tee Higgins Catch at Ooltewah Nov. 13, 2015
Before he was injured, Oak Ridge junior Tee Higgins (5) makes a catch during a 26-17 loss at Ooltewah in a second-round Class 5A playoff game on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. (File photo by Julio Culiat)

Tee Higgins, a former star wide receiver for the Oak Ridge Wildcats who won a college football championship at Clemson University, announced this month that he will enter the 2020 NFL draft.

Higgins announced his decision on Twitter on Wednesday, January 15.

“It has always been my dream to play in the NFL and take care of my family,” Higgins, a junior at Clemson, said in his Twitter announcement. “Because of Clemson, I now have the opportunity to do that. So it is with a grateful heart that I announce today my intention to enter the 2020 NFL Draft.”

The draft is scheduled from April 23-25 in Paradise, Nevada.

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Soccer: Lady Wildcats’ season ends in region semifinal

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Pictured above from left to right are Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer seniors Maddie Peters, Rachael Brewer, Katie O’Brien, and Jennie Pont Briant. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Lady Soccercats)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team finished the 2019 season with a 3-0 loss to Maryville in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game at home on Tuesday, October 22.

It was the fifth year in a row that the Oak Ridge girls’ team has been eliminated in a regional semifinal game.

The Lady Wildcats also lost to Maryville, 8-1, in a Region 2 semifinal last year.

They were defeated by Farragut in the regional semifinal the previous two years and by Hardin Valley in 2015, according to records posted online by CoachT.com.

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Fulmer the special guest at fundraiser for Blankenship Field

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Blankenship-Field-James-Mitchell-Aug-2019
The renovated Blankenship Field—the city’s football field—and its walking track are now open for public use. The main change is that the grass field has been replaced with synthetic turf, but there are other changes as well. The field is pictured above in August 2019. (Photo by James Mitchell via City of Oak Ridge)

University of Tennessee Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer will be the special guest at a fundraiser for the Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation on Tuesday.

The fundraiser is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, October 29, on Blankenship Field.

Big Ed’s Pizza and cold beverages will be served. The cost is $125 per person, or you can sponsor a table of eight people for $1,000.

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Soccer: Oak Ridge girls win district championship

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team won the District 3-AAA soccer tournament championship with a 1-0 win over Powell at Oak Ridge High School on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge won the District 3-AAA girls soccer championship with a 1-0 victory over Powell at Oak Ridge High School on Thursday.

It was the first time the Lady Wildcats have won the district championship since 2016. The Lady Panthers won the title in 2015—the first-ever district title for the Powell girls—and again in 2017 and 2018.

Seniors on this year’s Oak Ridge team were freshmen the last time the Lady Wildcats won the district title. Oak Ridge and Powell have played for the district championship five years in a row.

On Thursday, Oak Ridge senior Katie O’Brien scored the winning goal on a breakaway after a pass from junior Katelyn Mattus in the center of the field in the 53rd minute. O’Brien, who has committed to play soccer at Maryville College, got behind the Powell defense, came into the center, and shot the ball into the left side of the net, Oak Ridge Coach Tom Gorman said.

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Volleyball: Oak Ridge eliminated in Region 2 semifinals

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The Oak Ridge volleyball team suffered a season-ending loss at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday night in the Region 2-AAA tournament semifinals.

Farragut, which went on to win the regional championship, defeated the Lady Wildcats in the semifinal elimination game for the second straight year. The Lady Admirals won in straight sets Tuesday: 25-20, 25-20, and 30-28.

That prevented Oak Ridge from moving on the sectional round, the set of games that determine which teams go to the state tournament. Sectionals follow the regional championship games. Win or lose, both teams in each regional championship game move on to sectional games.

“This is such a disappointing way to end what was otherwise a banner year for Oak Ridge volleyball,” Oak Ridge Head Coach David Kolodney said after the Tuesday night semifinal loss, according to information provided by Buzz Patrick, who provides volleyball stories and photos to local news and sports outlets. “In the match that mattered most, we came up very short. We know going into this that it would be tough—Farragut always brings their ‘A’ game in big moments—but we had a good game plan and when we were able to execute it, we were successful.”

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Soccer: Lady Wildcats to play for district championship

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The Oak Ridge girls soccer team will play for a district championship against Powell tonight (Thursday, October 17).

The game will start at 7 p.m. at the Pro2Serve soccer stadium at Oak Ridge High School.

This will be the fifth year in a row that Oak Ridge and Powell have played for the District 3-AAA championship.

The top two teams in the district, the Lady Wildcats and Lady Panthers met once during the regular season, and Oak Ridge won 2-1 in overtime. It was the girls’ first victory over Powell since 2016. That’s when the Lady Wildcats last won the district championship in a 2-0 victory at Powell.

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Soccer: Lady Wildcats to play Halls in district semifinal

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team will play Halls in a district semifinal game at home today (Tuesday, October 15).

The game will start at 7 p.m. at Oak Ridge High School.

Oak Ridge defeated Halls 8-1 during the regular season on Tuesday, September 10.

Here are scoring summaries from recent Lady Wildcats games, according to Oak Ridge Lady Soccercats on Twitter:

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Volleyball: Lady Wildcats win fourth straight district championship

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats volleyball team won its fourth consecutive District 4-AAA tournament championship at Bearden High School on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Photo submitted by Buzz Patrick)

The Oak Ridge volleyball team won its fourth consecutive District 4-AAA tournament championship on Thursday.

The Lady Wildcats were undefeated in the district during the regular season, and as a result, they did not have to play in the first round of the district tournament, which was at Bearden High School.

Here is information about the tournament provided by Buzz Patrick:

Oak Ridge faced the number five seed, Karns, in the semifinal match on Thursday, and the Lady Wildcats swept the Lady Beavers in three sets (25-12, 25-15, 25-16) behind the stellar serving of junior Paige Halcrow, who notched seven aces against the Lady Beavers to help the ‘Cats counteract some of their own passing errors.

After a short break, the Lady Wildcats faced the number two seed, West, in the finals. Oak Ridge defeated West for the third time this year (25-22, 25-12, 25-12) to earn the 2019 District 4-AAA tournament championship to accompany their regular season championship.

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