The Oak Ridge Wildcats picked up their first two losses of the season on Friday and Saturday at the Chick-Fil-A Invitational in Tucker, Georgia.
The boys’ basketball team lost 65-49 to the Tucker Tigers of Georgia on Friday and fell 57-49 to the Stephenson Jaguars of Georgia on Saturday. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Wildcats football team went undefeated 10-0 in the regular season in 2014 for only the 12th time in school history and the first time since 1999. The Wildcats also won the District 3-AAA title in a Thursday night game against the Anderson County Mavericks at Anderson County High School in Clinton. (Photos by Julio Culiat)
CLINTON—Many players on the Oak Ridge football team don’t remember the last time the Wildcats went undefeated back in 1999. But now, 15 years later, they all have something to hang their hats on: an undefeated season and a district championship.
The Wildcats (10-0, 8-0 District 3-AAA) outlasted the Anderson County Mavericks (8-2, 7-1) to win the district title 28-16 on Thursday at Anderson County High School in Clinton. Oak Ridge was led by the two touchdown catches of sophomore wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Both teams scored one touchdown each in the first quarter, but the usually reliable Brandon Nickle missed a field goal for Oak Ridge. The Wildcats’ touchdown came on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Gavin Warrington halfway through the first quarter.
However, the Mavericks soon proved they deserved to be playing in the District 3-AAA championship. Anderson County faked a handoff up the middle, and quarterback Garrett Johnson, who filled in for injured QB Zane Smith, threw a touchdown pass to Cale Brock.
But the Mavs missed the extra point, making it 7-6 Oak Ridge after the first quarter.
Oak Ridge stepped up on offense and defense in the second quarter. With 8:53 left in the second, senior cornerbacks Jemiah Hall and Ted Mitchell combined for a bone-crushing tackle on Anderson County running back Matt Fox. Mitchell recovered after Fox fumbled, but the Wildcats couldn’t capitalize on the following drive. [Read more…]
Junior running back T.J. Allison (#6) of the Wildcats runs behind the blocking of senior tight end Ryan Waddell (#86) as senior Joseph Elkins (#5) of Campbell County tries to strip the ball away. Allison ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)
Note: This story was last updated at 2:15 p.m.
Wildcats shut down big passing gains for Cougars
The running game was working well and burning up the clock, so Oak Ridge coach Joe Gaddis stuck with it.
Two running backs, juniors T.J. Allison and Jaylen Nickerson, racked up more than 100 yards each and led the Wildcats to three touchdowns in the first, second, and third quarters. Kicker Brandon Nickle added a field goal in the fourth.
The 24-8 victory was an important district win for the Wildcats, who are now 6-0 overall and 4-0 in District 3-AAA. The only other undefeated team in the district is Anderson County (7-0, 6-0). The two teams will face off in the season finale on Thursday, October 30.
Oak Ridge came close to picking up its fourth shutout of the season on Friday night at Blankenship Field, preventing the Cougars, who had averaged 42 points per game, from scoring until late in the fourth quarter.
“Our defense played really well,” Gaddis said.
Senior wide receiver Malik Hardy (15) runs for a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter as the Wildcats beat the Halls Red Devils 42-0 in Oak Ridge on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)
Note: This story was last updated at 11:35 a.m. Sept. 13.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats got off to a sluggish start in the first half on Friday, but doubled their scoring output in the second.
All of the second-half points—four touchdowns—came in the third quarter of the 42-0 win over the Halls Red Devils, the second shutout of the season for the Wildcats.
Junior running back T.J. Allison (six carries, 53 yards) rushed for three touchdowns for the Wildcats, one in the first half and two in the second.
Red Devils coach J.D. Overton said Halls is a young, inexperienced team that was playing without a half-dozen starters on Friday night at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge. He declined to say why the players were sitting out the game. Two of those starters play offense and defense.
“They didn’t play tonight,” Overton said. “That’s all I’m going to say.” [Read more…]
The Anderson County Mavericks won the sixth consecutive Battle of the Bridge 35-19 over the Clinton Dragons at Anderson County High School on Friday. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Schools)
Star running back Matt Fox rushed for more than 200 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Anderson County Mavericks opened the regular season with a 35-19 win over the Clinton Dragons on Friday night.
The crosstown rivals traded touchdowns in the first half, and the Mavericks had a slight 14-13 lead at halftime.
But the momentum quickly shifted at the start of the second half, when the Mavericks scored on a 21-yard run by Fox after only two plays and 29 seconds. That run followed a roughly 50-yard pass from Anderson County quarterback Zane Smith to Aaron Sharp.
Anderson County held the lead and scored twice more, once on a five-yard run by Fox midway through the third quarter and again after Garrett Johnson intercepted a pass from Clinton quarterback Tyler Thackerson and returned it for a touchdown with 11:01 remaining.
The final score was 35-19. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
The TSSAA has penalized Clinton and Knox Central high schools for a fight that occurred late in the Bobcats’ 4-2 win Monday night in the District 3-AAA soccer tournament.
The fight broke out with about five minutes to play, apparently after some jawing back and forth between players. Central suffered the most immediate penalty, forfeiting the rest of its season, including Thursday night’s scheduled semifinal game at Gibbs. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Wildcats celebrate a district championship after a 61-43 victory over the Hall Red Devils at Powell on Wednesday.
Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 20.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats repeated as district champions with a 61-43 win over Halls on Wednesday.
And, for the second year in a row, Jaylin Henderson was named most valuable player in the District 3-AAA tournament.
Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said he was very proud of the boys’ basketball team, which includes six seniors.
“To be district champs is a huge accomplishment,” Green said. [Read more…]
Senior guard Jaylin Henderson, left, leads the Oak Ridge Wildcats to a 69-67 come-from-behind overtime win over the Powell Panthers in a semifinal tournament game on Monday.
Note: This story was updated at 8:50 a.m.
POWELL—The Oak Ridge Wildcats erased a 17-point Powell lead in a semifinal tournament game on Monday and advanced to the district championship with a buzzer-beating 69-67 come-from-behind overtime win.
The Wildcats, who struggled on defense and with rebounding for much of the game, trailed the Panthers throughout the first three quarters, often by more than 10 points.
But a fired-up Jaylin Henderson came alive in the fourth quarter for the Wildcats, stealing balls on one end and scoring baskets on the other. He tied the game at 63-63 with about 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Senior forward Isaac Merian, who had been relatively quiet for much of the night, scored the winning basket in overtime, picking up a loose ball and banking in an off-the-backboard shot as time expired, giving the Wildcats their 69-67 victory.
Oak Ridge fans exploded with excitement, and Panthers fans left in stunned silence. [Read more…]
Anderson County eliminated the Lady Wildcats 42-22 in the second round of the District 3-AAA girls’ basketball tournament on Saturday at Powell.
The Lady Mavericks (16-11) will now play Halls (13-12) in a semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Powell.
The Lady Wildcats (8-21) had advanced to the second round after eliminating Clinton 51-37 in a first-round game at Powell on Tuesday. [Read more…]
