Oak Ridge sophomore Kai’Reese Pendergrass (12) stretches to try to make a catch during a 56-6 win over Karns on Senior Night on Blankenship Field on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
The undefeated Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the winless Karns Beavers 56-6 at home on Blankenship Field on Friday. Here are photos by Julio Culiat. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) caught two passes for touchdowns for the Wildcats during a 56-6 win over Karns on Blankenship Field on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016. One was a 56-yard reception on the Wildcats’ first offensive play, and the second was a 33-yard catch. Higgins is defended here by Karns senior Jefferson Holt (19). (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Like they did a week earlier, the Oak Ridge Wildcats again raced to a quick 35-0 start on Friday. The undefeated Wildcats scored their first four touchdowns in their first nine plays during a 56-6 win over the winless Karns Beavers.
Last week, against Sevier County, the Wildcats rolled to a 35-0 lead in the first quarter.
This week, against Karns, they jumped out to a 35-0 lead by early in the second quarter, on Senior Night on Blankenship Field. Like last week, the scoring pace slowed after that.
Oak Ridge held Karns to 65 yards on offense.
The Wildcats again scored on their first offensive play, this time on a 56-yard pass from junior quarterback Johnny Stewart to senior wide receiver Tee Higgins, a Clemson commitment who was left undefended in the middle of the field.
Higgins scored again late in the first quarter on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Stewart. [Read more…]
Senior running back T.J. Allison (6) scored four touchdowns, including two in the first quarter, during a 56-14 win over Karns on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. Here, Allison runs for a 53-yard TD, his first of the night, behind the blocking of senior receiver Darel Middleton (9). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 7 p.m.
KARNS—The Oak Ridge Wildcats rushed for more than 500 yards, and senior running back T.J. Allison scored four touchdowns in a 56-14 win at Karns on Friday.
With 514 yards rushing, it was the most productive running game for the Wildcats (6-1, 3-1 Region 3-5A) this season. Their previous high was 270 yards rushing against Sevier County on Thursday, September 24.
For the first time this year, the Wildcats had two runners with more than 100 yards rushing. Allison had 171 yards on 12 carries and four touchdowns, and freshman Jordan Graham, who went out with an ankle injury in the third quarter, had 163 yards on three carries.
Graham, who had a breakout performance against Lenoir City two weeks ago, has now picked up more than 100 yards in each of his last three games.
Friday was the least productive game through the air for the Wildcats. The Beavers held Oak Ridge to 75 yards passing, and for the first time this season, standout junior receiver Tee Higgins (two catches, 29 yards) did not score a touchdown. Higgins, a University of Tennessee commitment, was covered much of the night by senior Devin Harper, an Oklahoma State commitment who led Karns (1-5, 0-3) in rushing. [Read more…]
Geevantay Gee of Oak Ridge (12) had eight points and 10 assists against the Karns Beavers in the last regular-season district game on Friday. (Photo by Terri Blair)
Note: This story was last updated at 1:55 a.m. Feb. 7.
Oak Ridge ends regular season at Fulton on Saturday
KARNS—The first game was a blowout. The second wasn’t.
In early January, the Oak Ridge Wildcats rolled over Karns 83-49.
But on Friday night, the Beavers kept it closer, pulling within one point (32-31) late in the second quarter.
But the Wildcats gave themselves a five-point cushion going into halftime and stretched their lead to 16 late in the third. Karns struggled to cut into the Wildcats’ double-digit lead throughout the fourth. [Read more…]
Junior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) scored 11 points and was one of four Oak Ridge Wildcats in double digits against the Karns Beavers on Tuesday at Wildcat Arena. (Photos by Melissa Livesey)
In the first 2015 game at home for Oak Ridge, both teams had a familiar foe awaiting them: the Karns Beavers and Lady Beavers. Both sets of Beavers gave it their all, but neither could withstand the firepower of the Wildcats or Lady Wildcats.
The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats had a tough time with their opponent for the first quarter of the game, but they soon woke up and clobbered the Lady Beavers of Karns by a score of 57-39. Early foul trouble by the Lady Beavers proved to doom them late in the game.
Karns came out of the gate and scored the first two points of the game. For the first six minutes, there would be seven lead changes and three ties. Both teams were back and forth, with neither one gaining the upper hand. [Read more…]
Note: This story was last updated at 3 a.m. Oct. 11.
KARNS—The Wildcats defense set the tone early in the 62-7 win at Karns on Friday night.
Less than one minute into the game, senior linebacker Ricky Chitwood picked off a Beavers pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown. The Oak Ridge defense went on to score twice more in the first half, once on an interception by senior Ted Mitchell early in the second quarter and the other on a fumble recovery by senior Tommy Kaczocha as time expired at halftime. Both plays covered about 25 yards.
The offense added five touchdowns of its own in a flurry of scores—including two touchdown catches by sophomore Tee Higgins in the second quarter—and the score at halftime was 56-0. That’s the most ever for an Oak Ridge football team in the first half, according to David Clary of PrepRadio.com.
The six-yard and 38-yard touchdown passes to Higgins came from junior quarterbacks Logan Fadnek (8-for-11, 85 yards) and Gavin Warrington (2-for-3, 48 yards). Warrington also scored on a 23-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, while junior running back T.J. Allison scored on a two-yard run near the end of the first. Later, Fadnek connected with sophomore Caleb Jackson on a five-yard pass play to make it 42-0 at 2:16 in the first half. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge advanced to the Region 2 finals with a 61-58 win over Karns on Tuesday in front of one of the largest crowds ever at Wildcat Arena. The game’s theme was “America.”
Note: This story was last updated at 11:45 p.m.
The Oak Ridge boys’ basketball team advanced to the Region 2 finals with a 61-58 win over Karns on Tuesday in front of the one of the largest crowds ever at Wildcat Arena.
It was the third time this year that the Wildcats (29-6) have beat the Beavers, and the win guarantees them at least two more post-season games.
“It’s hard to beat any team three times, especially a good team,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.
Oak Ridge will play Powell (22-9) at 7 p.m. Thursday at home in the Region 2 finals. The outcome will determine whether the Wildcats play at home or away in a Monday sectional game where teams will fight for a chance to go to the state tournament in Murfreesboro in March. [Read more…]
Senior Wildcat Jaylin Henderson dunks in the fourth quarter of a Feb. 7 game against Karns. (Photo courtesy Bruce Phillips)
The Oak Ridge Wildcats boys’ basketball team (28-6) plays the Karns Beavers (23-6) in the second of two Region 2 semifinal games in Oak Ridge tonight.
The Oak Ridge-Karns game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. It will follow the other Region 2 semifinal game, which features the Powell Panthers and Halls Red Devils. That game starts at 6 p.m.
All four teams playing tonight are District 3 teams that eliminated District 4 teams from the Region 2-AAA tournament on Saturday.
Before those first-round Region 2 games, Oak Ridge won the District 3 championship, defeating Halls 61-43 at Powell on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Karns beat Powell 62-56 in the third-place game that same day. [Read more…]
Senior guard Jaylin Henderson dunks in the fourth quarter on Friday, giving the Oak Ridge Wildcats a 60-45 lead over the Karns Beavers. (Photo courtesy Bruce Phillips)
Note: This story was last updated at 11:55 p.m.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats won the regular season district championship in a 87-69 win over the Karns Beavers on Friday.
It was the second time this season the Beavers were able to chip away at a large Oak Ridge lead, again narrowing the deficit to one point, but the Wildcats used zone play and defensive stops to help maintain and then stretch out their lead.
The game featured 17 three-point baskets between the two teams—Karns had 11 of them—and three crowd-pleasing dunks by Wildcats, with one by senior guard Jaylin Henderson and two by senior forward Isaac Merian. Oak Ridge (25-5, 15-1 in District 3) led the entire game.
Both teams started the game 14-1 in the district. [Read more…]
Senior Isaac Merian goes up for a shot as the Oak Ridge Wildcats keep their halftime lead on Saturday and give the Karns Beavers their first district loss.
KARNS—Oak Ridge fans grew nervous as Karns chipped away at a 13-point halftime lead on Saturday night, but the Wildcats were able to hang on for a 70-64 win, handing the Beavers their first district loss and giving the fans a satisfying victory.
The Wildcats were up 39-26 at halftime, but Karns knocked the lead down to 65-64 with 41 seconds left in the hard-fought basketball game.
But Oak Ridge (17-5, 7-1 in District 3) held the lead and then widened it in the last half-minute through big plays and clutch free throws.
The Wildcats weren’t able to stop senior Devin Sibley of Karns on Saturday—he scored 29 points—but seniors Isaac Merian and Jaylin Henderson of Oak Ridge combined for 40 points, scoring 20 each. Ted Mitchell added 14, Gevantay Gee knocked down 11, and Kevin Steen contributed 5. [Read more…]
Jaleel Luster, right, a junior running back, was one of six Oak Ridge Wildcats to score during a 56-28 win over the Karns Beavers on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)
Note: This story was last updated at 10:47 a.m.
Six players scored eight touchdowns as the Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the Karns Beavers 56-28 on Blankenship Field on Friday.
It was the third time this season that the Wildcats have scored more than 50 points.
Coach Joe Gaddis said the Wildcats (5-2, 4-1 in the district) played well on offense, but he was troubled by a few passes the defense allowed when Oak Ridge was in control of the game.
“We don’t want to give up those long touchdowns,” Gaddis said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Wildcats lost a close, high-scoring game to the Karns Beavers in Oak Ridge on Friday night. Karns won 84-81.
It was a high-scoring game with many lead changes, but a last-minute steal by Karns essentially sealed the deal.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats were ahead of the Karns Beavers 81-80 with less than a minute to play at Wildcat Arena on Friday night.
But shortly after missing two free throws and with about 30 seconds remaining, Karns (17-4, 9-2) stole the ball from Oak Ridge (17-4, 7-4) and scored.
