McMinn County Archives - Oak Ridge Today

McMinn County gives Oak Ridge first loss, 28-24

Posted at 12:47 am October 8, 2016
By Tyler Wombles Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 1:55 a.m

ATHENS—When the Oak Ridge Wildcats traveled to Athens on Friday night to face McMinn County, despite the Cherokees’ impressive 5-1 record, they probably were not expecting a loss.

But that’s exactly what happened, as the two teams swapped leads throughout the contest, and the Cherokees just barely escaped with the win, 28-24.

“They whipped us,” Oak Ridge head coach Joe Gaddis said. “To their credit, they whipped us. And I think they whipped us on both sides of the ball.”

McMinn County burned seven minutes and 20 seconds off the clock on their first offensive possession, with all but one of the plays designed runs, and concluded the drive with a Zane Byas touchdown carry to put the Cherokees ahead 7-0. [Read more…]

Football: Oak Ridge remains at No. 2 in Class 5A; Farragut moves up to No. 5

Posted at 12:31 pm October 4, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The Associated Press high school football polls for this week were released on Monday, and once again, East Tennessee is well-represented across the board.

In Class 6A, Maryville remains number one with Bradley Central representing East Tennessee as well at number four.

The Class 5A polls is dominated either by teams from our coverage area or those teams they could face in the postseason. Oak Ridge remains at number two, while Farragut moved up to number five after their win at Campbell County last week. Rhea County slipped to number six, McMinn County—which hosts Oak Ridge Friday—is number seven, with Campbell County falling three spots to number eight and Knox West hanging in the top 10 at number 10.

See the rest of the story on WYSH Radio for more information.

WYSH Radio in Clinton is an Oak Ridge Today news partner.

Wildcats race to quick 35-0 start again, this time against Karns

Posted at 12:07 pm October 2, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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…]

Football stats: Oak Ridge and McMinn County

Posted at 11:22 pm October 10, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Wildcats Tee Higgins and McMinn County Zane Byas on Oct. 8, 2015

Oak Ridge junior wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) stretches to catch a deep ball from quarterback Jordan Dunbar, but the pass fell incomplete just off his fingertips. Higgins is covered here by junior Zane Byas of McMinn County (7). (Photo by Julio Culiat)

Senior running back T.J. Allison scored two more touchdowns for Oak Ridge, and the Wildcats had their second shutout of the season in a 24-0 win over McMinn County at home on Thursday. Here are preliminary stats by Mark Haste.

Oak Ridge junior receiver Tee Higgins, who did not score a touchdown last week for the first time this season, added another to his total on Thursday. With Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis watching from the sidelines, Higgins also had a long punt return that set up a touchdown and an interception on a long throw by McMinn County sophomore quarterback Bradley Hayes.

Senior running back D.J. Kimpson generated almost all of the offense for the Cherokees. He ran for 159 yards on 38 carries. That was more than three-quarters of the Cherokees’ total offense of 203 yards. Kimpson gained 109 yards in the first half alone. Hayes only threw the ball six times, and he had two completions and two interceptions.

See a story on the game here.

See Julio Culiat photos of the game here.

TEAM STATISTICS

Oak Ridge		McMinn County

	FIRST DOWNS
18	Total	11
13	By rushing	8
5	By passing	2
0	By penalty	0

	RUSHING
38	Attempts	46
208	Yards gained	189
3	Yards lost	28
205	Net yards	161

	PASSING
9	Completions	2
15	Attempts	6
60.00%	Percentage	33.33%
1	Intercepted	2
122	Net yards	42

	TOTAL OFFENSE
327	Net yards	203

	PUNTS
1	Attempts	5
39	Average	27.4

	RETURN YARDS
50	Punt returns	0
15	Kickoff returns	0
0	Interception returns	7

	FUMBLES
1	Total	0
1	Fumbles lost	0

	PENALTIES
1	Total	5
10	Yards lost	40

[Read more…]

Football photos: Oak Ridge and McMinn County

Posted at 12:57 pm October 9, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Wildcats T.J. Allison and McMinn County on Oct. 8, 2015

Oak Ridge senior running back T.J. Allison (6) had 96 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns in a 24-0 shutout win over McMinn County on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

Oak Ridge junior wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) had a punt return that set up a rushing touchdown, a touchdown catch, and an interception during a 24-0 shutout win for the Wildcats on Blankenship Field on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. Here, Higgins catches a 16-yard TD pass over McMinn County defensive back Zane Byas (7) early in the third quarter. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

[Read more…]

Wildcats pick up second shutout in 24-0 win over McMinn Co.

Posted at 10:15 am October 9, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

McMinn County D.J. Kimpson and Wildcats Alex Alcorn, Adarius Simpson, and Adam Manookian on Oct. 8, 2015

Wildcat defenders Adarius Simpson (24), Alex Alcorn (66), and Adam Manookian (35) stop McMinn County running back D.J. Kimpson (23) during a 24-0 shutout for Oak Ridge on Blankenship Field on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. Manookian had five tackles and six assists, and Alcorn had one tackle, three assists, and two sacks. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

Note: This story was last updated at 1:40 p.m.

Senior running back T.J. Allison scored two more touchdowns for Oak Ridge, and the Wildcats had their second shutout of the season in a 24-0 win over McMinn County at home on Thursday.

Higgins (6 catches, 98 yards) and Allison (20 carries, 96 yards) are now tied as the leading scorers for the Wildcats, with 11 touchdowns each.

Allison picked up four of his touchdowns in a 56-14 win at Karns last week, when Oak Ridge (7-1, 3-1 Region 3-5A) rushed for 514 yards. He added one on the ground and one through the air this week. [Read more…]

Wildcats football game rescheduled to Thursday, JMS league championship game starts earlier

Posted at 1:05 pm October 7, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Joe Gaddis, Oak Ridge Wildcats football coach

The Oak Ridge Wildcats will play McMinn County at home on Thursday rather than on Friday because of a high chance of thunderstorms on Friday, and a league championship game featuring Jefferson Middle School will start earlier Thursday.

The Wildcats game starts at 8 p.m. Thursday, October 8, on Blankenship Field, Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis said. Gates will open at 7 p.m.

There is also a previously scheduled game on Blankenship Field on Thursday. That’s the Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference league championship game, and it features undefeated Jefferson Middle School and Grace Christian, which has lost two football games, including one to JMS. That game had been scheduled to start at 6 p.m., but it will now start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Gaddis said.

He said there is a 90 percent chance of thunderstorms on Friday and Friday night, continuing into Saturday morning, and coaches didn’t want to take chances. The Wildcats have already had one game this season stopped in the first quarter and then restarted a few days later because of lightning. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats have fourth shutout, Hausladen has eight goals in two games

Posted at 10:50 pm August 27, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge and Karns Soccer Leah Scudder and Ellie Brown

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats beat the Karns Lady Beavers 3-0 on Thursday. Among those pictured in red above are Wildcats Leah Scudder (22) and Ellie Brown (8). (Photo by Terri Blair)

The Lady Wildcats have four shutouts in their first four games, and freshman forward Kate Hausladen scored eight goals in two of them.

Oak Ridge beat Karns 3-0 on Thursday. Sophomore midfielder Zoe Van Hook scored two goals, and senior forward Macy Barclay scored one, Lady Wildcats Coach Jeff Trombly said.

He said Oak Ridge had most of the possession on Thursday and controlled most of the game.

“We were…very pleased with the results,” Trombly said.

The girls soccer team is now 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the district. [Read more…]

Letter: Oak Ridge wins real ACT Honor Roll

Posted at 12:44 pm November 20, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Letters Leave a Comment

To the Editor:

You would never ignore Alabama when talking about top football teams, so let’s admit that Oak Ridge beats all these top school districts in the measure that matters: ACT Readiness for Careers or College. Here are the facts about how many of the grads are prepared for the next step in their lives:

Oak Ridge—39.3 percent
Blount County—17.8 percent
Lincoln County—10.4 percent
Maryville —34.3 percent
McMinn County—12.4 percent

Only Maryville is even close, with their demographic advantage. It seems there is no contest; Oak Ridge wins the real ACT Honor Roll for Tennessee with measurable academic results. Cheer for the home team! Congratulate them.

David Coffey

Lenoir City

(See this story for more information.)