Oak Ridge Today

Coaches agree: Oak Ridge peaking at right time, headed into playoffs

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Oak Ridge Wildcats and Campbell County Cougars Oct. 30, 2015

The Oak Ridge Wildcats defense stifled the Campbell County Cougars’ running game on Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, allowing only 33 yards rushing on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:15 a.m.

The two football coaches agreed: Oak Ridge is peaking at the right time, late in the season and headed into the playoffs.

After a decisive 62-6 win over Webb last week, the Wildcats celebrated a 45-6 rout of Campbell County on Friday on Blankenship Field. That win ensured Oak Ridge (9-1, 4-1 Region 3-5A) will play at home next week against Soddy Daisy, a Region 4 team, in the first round of the playoffs. The game starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 6, on Blankenship Field.

The Wildcats, the No. 2 seed, shut out the Cougars (5-5, 3-2) at home in the first half on Friday, October 30. The score at halftime was 45-0. Campbell County, the No. 3 seed, scored after Oak Ridge put in reserves in the second half.

“There is no doubt this is the best team we’ve played,” Campbell County Coach Justin Price said. “They’ve improved tremendously as the season went on.”

Since losing to Farragut 31-14 on September 4, Oak Ridge has outscored its opponents 327-75 in seven games. That’s an average of about 47 points per game for the Wildcats. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats back on ‘winning track,’ beat Catholic 2-0

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Lady Wildcats Leah Scudder and Catholic Oct. 5, 2015

Oak Ridge junior Leah Scudder (22) looks for a pass during a 2-0 win for the Lady Wildcats at home on Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

After a short slump, the Oak Ridge girls soccer team got “back on the winning track” in a 2-0 win over Knoxville Catholic at home on Monday.

The Lady Wildcats (11-3, 4-1 District 3-Class AAA) scored one goal in each half. The first was by sophomore Zoe Van Hook with 3:38 remaining in the first half. She curled left from the center of the goal box and kicked the ball into the right side of the net from the left side of the box, past goalkeeper Katie Whitaker. Oak Ridge junior Olivia Hoyt got the assist on that goal.

Senior Katie Welsh scored the second goal for Oak Ridge after a corner kick by senior Ellie Brown. The ball bounced around a bit in front of the net before Welsh kicked it into the left side of the net past Catholic goalkeeper Miriam Janoyan at 12:55 in the second half.

“I think it was a good effort, back on the winning track,” Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said. [Read more…]

Goal-line stop saves Wildcats’ win, sends Oak Ridge to Class 5A quarterfinals

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Tommy Kaczocha and Cleveland Blue Raiders

Oak Ridge safety Tommy Kaczocha (4) tackles Cleveland wide receiver Isaiah Beaty (10) in a 10-6 second round Class 5A playoff win at Blankenship Field on Friday night. Kaczocha, a senior, had five tackles, two assists, an interception, and a blocked pass. Also pictured is junior linebacker Adam Manookian (35), who led the Wildcats with eight tackles and 10 assists. (Photos by Julio Culiat) 

 

Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m.

The whole season boiled down to these last four plays. Down by only four points, Cleveland had the football on a first-and-10 at the Oak Ridge 11-yard line with 1:17 left to play.

The Wildcats were ahead 10-6, but the Blue Raiders only needed a touchdown to take the lead—and end Oak Ridge’s season in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

But a crucial goal-line stop at Blankenship Field on Friday night preserved the win for the undefeated Wildcats. They now move on to the quarterfinals, playing against Rhea County at home next Friday and setting up a showdown between two 12-0 teams. [Read more…]

Wildcats open playoffs at home tonight; coach asks for huge, loud crowd

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Football Helmet

The undefeated Oak Ridge Wildcats play in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs at home tonight against the Soddy-Daisy Trojans. The game starts at 7 p.m. today (Friday, November 7) at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge.

Coach Joe Gaddis is asking for a huge, loud crowd.

“As we all know, playoff games are ‘winner take all’ in nature,” Gaddis said in a note to fans.”The winner advances, and the loser is finished for the season. It’s hard to believe but we have only had one home playoff game since 2005, and with that in mind, let’s have a HUGE and LOUD crowd Friday night! The weather is going to be cool, crisp, and beautiful…real football weather!”

The Oak Ridge Wildcats Football Boosters will have a tailgate party starting at 4:30 p.m. [Read more…]

Wildcats fall in first round of playoffs to East Hamilton 25-10

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Oak Ridge Wildcats and East Hamilton Hurricanes

Hunter Parker, left, of East Hamilton knocks down a pass in front of Blake Goins, center, and Ted Mitchell of the Wildcats as the Hurricanes eliminate Oak Ridge from the Class 5A playoffs during a first-round game in Ooltewah on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

OOLTEWAH—The Oak Ridge Wildcats’ first season under returning Coach Joe Gaddis ended in a 25-10 loss to the East Hamilton Hurricanes on Friday.

The first-round playoff game on a cold night in Ooltewah was relatively close until the end of the third quarter, when the Hurricanes gained a 16-10 lead and started to pull away.

Oak Ridge struggled on offense throughout the game and had “no spark,” Gaddis said. The Wildcats finished the night with 183 total yards on offense, compared to 289 for the Hurricanes. [Read more…]

Mavericks win district title 19-6 as Wildcats struggle on offense

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Mavericks Tyler Hicks and Wildcats Harry Boston

Harry Boston, senior defensive end for the Oak Ridge Wildcats, pursues Tyler Hicks, senior quarterback for the Anderson County Mavericks. The Mavericks won the district championship at Blankenship Field on Thursday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

With a chance at a district championship hanging in the balance, the Oak Ridge Wildcats fell to the Anderson County Mavericks 19-6 on Blankenship Field on Thursday.

The Wildcats (7-3, 6-2 District 3) struggled offensively throughout the night, recording only 239 yards of total offense, 58 of which came from a single deep ball from Jaylin Henderson to Jiminquas Johnson late in the fourth quarter.

The offensive woes, however, did more than just keep Oak Ridge—who also saw their three-game district winning streak come to an end with the loss—off the scoreboard as they kept the defense out on the field and in tough situations for most of the game.

“We just didn’t get it done on the offensive side. If we do anything offensively, they probably don’t score 19 points, but we kept giving back to them over and over,” Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis said. “Our defense played pretty well, giving up 19 points while having to play defense all night long. I think their defense and our offense was the biggest key of the ball game.” [Read more…]

Jaguars eliminate Wildcats from state tournament

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The Southwind Jaguars opened up a wide lead in the fourth quarter and eliminated the Oak Ridge Wildcats from the state basketball tournament in a quarterfinal game on Wednesday.

The final score at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro was 69-47.

[Read more…]

Hall touchdown propels Wildcats to 35-28 playoff victory

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Play Science Hill

Oak Ridge Wildcats quarterback Rian Hall, pictured at center above trying to outrun Science Hill defenders, rushed for a game-winning touchdown with 29.8 seconds to play in a first-round playoff game on Friday.

A six-yard touchdown run by Oak Ridge quarterback Rian Hall with 29.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter broke a tie Friday night and propelled the Wildcats to an exciting 35-28 first-round playoff victory over Science Hill.

Hall’s game-winning run followed a crucial 12-yard catch by Wildcats receiver Robert Valdez on a fourth-and-4 play with 1:02 left to play at Blankenship Field.

Oak Ridge (10-1) had a few two-touchdown leads during the game—ahead 21-7 in the second quarter and 28-14 in the third—but the Hilltoppers (9-2) rallied back behind Science Hill quarterback Reed Hayes to tie the game at 28 with 3:38 remaining.

“Tonight, we had to fight for everything, every first down, every yard,” Oak Ridge coach Scott Blade said, calling it an incredible game between two good teams.

The Wildcats travel to Maryville next week to play the top-ranked Rebels in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. Maryville, which gave Oak Ridge its only loss during the regular season, eliminated Hardin Valley 42-10 on Friday.