Oak Ridge Today

Football: Powell eliminates Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Powell eliminated Oak Ridge from the Class 5A football playoffs in a 43-13 quarterfinal win on Friday.

The Panthers (11-2) advance to a semifinal game against West (13-0) next Friday, November 25. It’s a rematch of a semifinal game last year. Powell won that game 35-7 on the way to a state championship.

The season is over for the Wildcats (7-6). They lost to the Panthers twice this year, once during the regular season in a 30-14 loss on September 30 and then again in the playoffs on Friday.

Powell had almost twice as many yards on offense on Friday as Oak Ridge, 442 to 249, and more than double the number of first downs, 14 to 6. The Panthers had one player run for more than 100 yards and another with more than 100 yards receiving.

Powell senior quarterback Jordyn Potts, who has committed to Tennessee Tech, threw for 250 yards against Oak Ridge with five touchdowns and one interception. He was 16-of-26 passing (about 62 percent completions), according to preliminary game statistics by Oak Ridge’s Mark and Shawna Haste.

[Read more…]

Wildcats play at Powell in quarterfinal

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge will play at Powell in a quarterfinal game of the Class 5A football playoffs.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Friday, November 18. Tickets are $10.

Oak Ridge (7-5) lost to Powell 30-14 during the regular season on September 30. It was the only loss for the Wildcats in Region 3 this year, and they finished 4-1 in the region.

The Panthers (10-2), undefeated in Region 3 during the regular season this year (5-0), were state Class 5A champions last season.

[Read more…]

Powell dominates Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Powell dominated Oak Ridge offensively in a matchup of the top two teams in the region on Friday. 

On their way to the 38-7 win, the Panthers (6-1, 3-0 Region 3-5A) passed and ran for 387 yards total. 

The Wildcats (2-4, 2-1), meanwhile, were held to just 83 yards.

“We obviously still have a lot of work to do offensively,” Oak Ridge coach Joe Gaddis told his team after the football game. 

Oak Ridge’s one touchdown was scored on a fourth-down interception picked off in the middle of the field and returned 71 yards by junior Jayden Williams. 

Powell’s touchdowns included a two-yard run by a top national prospect, senior defensive lineman Walter Nolen, who is listed as 6-foot-4 and 325 pounds.

[Read more…]

Soccer: Wildcats win district championship

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship with a 1-0 victory at Powell on Thursday, May 13, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

POWELL—The Oak Ridge soccer team won the district championship with a 1-0 victory at Powell on Thursday.

It was the first time the Wildcats have won the District 3-AAA soccer championship since 2017.

Marvin Media-Jovel scored the one goal for the Wildcats in the 52nd minute on Thursday, getting the ball around a Powell defender on the left side of the net and kicking it into the right side.

Oak Ridge coach Tom Gorman said the first half was back-and-forth between the Wildcats and Panthers, but he was concerned because Powell had better scoring opportunities. But Oak Ridge weathered the storm, settled down in the second half, and played better, Gorman said.

[Read more…]

Soccer: Oak Ridge plays Powell for district championship

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge will play Powell for the District 3-AAA soccer championship on Thursday.

Powell is the number one seed in the district tournament, and Oak Ridge is the number two seed.

The Thursday game will start at 7 p.m. at Powell.

[Read more…]

Baseball: Wildcats eliminated by Powell in district semifinal

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Powell trailed Oak Ridge 8-2 after four innings in a District 3-AAA semifinal game on Tuesday, but the Panthers rallied to eliminate the Wildcats 9-8.

Powell scored six runs on five hits in the bottom of the sixth inning, trying the game at eight, and senior Parker Haley hit a two-out home run to end the game.

The Wildcats, the number five seed in the district tournament, had advanced to the semifinal game against the Panthers, the number one seed, by upsetting Karns, the number four seed, 10-3 in a quarterfinal game on Monday. Before that loss, the Beavers (15-20) had defeated the Wildcats (18-15) three times this season, twice during the regular season and once in the opening round of the district tournament.

[Read more…]

Baseball: Wildcats play Karns in elimination game

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The playoff bracket for the District 3-AAA baseball tournament is pictured above on May 7, 2021. (Image courtesy Powell High School Baseball)

The Oak Ridge Wildcats will play the Karns Beavers in an elimination game in the District 3-AAA baseball tournament at Powell this evening (Monday, May 10).

Karns (15-19), the number four seed in the district tournament, has defeated Oak Ridge, the number five seed, three times this year. This will be the fourth game between the two teams this year. Oak Ridge lost to Karns twice during the regular season: 6-1 on April 6 and 3-2 on April 7, according to records kept by CoachT.com. The Wildcats then lost 13-3 to Karns in a first-round game on Thursday.

After its first-round game on Thursday, Oak Ridge (17-14) defeated Campbell County, the number eight seed, 11-0 in a losers bracket game on Friday. The Wildcats also beat the Cougars (3-21) twice in lopsided victories during the regular season, winning by more than 10 points each time, according to records kept by CoachT.com.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge plays Campbell Co. in soccer tournament Monday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Image courtesy Powell Boys Soccer

The Oak Ridge Wildcats will play the Campbell County Cougars in the District 3-AAA soccer tournament at home on Monday.

Oak Ridge is the number two seed in the tournament, while Campbell County is the number three seed. The game will start at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 10. The winner will advance to the District 3-AAA championship game on Thursday.

[Read more…]

Basketball photos: Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior guard Khamari Mitchell-Steen (2) drives against Powell during the District 3-AAA championship game at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (Photo by Zack James/used with permission)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship with a 52-43 win over Powell on Monday. They advanced to a Region 2-AAA semifinal game with a 67-58 quarterfinal win over Farragut on Friday.

It was the sixth consecutive district championship win for the Lady Wildcats.

Oak Ridge (21-4), which is coached by Paige Taylor, will host Maryville (23-5) in the semifinal game at Wildcat Arena on Monday.

Here are photos from the Monday and Friday games by Zack James and Luther Simmons. (See our story here.)

[Read more…]

Basketball: Girls, boys play for district championships

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge boys and girls basketball teams will play for district championships on Monday and Tuesday. It’s the sixth consecutive trip to the district championship game for the girls and the ninth for the boys.

The Lady Wildcats (19-4) will play Powell (15-3) for the District 3-AAA girls championship at 7 p.m. Monday, February 22, in Wildcat Arena. The two teams also played for the district championship last year. Oak Ridge won that game 64-53.

Coached by Paige Taylor, Oak Ridge won district championships in each of the past five seasons, including two victories over Powell.

In the boys tournament, the Wildcats (23-4) will play Clinton (16-4) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, also in Wildcat Arena. The two teams also played for the district championship last year. Oak Ridge won that game 73-69.

The Wildcats have won the past two district championships. They are coached by Aaron Green, who recently achieved his 300th victory in 11 years.

The winners and losers of the district championship games this week will advance to the Region 2-AAA tournaments.

[Read more…]

Soccer: Oak Ridge girls win district championship

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

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.

[Read more…]

Soccer: Lady Wildcats to play for district championship

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

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.

[Read more…]