Oak Ridge Today

McMinn County gives Oak Ridge first loss, 28-24

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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 stats: Oak Ridge and McMinn County

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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

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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)

 

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 photos by Julio Culiat.

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

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…]