Quick-Starting Ooltewah Upsets No. 3 Oak Ridge, 26-17

Freeman-Led Owls Advance To Face Rhea County In Quarters

  • Friday, November 13, 2015
  • Larry Fleming

The Wall finally crumbled.

Beaten the last two seasons in the second round of the TSSAA Class 5A state football playoffs, strong-willed Ooltewah built a 20-0 lead, held off an impressive Oak Ridge comeback, got a game-sealing touchdown in the final seven minutes and knocked off the third-ranked Wildcats, 26-17, Friday night at James N. Monroe Stadium before a nearly packed house.

“This feels real good,” Owls third-year coach Mac Bryan said.

Ooltewah (10-2) advanced to the quarterfinals with the win and will meet familiar Region 4-5A foe Rhea County (9-3) next Friday night in Evensville. The Golden Eagles, a 16-0 loser to Ooltewah during the season, defeated sixth-ranked Farragut, 40-34. Game time will be at 7 p.m.

Rhea County beat Ooltewah in the 2014 second round, 47-14, and rival East Hamilton upended the Owls, 26-19, in round two of the 2013 playoffs.

The Owls reached the quarterfinals in 2012, only to lose to Columbia Central, 31-13. That was Shannon Williams’ last season and current coach Mac Bryan left UT-Martin as co-offensive coordinator to take over the Ooltewah program in December.

“This is the kind of game we live for at Ooltewah,” said senior linebacker Jeremiah Jackson, a 2015 Mr. Football candidate. “And I’m real emotional, man. Last year I lost my grandfather in the second round and felt like I let him down by not getting the win.

“I guarantee you he’s looking down at me right now.”

Ooltewah’s versatile Rashun Freeman scored two first-quarter touchdowns on a 47-yard run and 13-yard pass from quarterback London Elrod and saved his biggest play of the game for the fourth quarter, intercepting Oak Ridge quarterback Jordan Dunbar deep in Owls territory with less than four minutes left in the game.

Were the two offensive scores more gratifying than the interception?

“Not really,” Freeman said. “I like to make plays both ways. They felt equally good, but I’m really happy we got over the second-round bump and now we just want to keep this thing going.”

Junior place-kicker Aleksander Toser added a 36-yard field goal to give the Owls a quick and quite stunning 17-0 lead in what was likely the team’s best opening quarter in Bryan’s tenure.

Toser added a 28-yard field goal in the second quarter to produce the 20-0 spread.

“Our execution in the first quarter was as good as it has been,” Bryan said. “We were really smooth, but I knew they weren’t going anywhere when we got up 20-to-nothing. I knew it wasn’t going to end that way.”

And it didn’t.

Already without talented 6-foot-6-inchf, 255-pound senior tight end Darel Middleton (suspension), the Wildcats lost super-talented junior wide receiver Tee Higgins, a 6-4, 185-pound early verbal commitment to Tennessee, with what appeared to be a serious right knee injury with 3:07 left in the first half.

Higgins caught one pass for 12 yards and the Oak Ridge offense was not the same, although the Wildcats still had plenty of talent on the field.

“Some of our passing game changed dramatically without those two guys,” said Oak Ridge’s veteran coach Joe Gaddis, the school’s winningest football coach. “We made every mistake imaginable in the first quarter and then played pretty decent after that.

“You just can’t spot a team like Ooltewah 20 points. I’m proud of the way we fought back in the game, but that’s not what we came down here to do.”

When the four-time state champion Wildcats did come to life, quarterback Jordan Dunbar scored from the 1 to cap an 80-yard drive with 1:34 remaining in the half and Brandon Nickle kicked a 28-yard field goal as time expired, pulling Oak Ridge to within 20-10.

The Wildcats, who held off Soddy-Daisy 45-33 in the opening round, got another 1-yard run from Dunbar to slice the Owls’ lead to 20-17 in the third quarter. That 50-yard drive was set up when Ooltewah’s Tyler Robertson shanked a 10-yard punt.

After Elrod threw an interception, Oak Ridge marched to the Owls’ 25 and went for a field goal on fourth-and-11. Nickle missed a 43-yard field-goal wide left, but a false start penalty against the Wildcats gave him another chance.

On the second try from 47 yards, Nickle pushed it was wide right.

Later in the fourth quarter, Ooltewah took advantage of a 17-yard punt by Nickle that gave the Owls possession at the Oak Ridge 27.

On third-and-3, Elrod dropped back, looked right and fired a 20-yard strike to Ethan Walls for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 7:05 left in the hard-fought contest.

“I saw the safeties coming down and we called the right play at the right time,” said Walls, who has three touchdown receptions this season. “I came off the route, got some separation and London made a great throw. It just felt really good. There’s no other way to describe it and we’re all pumped that we’re going to the third round.”

When the Owls badly needed a touchdown to gain breathing room, Elrod saw man coverage and knew he had the corner route.

“We ran the play and Ethan delivered,” Elrod said. “It was beautiful.”

Oak Ridge took the ensuing kickoff and tore down the field racing the clock and trying to avoid the tenacious, jaw-busting Owls’ defense, which sacked Dunbar five times. Deonte McClain had two of them.

On third-and-11, Dunbar threw down the middle of the field and Freeman, whose primary job is at free safety, delivered a victory-sealing interception at Ooltewah’s 4 with 3:26 on the clock.

With the nine-point cushion still intact, the Owls ran out the clock and joined fans and students in a wild mid-field celebration.

“This is amazing,” Walls said. “We knew we were good enough to get past the second round the last two years, but messed up. Now everything is falling into place we finally get to play in the third round.”

SCORING

Oak Ridge                         0 10 7 0 – 17

Ooltewah                          17 3 0 6 – 26

First Quarter

OOL – Rashun Freeman 47 run (Aleksander Toser kick), 9:18

OOL – FG Toser 36, 7:13

OOL – Freeman 13 pass from London Elrod (Toser kick), 1:04

Second Quarter

OOL – FG Toser 28, 7:43

OR – Jordan Dunbar 1 run (Brandon Nickle kick), 1:34

OR – FG Nickle 28, 0:00

Third Quarter

OR – Dunbar 1 run (Nickle kick), 2:33

Fourth Quarter

OOL – Ethan Walls 20 pass from Elrod (kick failed), 7:05

YARDSTICK    

                                                          OR                     OL

First Downs                                       17                       17

Rushes-Yards                                    48-146                 27-103

Passing Yards                                   113                      169

Comp-Att-Ints                                    9-21-1                  16-29-1

Plays-Total Yds                                 56-272                  69-259

Fumbles-Lost                                     2-2                       2-1

Punts-Avg                                         4-32                     4-26

Penalties-Yds                                    8-55                     6-50

RUSHING – Oak Ridge: A.J. Allison 20-92, Jordan Graham 11-65, Caleb Jackson 3-4, Gavin Warrington 2-0, Davon Middleton 2-minus 3, Jordan Dunbar 10-minus 12; Ooltewah: Rashun Freeman 11-71, Cameron Turner 14-46, London Elrod 2-minus 14.

PASSING – Oak Ridge: Dunbar 9-21-1 113; Ooltewah: Elrod 16-29-1.

RECEIVING – Oak Ridge: Jackson 4-57, Allison 2-25, Tee Higgins 1-12, Middleton 1-10, Colton Wade 1-9; Ooltewah: Freeman 7-73, Joseph Norwood 2-33, Ethan Walls 1-20, Kobe Jones 1-14, Peyton Oliver 19, Blake Smith 1-9, Scottie Strickland 2-7, Corey Heard 1-4;

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

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