CLEVELAND, Tenn -- Murfreesboro Oakland coach Kevin Creasy recognized the look in the eyes of the Bradley Central football players as he made his way through the postgame handshake and when he gathered his Patriots football team just south of the 50-yard line of the Bears' sparkling turf field in the aftermath of their 31-17 TSSAA 6A state semifinal beat down of the top-ranked Bears, he put what took place in perspective.
"Ya'll were impressive last week, but what you did tonight was even more impressive. The look in their eyes in that handshake line was the look of a team that expected to win this game. When things went wrong for you, there was no finger pointing or blame. You did what Oakland football does, and you went out and won the battle. All week long the hard work you put in was worth it to beat a team like that. They are a heck of a team, and ya'll had a lot of bad stuff happen to you, but you never fell apart," Creasy preached to them.
The Patriots (12-2) overcame untimely penalties, a blown 17-0 lead, and a costly turnover to move into position for the program's fourth straight state title in case there was any doubt what he meant by what Oakland football does. Oakland will meet Houston in the 6A BlueCross Bowl Saturday night in the final game of the nine-game spectacle Finley Stadium will host next week after winning its 19th consecutive playoff battle.
And what a battle it was, as the Patriots fresh off a 56-0 dismantling of Riverdale in that impressive quarterfinals win a week ago, seized control early in mounting that 17-0 lead in the game's first 23 minutes. But that look in the Bradley players eyes was legit and when the Bears moved it 77 yards in the final 1:15 of the first half to get a 31-yard field goal as time expired from Skylar Pirkle's right foot the Bears emerged from hibernation.
"It hurts right now because you never know when an opportunity like this will come around again," said Bradley coach Damon Floyd, who was looking to play for a state title for the first time in 47 years. "But we fought till the end. There's a reason they are the three-time defending state champs. All you can ask is for your kids to fight the way they did."
And the Bears might have won the fight too had the talented junior tailback Daune Morris not suited up. The Red Bank transfer outdueled his Mr. Football finalist and good friend Boo Carter with a spectacular outing, rushing the ball 32 times for 195 yards, including three TDs in the game's final 8:53 as the Patriots scored 21 unanswered points to break a 17-all tie in the fourth period.
"We kept putting our defense in a bad position, but we knew we had to fix that. This is exactly the reason I came here, to be part of this team. To play in games like this. I couldn't be any more excited to get to play for a state title in Chattanooga," said Morris, who now has 1,934 rushing yards on the season with 28 TDs.
Bradley (13-1) wasn't about to let the longest season in school history go quietly in the night, though, and came out renewed and energized in the third period. The Bears needed just four plays to go 60 yards for their first TD, the big play being a Jackson Wilson 50-yard scamper to the 10 before Carter ran it in from the nine to pull within 17-10. And when Oakland had three holding penalties on its second drive of the half, including one to wipe away a TD, the Patriots were forced to throw the ball and Bradley's Damarius Ballard intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards to the Pats' 25 to set up a tying score. Bear quarterback Kaleb Martin got 18 of it in three carries, including the final eight yards to make it 17-all heading into the homestretch.
"We did so many good things in the third quarter after things didn't go our way in the first half. At the end of the day, we were competing until the end. Oakland came to play too, and they were just a little more physical than we were when it counted most," said Martin who was hounded all night long by the aggressive Patriots' front.
Added Floyd: "I thought we made some good adjustments at half, but that's what this game is about. We showed up in the third period, but then they made some adjustments too. I give them a lot of credit. It hurts. You always want one more, but that's a solid team that beat us."
Morris had 12 of his carries in crunch time for 106 yards, and three times he toted it on big third-down conversions in all three drives that resulted in scores. The first came on a third-and-8 when the snap came straight to him and the ball wasn't handled cleanly, but once he got control of it, he slipped outside and went 28 yards for the score at the 8:53 mark for a 24-17 lead.
Kyrie Gainor intercepted a Martin pass and returned it 47 yards to the Bears' 15 and Morris converted a third-and-9 with a 10-yard jaunt to the 4 before scoring on the next play with 6:08 left. Now up two scores, the Patriots pinned their ears back and Dre Oldham sacked Martin on a fourth down play for the turnover on downs. Morris converted another third down run and then took the next play 43 yards for his final TD to seal the win.
"It was a fun game because I know so many of these guys. Boo is like a cousin to me. I've known him since we were kids. They've got a fantastic team and have had a great season. I'm just blessed to get out of here with a win," said Morris.
While Morris was running roughshod, Carter was limited by the Oakland defense which held Bradley to its lowest yardage total on the year. Carter had just 32 yards of offense on 11 touches as Bradley was held to 134 rushing yards and 127 passing yards. Ashton Jones added 69 yards on eight carries, including a five-yard TD run as Oakland amassed 345 total yards with 266 of it coming on the ground.
SUMMARY
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OAKLAND
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7
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10
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0
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21
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-- 38
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|
BRADLEY CENTRAL
|
0
|
3
|
14
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0
|
-- 17
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MO -- Daune Morris 12 run (Jacob Taylor kick) (0:23, 1st)
MO -- Ashton Jones 5 run (Jacob Taylor kick) (6:05, 2nd)
MO -- Jacob Taylor 44 yard field goal (1:15, 2nd)
BC -- Skylar Pirkle 31 yard field goal (0:00, 2nd)
BC -- Boo Carter 9 run (Skylar Pirkle kick) (10:01, 3rd)
BC -- Kaleb Martin 8 run (Skylar Pirkle kick) (0:49, 3rd)
MO -- Daune Morris 28 run (Jacob Taylor kick) (8:53, 4th)
MO -- Daune Morris 4 run (Jacob Taylor kick) (6:08, 4th)
MO -- Daune Morris 43 run (Jacob Taylor kick) (1:52, 4th)
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STATS
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MO
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BC
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|
First Downs
|
14
|
11
|
|
Rushes-Yards
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41-266
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26-134
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|
Passing Yards
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79
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127
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Total yards
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345
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261
|
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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5-8-1
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10-27-3
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Penalties-Yards
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13-110
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8-70
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|
Punts-Average
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2-50.5
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1-32.0
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|
Fumbles-Lost
|
0-0
|
1-0
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Individual Stats
RUSHING: Daune Morris 32-195, Ashton Jones 8-69, Kyler Creasy 1-2 (MO); Jackson Wilson 3-57, Kaleb Martin 17-49, Boo Carter 8-29, J'Alan Terry 1-(-1) (BC).
PASSING: Patrick Freeman 3-5-1 30 yards, Kyler Creasy 1-2-0 39 yards, Kalijah King 1-1-0 10 yards (MO); Kaleb Martin 10-25-2 127 yards, Tyler Cook 0-2-1 0 yards (BC).
RECEIVING: Daune Morris 1-39, Craig Tutt 2-20, Kyler Creasy 1-10, Duce Hewit 1-10 (MO); (M); Boo Carter 3-3, Jarrius Rogers 4-103, Jackson Wilson 2-16, Tito Williams 1-5. (BC).
RECORDS: Bradley Central 13-1, Murfreesboro Oakland 12-2.
UP NEXT: Murfreesboro Oakland faces Houston (12-2) in the 6A Championship Game of the BlueCross Bowl.
(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com)