Despite seeing his team endure more than its share of offensive struggles in its most recent outing, longtime Farragut High School football head coach Eddie Courtney remained upbeat.
“We have three games left and the key is that we’ll have to beat Hardin Valley and Maryville to make the playoffs,” Courtney said after his Ads came up on the short end of a 35-3 decision to Oak Ridge on FHS Homecoming Friday, Oct. 6, at Bill Clabo Field.
Farragut (2-5) has lost five straight games for the first time in a season since 2001.
The Admirals fell behind early as Oak Ridge (6-1) took the opening kickoff and engineered a 74-yard TD drive.
Farragut would answer on its opening possession when Ryan McCue kicked a 34-yard field goal.
The Admirals’ offense was far from anemic, at least in the first half. FHS moved the ball well, amassing more than 200 yards of total offense before halftime. The one bright spot was running back Wyatt Drummy, who had 112 yards on 20 carries for the game.
“He had a great night,” Courtney said. “He ran the ball well and picked up a lot of yards after contact.”
KNOXVILLE — The Farragut Admirals, led by senior quarterback Cam Duncan’s four touchdown passes, tried for the team’s third straight come-from-behind finish.
But the Admirals fell short while playing their first road game, losing to the Class 5A 2022 state champion West Rebels 38-31 Friday, Sept. 1. It was West’s 18th straight win, and Farragut’s fourth straight loss to the Runnin’ Rebels.
Despite the setback, “This team has a lot of fight in them,” FHS head coach Eddie Courtney said about his Admirals. “I’m proud of the way these guys compete.”
Duncan, who completed 54 percent of his passes for 299 yards, threw touchdown tosses of 11 yards to Jordan Sheppard, 54 and 58 yards to Landon Collins and 83 yards to Brooks Burnett.
West (3-0) was led by a sensational performance by running back Marshaun Bowers, who ran for 141 yards on 18 carries, including a 73-yard scoring run, caught two passes for 45 yards — including a 32-yard TD reception — intercepted one pass and ran back a 93-yard backbreaking kickoff return for another TD to help seal the Rebels’ victory.
The game started as a defensive struggle. Farragut (2-1) scored first, midway through the first quarter, on Duncan’s scoring toss to Sheppard, which was set up by an interception by cornerback Zain Kureshi-Smith and returned to the West 12-yard line.
With the Admirals up 7-0, Farragut’s Bryce Thompson recovered a fumble at the FHS 32 early in the second quarter, but West’s stubborn defense held Farragut.
After a strong Ryan McCue punt, Bowers wasted no time in breaking the 73-yard run to tie the score.
Though a Runnin’ Rebels touchdown pass was nullified by a holding penalty late in the first half, and Farragut’s defense held West on downs at the FHS 36, an interception and 33-yard return had the home team at the Ads 32. Bowers scored on a swing pass on the next play, and the Runnin’ Rebs led 14-7 at halftime.
A 32-yard TD run from Devin Jamison made the score 21-7 West early in the third quarter. After a 35-yard kickoff return by Collins and an 18-yard run by Wayne Drummy, Duncan connected on the 54-yard TD pass to Collins.
West’s Jamison and Bowers ran the ball efficiently, including a 51-yard burst by Jamison. The Runnin’ Rebels completed the next drive with a 10-yard Antwain Burdine TD catch for a 28-14 lead.
Duncan came back after a defensive stand led by Jack Alley, Kent Carbugh and Landis Davila. Duncan found Burnette on a sideline route, and the speedy Burnette outran Bowers for an 83-yard touchdown pulling the Admirals within seven, 28-21 with 9:35 left in the final quarter.
After West added a field goal, Farragut came back with Duncan finding Landis Davila for a 56-yard score, pulling FHS within 31-28 with six minutes to play.
But Bowers then took the ensuing kickoff the distance.
McCue’s 33-yard field goal, after FHS recovered a fumble, cut the lead to 38-31 late. But after the Ads’ failed onside kick, West ran out the clock.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Check out CRFOTO.com weekly for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.
It was another Friday full of explosive offensive plays, but when the final buzzer sounded it was the Farragut Admirals coming out on top — doing so in almost the same dramatic way, featuring the same two Admirals, as the week before.
Rallying from an early 14-0 deficit, but still trailing 21-20 late in the fourth quarter in FHS’s Eddie Courtney Stadium Aug. 25, Farragut got the ball with a minute-and-a-half left and tried to put together a last-second scoring drive.
Marching down the field, little by little, the Admirals found themselves having to convert on a fourth-and-17 play with just 22 seconds left.
Right off of a timeout, senior quarterback Cam Duncan connected with, who other than his favorite senior wide receiving target in a pinch? Landis Davila hauled in Duncan’s winning TD pass, a 32-yard slant in the end zone, to take a 26-21 lead with only 16 seconds showing. Troy Lockhart took the 2-point conversion handoff into the end zone to put the Admirals up 28-21.
Powell had time for two final plays after reaching the FHS 35, but after an incomplete pass the Panthers came up empty-handed. Senior linebacker Jack Alley stuffed a draw play to settle the issue, improving Farragut’s record 2-0 on the season. The Panthers record fell to 1-1.
“I can’t say enough about this team: it took our protection, it took our running game and our blocking,” FHS head coach Eddie Courtney said. “I’m super proud of these guys and their unselfishness.”
Powell in control early
In the first quarter it was all Powell, jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead by scoring on its first two possessions.
The first touchdown came with a minute-and-a-half off of the clock on a 74-yard run.
The second score was a 45-yard touchdown pass with less than three minutes to go in the opening quarter.
Ads rally twice
Though the Admirals found themselves with their backs against the wall, Farragut’s defense stepped up to stop the Panthers in the second quarter, while Farragut’s offense was able to march down the field utilizing their big linemen and ground game. With 1:25 left in the second quarter, Lockhart rushed into the endzone from 1-yard out.
Admirals senior running back Wyatt Drummy made it 14-13 on a 45-yard scoring run with 9:42 left in the third quarter. Ryan McCue’s second extra point tied the game 14-14.
But Powell’s offense took the field and quickly responded thanks to a 50-yard touchdown run to go back ahead 21-14. Late in the third quarter, Lockhart ran 74 yards for his second touchdown of the night.
However, the score stayed 21-20 after the Panthers blocked the all-important tying extra-point attempt.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Check out CRFOTO.com weekly for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.
The Admirals opened the 2023 season Friday night at Bill Clabo Field as the Indians from Dobyns-Bennett traveled South from Kingsport.
From the opening kickoff to the final horn, there was excitement throughout. Farragut received the opening kickoff, and Senior Jordan Sheppard returned it 92 yards to put the Ads ahead 7-0 right out of the gate. Sheppard would come up big again on the ensuing DB drive, intercepting a pass in the end zone to stop a promising Indian drive.
The thrill continued for the Admirals on their first offense drive of the season, as the 2nd saw Senior QB Cam Duncan find Junior Robbie Jacobs on 74 yard TD pass, extending the Admiral lead to 14-0 with 6:13 left in the 1st. The Indians, known for their time-consuming, ball control drives, would answer with a 31-yard field goal to close out the first quarter as the Ads’ defense stood firm inside their own 20. A sack ended the next Farragut drive before it could get going. The next DB tribe took up nearly half of the 2nd quarter but ended in a 7-yard DB touchdown run.
A three-and-out killed the ensuing Farragut drive, as the Indians got the ball back with 1:27 left before halftime. The Admiral defense would gain hold strong; this time, it was Landis Davila coming up with an interception to close out the first half, as Farragut led DB 14-10. The Indians received the opening kickoff of the 2nd half, but a dropped ball on third down ended their drive. Next, a 41-yard field goal by Sophomore Ryan McCue capped off a twelve-play, 7:13 drive for the Ads.
Dobyns-Bennett’s opening drive of the fourth quarter resulted in a game-tying, 43-yard touchdown pass with 4:51 left. Back-to-back three-and-outs saw the Ads get the ball back on their 13-yard line with 1:52 left. A third down, 25-yard, Duncan to Davila completion jump-started the drive. Two plays later, a 20-yard completion to Senior Brooks Burnette and then an 11-yard Wyatt Drummy was followed up with a timeout with 21 seconds left to play. Out of the timeout, Cam Duncan found Landis Davila in the back left corner of the endzone for the game-winning touchdown. Farragut defeated DB, 24-17.
The Admirals return home again next week to play the 2021 5A State Champion Powell Panthers in another tough, non-region battle. Stay tuned here and follow us on Twitter @FarragutFb for all news and highlights.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Check out CRFOTO.com weekly for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.
The Admiral’s offseason program is complete, now it is game week. The offseason was long but prosperous for the Farragut Admiral Football Team. The offseason program began last December with winter workouts which lead into spring practice. Then, spring practice gave way to summer workouts out and the 7v7 season. As 7v7 and summer workouts drew to a close, it was finally time for the pads to be put on and to begin fall camp. Fall camp for the Admirals consisted of three weeks of full-pad practice, 3 scrimmages(1 inter-squad and 2 against other teams), and the annual KOC Kickoff Jamboree.
The conclusion of the first week of fall camp saw the Admirals have an inter-squad scrimmage. During week two of fall camp, the Admirals traveled for their annual scrimmage against the Cavaliers of Cookeville. The final week of camp included the KOC Kickoff Jamboree, a one-quarter matchup with Knox-Central, and a game-simulated scrimmage with Walker Valley. Now that fall camp is over, game week awaits for the Admirals.
No adjustments were made to the Region 2-6A alignment by the TSSAA so the Admirals will continue to compete with Bearden, Bradley Central, Cleveland, Hardin Valley, and Maryville for a Region Championship for the next two years. The TSSAA did however schedule the region calendar in an effort to provide officials at each game every week. In 2023, Cleveland will visit Bill Clabo Field Sept. two 8th along with Bradley Central on Sept. 29th. The Admirals will travel to Bearden on Sept. 21st for Rivalry Thursday following an open date, and finish the regular season with two straight road games at Hardin Valley and Maryville on Oct. 20th and 27th.
Farragut will open the season at home versus Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett on Aug. 18th and will host Powell on Aug. 25th. The Admirals last played Kingsport in 2020 in a Region 1-6A contest. Powell last visited Farragut during the 2016 State Championship season. The Admirals return to West on Sept. 1st to face the defending Class 5A champions before region play begins. Oak Ridge and Jeff County will visit Farragut on Oct. 6th and 12th to close out non-region play. The Wildcats and Admirals have played every year since 1992, but this will be the first October matchup since the two programs were in Region 2-5A in 2008. Jeff County was a first-round opponent for the Admirals in 2022 and were region opponents in Region 1-6A from 2017-2020.
All told, the Admirals will host 6 home games in 2023 so don’t miss your chance to purchase season tickets from the Booster Club. Season tickets will be on sale at the school during lunch on Friday the 18th and outside the gate before the first home game. Please reach out to the Football Booster Club for more information at farragutfootball@gmail.com.
