November 11, 2021, by Alan Sloan

https://www.farragutpress.com/articles/2021/11/11251

JOHNSON CITY — Perhaps a rugged 2021 regular season schedule toughened up Farragut, and all the disappointment of losing five close games served as lessons learned, after an amazing display of overcoming obstacles resulted in a wild come-from-behind overtime playoff victory — doing so on the road.  

However, the only first-half scoring the Ads could muster at Science Hill came on a 5-yard Elijah Gibbs TD run, set up by John Duncan’s interception and 45-yard return early in the first quarter.

With the Hilltoppers’ high-powered offense blending pass and run quite effectively — and Admirals turnovers, a dropped TD pass and key penalties preventing a balanced scoreboard — SHHS led 28-7 at halftime on Steve Spurrier Field in this opening round Class 6A playoff game Friday night, Nov. 5. 

But an improved Farragut running attack in the second half, the FHS defense forcing a fumble killing a promising Science Hill drive (recovered by Duncan) followed by Jack Alley’s exciting 59-yard interception TD return were key in tying the game 28-28 in the third quarter. 

Saying his “tight-end days” kicked in “as soon as I got it,” Alley, a sophomore, raced down the left sideline, then cutting diagonally to the middle of the field, dodging and breaking tackles the whole way,

Toughness again was needed late in what turned out to be a thrilling 57-56 win by the Admirals, the No. 4 seed from Region 2-6A, against No. 1 seed Science Hill from Region 1-6A. 

“We just went out there and executed in the second half,” said senior quarterback Dawson Moore, whose key third-down runs were numerous in the second half, rushing 23 times for 81 yards and three TDs. Included was a 3-yarder to give the Ads its only lead before the end, 35-28, with 7:21 left in the fourth frame.

“Dawson, he played so hard tonight,” Admirals skipper Eddie Courtney said.

With Farragut, just 5 yards from a 42-35 lead with less than two minutes to play, a fumble was returned 90 yards to the FHS 5. Three plays later, the Hilltoppers took a 42-35 lead with just 54 seconds left. 

But led by the passing of Moore, Farragut needed just 49 seconds to go 62 yards for the tie. Moore hit Zach Keasling on a 7-yard TD pass with only 5 seconds to play, tying the game with Reese Keeney’s extra point 42-42. 

He also found Landis Davila for catches of 13 and 15 on the last-second drive, along with Keasling for 17 and Noah Gunter for 15 yards. 

Trace Corum, who hauled in a 37-yard TD pass, ended with nine catches for 119 yards.

With the team’s trading touchdowns fairly easily in OT, the Ads pulled to within 56-55 on Moore’s 3-yard TD run in the second overtime. 

Courtney called for a 2-point try to either win or lose. “We felt Dawson had been running the ball real hard, and that the pass would be open — and it was,” Courtney said.

The senior’s play-action fake and roll to the right ended with a pass in the flat to Gunter, a sophomore tight end, who made a nice fingertip catch of a low throw before crashing over a defender just outside the SHHS 1 for the winning score. “I felt it, I knew it. We fought so hard coming back, I just knew we were going to win,” Gunter said. 

Improving its record to 5-6, the Admirals play at No. 2 seed Bradley Central (9-2) in round two at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 12. SHHS’s season ends at 7-4. 

About his team’s running attack picking up after halftime, “It started with the offensive line because we really got on them at halftime. … They came out and knocked ‘em off the ball,” Courtney said, individually praising the second half and overtime performances of Corey Walker (also a defensive lineman) Logan Roark, Aiden Smith, Dennis Longmire, and Nathan Harville, with help from Roger McNeer.  

“A shout-out to our O-line, they did a great job blocking up front,” said senior running back Schumann Xie, who scored on a 27-yard run. 

Defensively, junior linebacker Jay Smiley led Farragut in total tackles with 11 (five solos), while Brice Fontenot had two minus-yardage stops among his four solo tackles.

A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to check out CRFOTO.com every week 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.

Friday night was Senior Night at Bil Clabo Field and also the regular-season finale. It also happened to be the biggest rivalry game for both Farragut and Bearden, the most storied rivalry in each program’s history.

Dawson Moore and Trace Corum connected on a 28 yard TD to give the Admirals the early lead, 7-0 with 7:12 left in the 1st.

The Bulldogs answered just before half tying the score at 7-7 as the teams went to half.

Late in the 3rd quarter, a 3 yard Schumann Xie touchdown run gave the Ads a 14-7 lead with 3:19 left in the quarter.

The Bulldogs tied the game at 14 all on a 36-yard touchdown run with 5:33 to play. This set the stage for the Admirals to embark on a game-winning drive. The 10 play drive saw a healthy dose of the Farragut ground attack, with only one pass attempt. With 2 seconds left on the clock, Reese Keeney, who had missed a 49-yard attempt before the half, lined up for a 44-yard game-winning attempt. Keeney’s first attempt split the uprights, but a Bearden timeout just before the snap wiped the attempt off. Two more pre-snap timeouts by Bearden set the stage for Keeney’s kick. Another delay would come in the form of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by the Bulldogs for throwing turf and rubber pellets in the long snapper’s face. With the attempt being shortened to 29 yards, Keeney didn’t get all of the ball, but the ball sailed through the uprights giving the Admirals a 17-14 victory and a berth in the 2021 6A playoffs.

Farragut will next travel to Science Hill to take on the Region 1 6A champion Hilltoppers in the 1st round of the TSSAA playoffs and kickoff is set for 7:00 pm Friday night.

A special thanks to 5 Star Preps for the photos of this game. Click here for the full photo gallery.

October 21, 2021, by Alan Sloan
https://www.farragutpress.com/articles/2021/10/11184

Two huge and dramatic offensive plays in the second half weren’t quite enough for Farragut at Bill Clabo Field Friday evening, Oct. 15.

Unbeaten Bradley Central (8-0, 4-0) overcame giving up a tying score following a fumble deep in FHS territory with less than seven minutes to play, then overcome giving up a 69-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left — both late scores from senior receiver Trace Corum.

Tied 28-28, the Bears drove to the FHS 24 — aided by a pass interference call in the closing seconds, and nailed a 41-yard field goal as time expired to win 31-28.

A rushing attack featuring the power and speed of Bears running back Jackson Wilson and the elusiveness of quarterback Aiden McClary — plus the Admirals offense going three-and-out on three straight second-half possessions, helping to tire an otherwise determined Farragut defense.

Admirals skipper Eddie Courtney Courtney pointed to “a couple of missed blocking assignments” to explain the stagnation.

As a result, Courtney said his defense “was out there for a bunch of plays.”

Clutch passing plays by McClary also fueled Bradley’s late-game scoring success.

“We didn’t think (they’d) run him as much,” the FHS coach said about McClary. “Give credit to him. And they made a couple of great catches on the sideline — that last one I’m not sure about, but it is what it is.”

Overall, “They made a couple more plays than we did,” added Courtney, whose team fell to 3-5 overall, 1-3 in the region. “… We seem to play everybody at their best. You can see why they’re undefeated.”

“I still think we had chances to beat them tonight, but hats off to them. … We just needed a play or two at the end.”

An apparent interception that likely would have forced overtime was nullified by the pass interference, moving the Bears from the FHS 40 to the Admirals 25, setting up the winning field goal.

“We’ve got to get back to work, improve on some stuff for next week (at Fulton),” said Corum, whose 25-yard end-around run — breaking tackles down the right sideline — put the Ads up 21-20 with 5:26 left after Reese Keeney’s extra point.

That series began with senior linebacker Sam Moses recovering a Bradley fumble at the Bears 27 with 6:09 to play.

About the 69-yard pass from Luke Johnson, Ads junior back-up quarterback, “That was a perfect pass,” Corum said. “It shows a lot. Luke’s been working hard all year. Before the last couple of weeks he didn’t (play) in varsity and he wasn’t playing in JVs.”

Early in the game

With Farragut mishandling the game’s opening kickoff, Bradley was at the FHS 12.

But after two runs for only 1 yard, then a dropped touchdown pass on third down, the Bears’ 23-yard field goal was blocked by Griffin Mashburn and the loose ball was returned by junior John Duncan to the Bradley 48.

Corum scored on a jet sweep reverse to the left from 13 yards out, after starting quarterback Dawson Moore completed a pass to senior receiver Zach Keasling for 18 yards to help set up the game’s first score.

Tied 7-7 after an 82-yard Bears TD pass, the Ads pinned Bradley at its 2 thanks to Keeney’s punt — he ended with a 42.2 average during the game — and forced a short BCHS punt.

Needing only 32 yards, the Ads scored on Johnson’s 11-yard scoring pass to Ben Reed, where the junior somehow avoided a sack and reversed his field from left to right.

Despite Johnson’s lack of experience, “He’s got great composure,” Courtney said.

Missing players

Although Corum came up huge, Johnson also was challenged because “we had a couple of receivers out tonight, banged up a little bit,” the coach said.

“… That was a struggle there.”

Moore, FHS starting quarterback, was pulled late in the first half after taking a couple of sacks, as the senior had recovered from a concussion and was nursing a high ankle injury according to Courtney.

Looking ahead

As for the team’s postseason outlook, “It’s going to come down to us and Bearden (Friday, Oct. 29)” for the final Class 6A playoff spot (top four teams from each region),” Courtney said, as the Bulldogs are 3-5 but 2-2 in the region.

But having the non-district trip to Fulton next on the Farragut schedule, “We’ve got to look at winning these next two games for our pride, our own character, and everything else,” the coach added.

“And the two or three times we sent pressure up inside, they picked it up pretty good and broke a run on us,” he added. “We thought we could blitz them more, but they got us out of that because their guards were doing a good job pickup up our (line)backers on stunts.”

A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to check out CRFOTO.com every week 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.

For the first time since 2015, the Admirals traveled to South-Doyle to take on the Cherokees in a non-region matchup. The Cherokees came into Friday night’s game 4-1 after a 31-28 loss to Anderson County last week.

South-Doyle won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, but a fumble by the Cherokees on the return gave the ball to the Admirals to start the game. With the ball at the Cherokee 28 yard-line, the Ads wasted no time scoring on a 6 yard Dawson Moore to Trace Corum touchdown pass. Three minutes into the game Farragut lead 7-0. The Admiral defense would come up big on the following drive, stopping South-Doyle on a 4th and 1 giving the ball back to Farragut.

Another 7-play drive was in store of the Admirals, again capped off by a Dawson Moore to Trace Corum touchdown pass, this time for 5 yards. With 4:05 left in the 1st, the Ads led 14-0. The Cherokees would answer though, a 7-play 72-yard drive ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass. At half the Ads lead 14-7. 

Farragut received the opening kickoff of the 2nd half. Six plays later, for the third time of the night, a Dawson Moore to Trace Corum touchdown capped off the Admiral drive. The Ads led 21-7 with 10:06 left in the 3rd. On the following South-Doyle drive, a fumble at the Admiral 4 yard line gave the ball back to Farragut, but the Admirals were unable to capitalize. With the ball back after fumbling, the Cherokees were able to punch it in from 3 yards out to cut the Admiral lead to 21-14 at the end of the 3rd. 

The Admirals’ next drive looked promising, but stalled out at the 28 yard-line, prompting a field goal attempt by Reese Keeney. Following the missed field goal, the Admiral defense looked to stand strong, and that they did as a Sam Moses interception ended the South-Doyle drive. After a three-and-out by Farragut, the Cherokees wasted no time scoring. A 65-yard double-pass tricked the Admiral secondary and tied the game at 21 with 6:30 to play. With the ball, the Admirals were looking for a score and to run as much time off the clock as possible. Their longest drive of the night did just that, a 16-play 63 yard ended with a 3-yard Andrew Celeste touchdown. This drive sealed the game and gave the Admirals a 28-21 victory over South-Doyle. 

The Admirals are set to step back into region play in Week 7 as they travel to Hardin Valley to face the Raiders. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm and tickets can be purchased ahead of the game by CLICKING HERE.

A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to check out CRFOTO.com every week 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.

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