October 5, 2022 by Bill Howard, Correspondent, Farragut Press

HARDIN VALLEY — Before last Friday night’s game against Hardin Valley Academy at Bill Clabo Field, Farragut High School’s football team had been on a roll, easily winning its last three games. After Friday, make it four.

On five first-half possessions, the Ads scored five touchdowns en route to a halftime — and final — score of 35-0. The Region 2-6A win improved FHS’s regional record to 2-1, 5-2 overall.

“We started off fast, that’s how we challenged our kids,” Admirals’ head coach Eddie Courtney said. “In the last two weeks we saw how much improvement Hardin Valley made. They’ve been getting better, so we knew we had to start strong.”

In the first half, Farragut started — and stayed — very strong. A six-play, 56-yard game-opening drive resulted in a 7-0 lead when running back Elijah Gibbs took it in from the Hawks 9.

A quick three-and-out by HVA put FHS back in business on its own 47. On the second play of the drive — second-and-1 from Hawks’ 44 — quarterback Luke Johnson hit receiver Landis Davila in the end zone for the touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

It would be 21-0 before the end of the first quarter when Johnson again connected with Davila, this time from the 10. For the game, Johnson was a perfect 13 for 13 for 180 yards and three scores. He didn’t play in the second half. Gibbs gained 116 yards and a TD (16 carries).

“My goal right now is just focus on the wins and not on the stats,” Johnson said.

Davila caught four balls for 67 yards and the two scores. Ashton Auker had five catches (63 yards) and a 13-yard touchdown grab in the second quarter.

Farragut’s defense was impenetrable. The Hawks’ total offense for the first half was a mere 14 yards.

Admirals’ linebacker Jay Smiley had 10 tackles, nine of them solo. Courtney substituted widely in the second half.

“Our chemistry’s great,” free safety Hudson Kraemer said. “Whenever anyone gets a big hit we cheer them on.”

“I’m proud of our kids,” first-year HVA head coach Jeff Miner said about his Hawks (0-6, 0-3). “They never quit; they keep fighting. Farragut’s got a great football team. …”

In the second quarter, the Admirals also got an 8-yard touchdown run by backup running back Wyatt Drummy.

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.

September 28, 2022 by Bill Howard, Correspondent, Farragut Press

When Farragut High School’s football team started 1-2 this year, it could have been argued the Admirals’ ship was adrift. Then again, the two losses were to state powers Knox West and Maryville. 

Three games — and three wins — later, including a 58-14 thrashing of South-Doyle at Bill Clabo Field on Homecoming Night at FHS Friday, Sept. 23, the Blue and Gray is by any standard trending in the right direction. 

The cumulative score of the last three games: Admirals 124, Opposition 27.  

“We had to do it in all three phases,” FHS head coach Eddie Courtney said. “We challenged our offense to score and the defense to get turnovers … to get sacks and be aggressive. We gotta get a block and we did … we got a blocked kick.”

The blocked punt came with 1:31 left in the first period when linebacker Jay Smiley broke through and not only blocked the punt, but recovered it in the end zone. The score made it 21-0, and the Admirals would have all the points they’d need.

The first two scores came from a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes from quarterback Luke Johnson to receiver Ashton Auker. The first was for 16 yards with 4:43 left; the second for 35 yards with 2:33 remaining. 

Johnson was eight of 11 passing for 148 yards and the two scores in limited action. 

“They’re really good, well coached,” said Paul Shelton, S-D’s first-year head coach. “They did a good job up front. They’re just really good schematically … offensively, defensively.”

Farragut made it 28-0 early in the second when running back Elijah Gibbs went around right end for a 3-yard score. A pass-interference penalty on S-D gave the Admirals a first and goal on the Cherokees 2.

Gibbs scored three times while rushing for 124 yards on 15 carries, playing, like Johnson, less than a full game. 

“Our offensive line did really good today,” Gibbs said. “The last couple of games we’ve been having a little bit of trouble. But I feel like it really showed up today.”

A 49-14 halftime lead led to a continuous clock run for the entire second half. 

Backup running back Wyatt Drummy rushed 12 times for 87 yards and a score. Back-up quarterback Barrett Smith threw a touchdown pass, completing four-of-five passes.

Jack Alley had seven tackles, six solo, for FHS. Daniel Williams had three solo tackles and five total. The speedy, shifty Gary carried 26 times for 157 yards.

“You gotta want to win it,” Williams said. “We want to win; we want to stop them.”

The Admirals host rival Hardin Valley Academy (0-5) in a Region 2-6A match-up starting at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 30.

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.

September 14, 2022 by Bill Howard, Correspondent, Farragut Press

OAK RIDGE — In Farragut High School’s first three football games this season — a win followed by two losses — the Admirals had their challenges on defense. 

Friday evening at Oak Ridge, Farragut’s “D” was both stingy and opportunistic, holding the Wildcats to just 263 total yards. The effort helped the Ads shut out Oak Ridge 24-0 at Blankenship Field Sept. 9.

“We played good, assignment football tonight,” Admirals head coach Eddie Courtney said. “The guys rallied around the ball and got to the ball, and we needed to do that.”

Wildcats head coach Scott Cummings wasn’t reticent with his frustration. 

“We just keep kicking ourselves in the foot,” said Cummings, who’s in his first year at Oak Ridge. “Making mistakes. We gotta just clean things up and be more coachable and disciplined.”

Farragut jumped to a 7-0 lead on the game’s first possession when, on third-and-17 from OR’s 43, quarterback Luke Johnson connected with Jordan Sheppard for a 57-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone. 

The Admirals made it 14-0 with 1:09 left in the first when, on third-and-goal from the OR 3, workhorse running back Elijah Gibbs went around the right side for the score. The seven-yard, three-play drive was set up when John Duncan recovered Oak Ridge’s fumbled punt.

Gibbs carried 16 times for 92 yards and two scores. Johnson was 8-of-13 passing for 74 yards, including the touchdown toss, and one interception.

The Admirals’ much-improved defense was led by senior linebacker Jay Smiley, who had a huge night with 15 total tackles, 13 solo. Jack Alley had seven solo as part of 14 total. 

Brice Fontenot had a pair of sacks to go along with nine tackles. Junior defensive end Naaol Kerro had a sack as well. 

“I challenged Brice before the game,” said Courtney. “I told him ‘I need some plays out of you tonight.’ He had to make sure to contain the quarterback. Brice did a good job of running our game plan.”

“I mean it’s big,” said Smiley of the win. “Coach always preaches six-second effort every play. Even if you’re on the back side you hustle and hustle and try to make a play … like a strip-sack or strip-fumble. I do my best.”

After a less-than-stellar second quarter – possessions ending with a failed fourth-down run, a pick, and a punt – Farragut (2-2, 0-1 Region 2-6A) added a huge touchdown on its first possession of the second half. 

It started on OR’s 23 when Duncan recovered his second fumble on the ‘Cats’ first play from scrimmage. Gibbs ran five straight times, and on the fifth, took it in from the two for a 21-0 lead.

It would turn out to be way more than enough.

Oak Ridge might still have made a game of it, but the Admirals’ defense made a game-clinching play on the next drive. Starting on their own 20, the ‘Cats drove to Farragut’s three, where they had a fourth and one. 

De’Jauvis Dozier, OR’s shifty, speedy running back, took the handoff and was stuffed for a two-yard loss. The drive ended with 1:23 left in the third. The ‘Cats wouldn’t threaten again.

Reese Keeney’s 27-yard field goal late in the game completed the scoring. 

“I feel like we played a lot better today,” Kerro said. “This is gonna give us confidence.”

Farragut hosts regional foe Cleveland (2-2) starting at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 17

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.

September 7, 2022, by Alan Sloan(Farragut Press)

MARYVILLE — By not quitting when hopes of a victory were lost, Farragut had a respectable outcome against powerful Maryville at MHS last Friday. 

“The second half we played pretty good football,” FHS head coach Eddie Courtney said about a 41-28 loss Sept. 2, dropping the Ads to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in Region 2-6A. “We are getting better.”

Offensively, “In the second half we executed better,” the Admirals skipper added. “In the first half (down 28-7 at halftime) we just shot ourselves in the foot too many times. … Didn’t knock them off the ball enough.”

Luke Johnson, FHS senior quarterback, completed 22-of-31 passes for 333 yards and TD passes of 61 yards to Hank DeVault and 22 yards to Jordan Sheppard. He threw no interceptions, as both teams were turnover free, while rushing for two touchdowns: an 8-yard scramble and a 1-yard sneak. 

“Elijah (Gibbs), he did a great job running the ball tonight,” Courtney said about his senior running back, who gained 51 yards on 13 carries while catching nine passes for 73 yards.

“We had a pretty good tempo coming into the second half,” Gibbs said. “… We didn’t give up; we still put points on the board.”

Overall, “We kept fighting to the end, that’s a positive right there,” Courtney said. 

“I felt like holding them to seven points in the first half was a win for us,” said Maryville head coach Derek Hunt, whose team improved to 3-0, 1-0. 

Noah Vaughn, Red Rebels All-state running back and University of Virginia commit, rushed for scores of 11, 3, and 1 yards while hauling in a 69-yard touchdown pass. “He’s really special; we kinda go as he goes,” Hunt said of Vaughn. “Obviously, he can touch it in a lot of different ways.” 

Other top Admirals

In terms of special teams, senior punter Reese Keeney booted a 68-yard punt while recording three touchbacks on kickoffs and converting all four of his extra-point tries. 

In addition, Keeney’s onside kick was recovered by the Admirals late in the game. 

Defensively, senior linebacker Jay Smiley led in solo tackles with eight, including one sack. 

Sheppard also had a 46-yard kickoff return, while Jacob Farhat added a 28-yard kickoff return.

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.