Farragut and Oak Ridge, an annual rivalry for over 20 years, met at Blankenship field on Friday night.
Farragut, last year’s region champion, scored 16 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 16-10 lead to the half.
But Oak Ridge scored the first 17 points of the second half, with Jordan Graham’s 79-yard touchdown run with 9:20 to play proving to be the clincher.
Farragut’s defense smothered the Oak Ridge sophomore for most of the game, but Graham (12 carries, 132 yards) ran for 120 yards in the final quarter.
“He (Graham) hurt us with the long run,” said Farragut coach Eddie Courtney.
“But I commend our kids. They had a chance at the end. They just ran out of time.”
Oak Ridge quarterback Johnny Stewart (12 of 21, 205 yards) sparked the Wildcats.
Stewart hit Clemson commitment Tee Higgins with a 17-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and hooked up with Caleb Martin on a 14-yard scoring toss in the third quarter.
Higgins had six grabs for 97 yards for balanced Oak Ridge, which totaled 418 yards (213 rushing, 205 passing).
Kicker Carson McGhee booted field goals of 32, 37 and 22 yards for the Wildcats.
Farragut quarterback Adam Fulton connected on 17 of 27 passes for 161 yards and ran for another 67 yards on 14 attempts.
Fulton hooked up with Davis Simmons and Jacob Warren on
touchdown passes of 16 and 6 yards, respectively.
Farragut kicker Joe Doyle, who was selected this week to play in the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 1, 2017, made field goals from 33 and 22 yards.
Admirals running back Amon Johnson (16 carries, 120 yards) added a 5-yard touchdown run with 45.6 seconds to play, but Kyndall Clark recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the victory for Oak Ridge.
Mike Blackbery is a contributor for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Read his work at PrepXtra.com.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Every week be sure to checkout CRFOTO.com 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.
OFFICIAL GAME STATS
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