Before Friday, it had been over 30 years since the Admirals hosted a a quarterfinal matchup. It had also been 21 years since the Admirals last reached the state semifinals, and at halftime it looked as if it would be another year added to that total. Ooltewah got out to a fast start, leading the Admirals 21-0 with 10:28 left in the first half, after two early interceptions led directly to 14 points for the Owls. While the Admiral’s Griffen Swicegood was able to intercept the Owls in the first quarter, Farragut was unable to score. That changed when senior quarterback Adam Fulton found Braden Collins for a 15 yard TD pass that made the score 21-7 with 8:14 left in the second quarter.
The Owls scored 5 plays later via a 63-yard TD run by Owls’ sophomore RB Sincere Quinn, but Farragut answered as Adam Fulton showed great pocket presence and found Braden Collins again in the end zone, this time for 7 yards, which cut the Owls’ lead to 28-14 with 4:26 left in the first half.
After forcing an Ooltewah punt from the Farragut 43 yard line, a penalty kept the Owl drive alive and moved the ball to the Farragut 28 yard line, where the Owls would score five plays later, to push the Owls’ lead to 35-14. The Admirals’ offense would drive down the field, but a last-second, 47-yard FG attempt by Joe Doyle was just short.
The Admirals received the ball to begin the second half, but were unable to convert on 4th-and-1, turning the ball over on downs. The Owls would take over at the Farragut 40-yard line and throw a TD pass to extend their lead 42-14 with 9:08 left in the third quarter. While a 28-point comeback with just a quarter and a half left was improbable, but not impossible, the Admirals dug in.
Adam Fulton found Braden Collins for a 35-yard TD pass for the third time of the night, which tied the school record for most TD receptions, a feat Collins had already accomplished against Campbell County earlier this season. The touchdown and Joe Doyle extra point made the score 42-21 with just under 8 minutes left in the third quarter. After a pair of Ooltewah punts and a Joe Doyle punt, the Admirals found themselves down 21 points with 1:31 left in third quarter. After a 54-yard Cooper Hardin run, Adam Fulton again found Braden Collins for a 20-yard Farragut TD for his fourth score of the night.
After an Ooltewah three-and-out, the Admirals found themselves with the ball their own 34-yard line with just over 10 minutes left in the game down 42-28. After a punishing 52-yard Cooper Hardin run, tailback Amon Johnson punched it in from five yards out to make it a 7-point game with 9:12 left. After a long Ooltewah drive stalled out, the Owls would punt and down the ball at the 4 yard line, leaving the Admirals 96 yards away from the end zone. Adam Fulton would march the Admirals’ offense down the field, completing 7 of 8 passes for 80 yards on the drive, culminating in an 8-yard TD reception by TE Jacob Warren, Fulton’s fifth TD pass of the game. Joe Doyle’s extra point would tie the game at 42-all with 1:08 left to play. A 28-yard kickoff return by Ooltewah gave them the ball at the 47. The Owls were able to drive the ball downfield and setup their kicker for a game-winning, 28-yard FG try with :02 left on the clock, but the kick was wide right as time expired. The game was headed for overtime.
The Admirals won the coin toss and elected to play on defense first. With the ball placed on the 10 yard line, the Owls would work their way down to the 2 yard line. This brought up 4th-and-2 where the Owls would punch it in and take a 49-42 lead. The Admirals would also get the ball on the 10 yard line, where it would take Cooper Hardin just two carries to punch it in the end zone. With the score tied at 49, a second OT would be needed.
After a roughing the kicker penalty in the previous OT, the ball would be spotted at the 5-yard line and the Admirals would take over 1st-and-goal. This time Cooper Hardin would only need one carry to get into the end zone to give the Admirals their first lead of the game 56-49. Ooltewah took over at the 10 yard line, but quickly found themselves 4th-and-2 from the 2, needing to get in the end zone to force another overtime period. This time, the Owls chose to run up the middle, but Farragut’s Devin Yarborough met the Owl RB at the 1, stopped his momentum and then was joined by other Admirals to drive the RB backwards and deny the touchdown. This completed the 28-point comeback the Admirals needed to advance to the state semi-finals for the first time since 1995. Quarterback Adam Fulton ended the game 22-of-35 passing for 294 yards, 5 TDs and 2 INTs. Running back Cooper Hardin carried 23 times for 168 yards and 2 TDs, while Amon Johnson carried the ball twice and found the end zone once. WR Braden Collins had 13 catches for 191 yards and 4 TDs, and 2 rushes for 70 yards.
This game saw several school records broken or tied for Farragut:
• Most XPs Made in a Season–60 Joe Doyle
• Most Receptions in a Game–13 Braden Collins
• Most TD Receptions in a Game–4 Braden Collins
• Most TD Receptions in a Season–13 Braden Collins
• Most Passing TDs in a Game– 5 Adam Fulton (tied)
• Most Passing Yards in a Season–2,733 Adam Fulton
The Admirals will host the state semi-final game on November 25th against South Doyle. A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to checkout 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.
OFFICIAL GAME STATS
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