The Admirals opened the 2019 TSSAA 6A Playoffs at home against Bradley Central on Friday night. Farragut and Bradley met in the first game of the season and the Admirals won that contest 37-30 in a thriller. The Admirals were looking to beat the Bears again to advance to the 2nd round of the 2019 Playoffs.
Farragut received the opening kickoff and the offense was quick to hit its stride. Gavin Wilkinson found Isaiah Arrington on the fifth play of the drive for a 63-yard touchdown reception. The Admirals jumped out to a 7-0 start with 9:39 left in the opening quarter. The Bradley offense was quick to answer however, scoring on the first play of the drive on a 63-yard run that tied the score 7-7 with 9:18 left on the clock. The Admirals took over the ball and were again quick to strike. This time it was via Eli Purcell’s 39-yard touchdown run that put the Admirals back ahead 14-7 following Simeon Sharp’s extra point.
The Admiral defense rebounded nicely on the following drive, starting out with a 2 yard tackle-for-loss on first down and a run for no gain on second down. The defensive front forced pressure and the secondary added tight coverage to force an incompletion and a three-and-out series. For the third consecutive drive, the Farragut offense was quick to strike, this time Gabe Hensley set himself up for a two yard touchdown after a 55-yard run.
The Admirals extended their lead to 21-7 with 6:07 left in the 1st. The Farragut defense followed up with another three-and-out that gave the Admiral offense the ball back at their own 40. The Admirals, for the fourth consecutive drive, would waste no time getting into the end zone as quarterback Gavin Wilkinson would scramble 24 yards for another Farragut touchdown, putting the Farragut lead at 28-7 to end the 1st.
Fumbles on two consecutive drives by the Bradley Bears gave the Admirals the ball back on the Bradley side of the field. A 36-yard Gavin Wilkinson to Alec Keathley completion gave way to Keathley scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run 3 plays later to give the Admirals a 35-7 lead with 10:08 left in the half. On the ensuing possession, he Bears embarked on a 17-play drive, but the Admirals stepped up to force a turnover on downs inside the 5 yard line.
The next Farragut offensive drive yielded an unusual result for the night and saw the Admiral punt for the first time on the night. Another three-and-out by Bradley and the Admirals wound up wit the ball with :58 left to play before halftime. Unfazed by the time crunch, the Admirals made quick work of the possession as Gavin Wilkinson found Isiah Arrington on a 75-yard touchdown pass. The Admirals lead 42-7 at going into fhalftime.
Set to kickoff to the Bears, Farragut looked to open the half without taking their foot off of the gas. The Admiral kickoff team did just that. Bridges Coffey forced a fumble on the return and Dylan Cosey was there to scoop it up and score from 30 yards out. This put the Admirals ahead 49-7 and gave them insurance on the continuous running clock. Bradley did not lay down, they completed a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the ensuing drive to bring the Farragut lead to 49-13 after a missed XP attempt with 10:36 left to play in the 3rd. The next Farragut drive ended in an interception, but Bradley was unable to convert on 4th down as the 4th quarter began.
After the defensive stand, the Admirals began getting invaluable game experience for the future. Roy Moore’s 56-yard run proved to be the catalyst for the drive.
On the 9th play of the drive, Dawson Moore found Zach Keasling for an 11-yard touchdown pass, which extended the Admiral lead to 56-13 with 5:34 left to play. Bradley Central would find the end zone one more time to put the final score at 56-21.
The Admirals advance to play at Maryville next Friday night in the 2nd round of the 2019 TSSAA Playoffs. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm next Friday.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz and Ashley Wathen 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.
Tweet