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Cole Strange Selected 29th Overall by Patriots

Foxboro, MA – April 29: The New England Patriots Robert Kraft and son Jonathan Kraft introduce their first round draft choice Cole Strange at Gillette Stadium on April 29, 2022 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

The New England Patriots, winners of seven Super Bowl titles, made a dream a reality on Thursday, April 28th for Cole Strange. The Patriots and Bill Belichick selected the class of 2016 Admiral as their top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Cole has ascended up the draft radar this spring after his composition of work at the Reese’s Senior Bowl and NFL Draft Combine. A projected 2nd-to-3rd round pick, the Patriots surprised most “experts” when they selected Strange 29th overall in the 1st round Thursday night.

“He would not still be around much longer”, said coach Bill Belichick at the Patriots’ media presser following their pick Thursday night.

Coach Belichick went on to add that Strange was “pretty athletic guy with good size, smart, so he does a lot of things well … a lot of good tools to work with.”

It’s hard to argue with the seven-time Super Bowl winning coach in what we’ve known about Cole Strange for a while now.

Following a stellar career at UT-Chattanooga where he started 44 games on the offensive line, Cole proved to be a relentless worker, intelligent, and physical player that embodies the “Team” aspect over individual accolades. The accolades still continued to reign in for Cole each year at UTC. Following an All-State career at Farragut in 2016, Cole was named 1st-Team Freshmen All-American, twice named All-American, All-SoCon three times, and twice the recipient of the Jacobs Blocking Award given to the top Offensive Linemen in the SoCon. He was also a member of the Honor Roll and All-SoCon Academic Team each year.

Cole Strange is seen on billboard near downtown Chattanooga. Photo credit Jack Tate on Twitter, @coachtatefhs20

Cole is the sixth Admiral to sign an NFL contract but the first to be drafted in the NFL Draft. Neil Clabo (1975 Vikings), Bill Bates (1983 Cowboys), Tyson Clabo (2004 Broncos), Nick Reveiz (2011 Buccaneers), and current Pittsburgh Steeler Nate Gilliam (2020 Chargers) all went undrafted. Cole is the first player from Knoxville to be drafted in the 1st Round of the NFL Draft since Harrison Smith in 2012.

You can revisit the moment that Cole was drafted here by courtesy of the Patriots team website.

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Spring Practice Starts April 27th

The 2022 version of the Farragut Admirals will begin Spring practice on Wednesday, April 27th. This will be the first time that the Admirals will have the opportunity to prove themselves for the upcoming season. The 2022 Admirals will return a solid corp of returning players who earned significant roles last season. This year’s squad returns 26 Seniors along with 33 Juniors and an exciting group of rising sophomores that steadily improved last season. There are still some giant holes to fill with the graduation of All-Region performers like Trace Corum, Dawson Moore, and Corey Walker. The Admirals have been very busy in the weight room during the strength training and conditioning phase. Many players have significantly improved in their strength and agility measures this semester and are eager to transition to the gridiron. There will be plenty of competition to go around through 10 practices as the Admirals will conclude Spring practice in a scrimmage with the Central Bobcats on Tuesday, May 17th at Central. The Admirals will hold five practices before hosting the annual Blue-Grey Game on Friday, May 6th at Bill Clabo Field. Check the schedule below for all the dates for spring practice and plan to be at the Blue-Grey Game on May 6th.

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Admirals Name 8 to All-Region Team

Though the season was full of ups and downs, the 2021 Farragut Admirals Football team finished the season with a quarterfinals berth in the TSSAA 6A Playoffs, quite the feat as a 4-seed. Individually the Admirals were honored to have 8 players named to the Region 2-6A All-Region Team.

Best 2-Way Lineman: Corey Walker

Corey finished the 2021 campaign as the heart and soul of both the offensive and defensive lines. Corey played both ways in all 13 games, something that had not been done for the Admirals in a very long time. He finished the season with 74 total tackles and was 2nd on the team in TFLs with 10

Best Kick/Punter: Reese Keeney

Keeney’s junior campaign was the next in a long tradition of skilled kickers and punters for the Admirals. Reese finished the season with a 40 yard punting avg. and a long punt of 60 yards. He also converted on all but one extra-point attempt and had a long FG make of 43-yards. Nearly half of his kickoffs reached the endzone for touchbacks.

All-Region: WR Trace Corum

Trace leaves Farragut as one of the most accomplished receivers in school history. He set multiple receiving records in 2021. Corum now holds the single-season record receptions(78). He also set the single-game record for receiving yards with 234 against West in Week 2. He ended the season with 1,127 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns.

All-Region: QB Dawson Moore

A two-year starter for the Admirals, Dawson had a record-setting senior year. He finished the season with 2,181 passing yards with 184 completions on 274 attempts and 21 passing TDs. Moore also tallied 7 rushing TDs and was the team’s 3rd leading rusher. He set the Admirals career passing touchdown record with 49 and ranks 4th all-time in passing yards with over 4200 yards.

All-Region: LB Jerome Brekken

Jerome played an integral part on the defensive side of the ball for the 2021 Admirals. He finished the season with 69 total tackles. Brekken forced a team-high 2 fumbles while recovering 2 other fumbles. He returned a blocked punt against Hardin Valley 21 yards for a touchdown.

All-Region: LB Jay Smiley

In his first year as a starter for the Farragut defense, Smiley made a quick and lasting impact, he recovered a fumble in his first start at Beech in Week 1. Jay finished the season with 67 total tackles including 4 minus-yard tackles. He was one of three Admirals Juniors to make the Region 2-6A All-Region Team.

All-Region: CB John Duncan

John was a leader in the defensive backfield for the 2021 Admirals. He recorded 40 tackles on the 2021 campaign with 2 fumble recoveries and returned those two fumbles for a total of 27 yards. Duncan led the team with 3 interceptions and 7 passes broken up overall on the season. He was one of three Admirals Juniors to make the Region 2-6A All-Region Team.

All-Region: RB Schumman Xie

While his senior campaign was plagued with injury, Xie still made the best of his opportunities. He led the 2021 Admirals in rushing yards with 629. Schumman led all RBs with 136 carries and also led in touchdowns with 5. He also recorded 13 pass receptions and 118 receiving yards,

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Ads Fall to Maryville 28-21

November 18, 2021, by Alan Sloan
https://www.farragutpress.com/articles/2021/11/11288

For a Farragut offense that scored 21 points on mighty, unbeaten Maryville — without a turnover — perhaps senior guard Corey Walker best represented the Admiral spirit in a near major upset of the Red Rebels.

“The umpire came to me tonight, in the fourth quarter, and said, ‘Your No. 75 (Walker) hit one of their players the hardest I’ve seen in 10 years,’” said FHS head coach Eddie Courtney, whose team lost 28-21 in the TSSAA Class 6A state quarterfinals at MHS Friday night, Nov. 19. Farragut’s season ends with a 6-7 record. 

At 6-foot, 290 pounds, Walker also was a standout defensive tackle. “We haven’t had a guy at our school for a lot of years who has played that many snaps on both sides of the ball and been that effective,” Courtney said.

“We wanted it so much,” Walker said. “… The last four games, we had to pick it up, we had to get better.” 

As for other top efforts, especially seniors, “Of course, Dawson (Moore’s) leadership at quarterback,” the coach said. “He’s tough; he’s taken a lot of hits the last few weeks and he keeps bouncing back.”

Moore was 23-of-29 passing for 180 yards and two TDs. 

Led by senior Trace Corum (among the school’s all-time single-season leaders in receptions with 76 for 1,131 yards and 14 TDs), but with lots of help from senior Zach Keasling and sophomore Landis Davila (9-yard TD catch Friday) among others, “Our receiving corps just made a lot of improvement,” Courtney said.

Corum had six grabs for 38 yards, including a 1-yard scoring catch, Friday. 

“I think we came out and gave great effort,” he said. “We had about three drives that lasted five minutes or more.” 

“We incorporated new routes and we blocked well in the run game, so altogether we played a good game,” said Keasling (six catches for 47 yards. “We finished strong.” 

“And the run game, too,” Courtney said, which was led by senior Schumann Xie (622 season yards, 4.6 per carry) and junior Elijah Gibbs (572 for 2021, 4.7 per carry). Gibbs scored from 2 yards out late. 

“He had some tough runs,” Courtney said of Gibbs, who also had six catches (45 yards).  

“The offensive line made a lot of improvement the last five weeks,” he added, also led by seniors Aiden Smith and Dennis Longmire. 

Holding MHS (13-0) to only 306 total yards, “We knew it was going to be a hard game, but we knew we were going to scratch and claw to do whatever we could to get as close as possible to win,” senior defensive back/linebacker Jerome Brekken said. “… I’m proud of our team’s effort, I’m proud of how close we came.” 

In addition to recovering a fumble, sophomore linebacker Jack Alley, along with senior safety Sam Moses, led the Ads in solo stops with six each, including Moses’ minus-11 sack.

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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Farragut Beats Bradley in Rematch, 27-24

November 18, 2021 by Alan Sloan

https://www.farragutpress.com/articles/2021/11/11268

CLEVELAND — From snakebitten to clutch, with some recent sweet revenge included, is the new status of Farragut High School football’s late-season/postseason run.

Earning a playoff berth on the game’s final play versus Bearden, then gambling and winning on the game’s final play on the road at Science Hill, Farragut sought revenge against the team that walked off FHS’s Bill Clabo Field victorious on the game’s final play four weeks earlier (Bradley Central).

The rematch was in round two of the Class 6A playoffs.

This game against the No. 2 seeded Bears, at BCHS Friday night, Nov. 12, saw Farragut’s offense outgain Bradley 404-versus-307 (and run 64 plays versus the Bears’ 42) thanks in large part to an improved defense versus four weeks ago, plus the dynamics of senior quarterback Dawson Moore, who missed the entire second half of the regular season meeting. 

“It just seems like the last half of the season he’s just turned his game up from the standpoint of just being physical as a runner and hanging in the pocket and making the accurate passes,” Admirals skipper Eddie Courtney said about Moore helping FHS get revenge with a 27-24 victory.

However, “We didn’t really talk about (revenge); what we talked about was moving on in the playoffs,” Courtney added. 

“These last three games our kids have had to play four quarters. They know how to finish now.” 

Passing for 274 yards (17-of-28) and two touchdowns with no interceptions, while rushing 23 times for 115 yards (a 3-yard scoring run to put the Ads ahead for good in the third quarter), Moore and Company used a time-killing 6:30 march to end the game by reaching the Bears’ red zone. 

Clinging to the 27-24 lead, Farragut ran out the clock to seal victory after a fourth-down Moore pass to Landis Davila for a first down. 

“He’s certainly leading our football team right now,” Courtney said of Moore. 

Davila (five catches, 108 yards that included a –yard score joined senior receiver Trace Corum, whose single-season program receiving record (70) was improved with six catches for 124 yards, which included a 42-yard TD catch.

“They really picked it up on both sides of the formation,” Moore said of Corum and Davila. 

The Ads defense did a much better job of slowing down Bears running back Jackson Wilson and quarterback Aiden McClary — despite giving up three big scoring plays, This was most evident early in the fourth quarter, as Bradley marched into the FHS red zone down 27-21. 

Courtney spoke about “getting a really good push on both sides of the ball” as being a key. 

“… In the trenches we were a little more physical in the second half,” he added. 

But led by sophomore linebacker Jack Alley’s 12 tackles (six solo), Farragut dug in and stopped the host team, giving up only a field goal and keeping the lead.

Moore and Company did the rest.

Other top defenders in Navy blue and silver were senior linebacker Brice Fontenot (10 total stops, five sole including a sack), Jay Smiley with 10 (three solo) and Sam Moses seven (five solo).

With junior kicker Reese Keeney out of the line-up, senior Simeon Sharp stepped in flawlessly and booted a pair of 25-yard field goals along with going three-of-three on extra points. He also filled in for Keeney punting-wise. 

Advancing to the 6A state quarterfinals, the Admirals (6-6) travel to No. 2-state-ranked and unbeaten Maryville (12-0), with the opening kickoff at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 19. Bradley’s season ends at 9-3.

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.