Wildcats withstand lightning delay to take decisive road win
Almani Rembert had a nice touchdown run against South-Doyle Friday night. He’s pic- tured here breaking off a gain in the 5 Star Preps Jamboree. (photo:Ken Leinart )
The Wildcats had to withstand a lengthy lightning delay and made things difficult for themselves as they committed 20 penalties.
But Oak Ridge nabbed a 46-20 victory over South-Doyle in South Knoxville at Billy K. Nicely Memorial Stadium.
New Coach Scott Cummings won his first game as the Wildcats’ coach and Oak Ridge avenged last season’s loss to the Cherokees.
The Wildcats posted a dominant performance, as the final score would indicate. The new coach, however, was far from pleased with his squad, which accumulated 185 yards in penalties.
“It feels great to get the first win at Oak Ridge,” said Cummings, who replaced Joe Gaddis as ORHS coach in January after stints at Knoxville’s West High School, Cleveland and Knoxville Halls. “I know what the OR means.
“But we’ve got to clean things up and we have to be more disciplined.”
Oak Ridge’s defense came up large against the Cherokees, who also have a new coach in Paul Shelton. The Wildcats forced five turnovers and turned the game in their favor early on special teams when they recovered a muffed punt at the South-Doyle 10-yard line.
The Cherokees’ miscue led to the game’s first touchdown when Peyton Sharpe threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Rogers. A two-point conversion followed to give Oak Ridge an 8-0 lead with 7 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
A short time later, lightning was in the area and the game was halted for nearly two hours.
When the teams returned, the Wildcats quickly seized control of the contest.
David Wilson added a 24-yard field goal late in the opening frame to give the Wildcats an 11-0 lead before Oak Ridge erupted for 35 points in the second stanza.
Sharpe opened the scoring in the second quarter when he threw a short 8-yard scoring pass to Brandon Heyward.
De’Jauvis Jordan then had a pair of scoring scampers. His first was a 44-yard dash and his second touchdown came from nine yards out.
Almani Rembert also had a touchdown run, and Sharpe, who finished with 47 passing yards and three touchdowns, found VaShawn Nalls from six yards out to make the score 46-0.
Defensively, Rogers had three interceptions, all before halftime.
The Cherokees scored late in the first half when Nolan Brang threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Marquell Patterson. Brang also had a pair of touchdown tosses to T.J. Tipton after halftime when the game was played with a running clock.
Next up for the Wildcats is a date with the Bearden Bulldogs Friday at 7 p.m. at Bill Young Field in West Knoxville.
Bearden dropped its season opener to West, 27-7, at Bill Wilson Field Saturday.