Oak Ridge will host Rhea County in first round of playoffs
Wildcats Jason Coats wrangles Campbell County quarterback Landen Henley as the Cougar signal caller tries to escape the Oak Ridge pass rush.
The Wildcats have battled injuries and more than their share of adversity.
But they’ve persevere, and last Friday night, they reached their season-long goal.
Oak Ridge made a trip to Jacksboro to close out the regular season and walked out of Campbell County with a 41-6 Region 3-5A win.
It was arguably the Wildcats’ best performance of the campaign and it brought them a huge reward, according to first-year Coach Scott Cummings.
“It was our goal all season to get a home game in the playoffs,” Cummings said. “That’s big for us and it’s big for our community and it’s big for our fans.
“It will be special for this group of seniors to walk down those steps at least one more time.”
And so it will be as Oak Ridge (5-5 overall, 4-1 in Region 3-5A) claimed the No. 2 seed from the region and earned the right to host Rhea County, the No. 3 seed from Region 4-5A.
The Golden Eagles, coached by former Rockwood and Knoxville Catholic High School head Coach Mark Pemberton, qualified for the 2022 postseason despite a disappointing season by their high standards.
Rhea County went 2-8 this season, with its only wins coming over region foes Ooltewah on Sept. 16 and Chattanooga Howard on Oct. 14.
The Golden Eagles shut out the Owls 28-0 and routed the Hustlin’ Tigers 45-7.
Rhea County squandered a lead against Anderson County and dropped a 41-38 decision to the Mavericks on Sept. 9. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 35-0 loss to Coffee County in their regular-season finale Friday night.
This week’s meeting will mark the 11th showdown between the Wildcats and Rhea County. Oak Ridge has won 10 of the previous meetings. with the Golden Eagles’ only win coming in the 2014 Class 5A Playoffs.