Slow start dooms Wildcats in 28-13 loss
Oak Ridge’s Damillyan Porter scored on 5-yard and 21-yard runs during Friday night’s clash with the Farragut Admirals. (photo:Tony Cox )
This time, however, the Wildcats couldn’t stage a second-half comeback.
Oak Ridge spotted Farragut 28 points before halftime and never recovered, falling 28-13 to the Admirals on Friday night at Blankenship Field.
The loss snapped the Wildcats’ four-game winning streak and spoiled Senior Night.
Farragut (2-5), which won its second-straight game, started strong.
Ethan Farhat returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, and Ryan McCue’s extra point gave the Admirals a 7-0 lead at 11 minutes, 44 seconds in the first quarter.
It didn’t take long for Farragut’s offense to strike again.
Quarterback Corbin Hobson connected with Landon Collins on a 75-yard touchdown pass with 6:37 left in the opening quarter. McCue’s extra point extended the Admirals’ lead to 14-0.
Farragut added two more touchdowns in the second quarter. Randon Miller scored on a three-yard run, and Charlie Noble added a 29-yard touchdown run.
The Admirals nearly scored again, but time expired after they drove deep into Oak Ridge territory.
Oak Ridge Coach Derek Rang acknowledged that the slow starts are becoming a concerning trend.
“For whatever reason, we’re not starting games with a lot of energy,” Rang said. “We got behind 28-0, and this team is not really built to come back from 28 points down.
“In the first half, we just couldn’t get any rhythm offensively. In the second half, we played a little bit better.”
This marked the second-consecutive game in which the Wildcats (4-3) faced a double-digit halftime deficit. They trailed Knox Central 17-7 at halftime Oct. 4 but rallied to win in the third quarter.
Oak Ridge attempted a comeback against Farragut, but it was too little, too late. The Admirals held the Wildcats to just 63 yards of total offense in the first half.
The Wildcats finally got on the board with 24.7 seconds left in the third quarter on Damillyan Porter’s five-yard touchdown run. Eli Pearson added the extra point, making it 28-7.
Riding that momentum, Oak Ridge successfully executed an onside kick, which was recovered by Dallas Frendt.
“Eli Pearson is a great kicker, and we’re on this turf practicing and working on onside kicks, so it felt great to come up with that one,” Frendt said.
Oak Ridge capitalized on the opportunity, scoring its second touchdown on a 21-yard run by Porter, who finished with 21 carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Next up for the Wildcats: Oak Ridge heads to West Knoxville to face Bearden in its final non-region game of the 2024 season. The Bulldogs (4-3) are coming off a 35-19 Region 2-6A win at Cleveland last week.