Wildcats answer late challenge to outlast Indians
Oak Ridge quarterback Brody Sparks warms up his arm before Friday night’s game against Dobyns-Bennett in Kingsport. Sparks and the Wildcats went on to outlast the Indians 42-38. (photo:Julia Edwards | ORHS Sports Media )
But the Wildcats quickly turned the tide.
With the Indians marching inside the Oak Ridge 27-yard line looking to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Wildcats forced a fumble. Zayden Williams scooped up the loose ball and returned it to the Dobyns-Bennett 22.
Oak Ridge scored a touchdown four plays later and went on to seal its fourth-straight victory of the season, 42-38, at Dobyns-Bennett on Friday, Sept. 11.
The Indians fell to 2-2.
“Well, No. 1, I think defensively we didn’t play our best game, and that’s always big when, you know, sometimes when you don’t play your best game and you can win, I think that’s obviously good,” ORHS Coach Derek Rang said.
“I thought offensively, we played well. Brody Sparks, our quarterback, had a nice game,” he added. “I think he was, you know, 21-of-33 for like 283 yards passing.
“We ran a trick play for a touchdown, which was nice. Lemeire Porter had a 39-yard touchdown pass to Zayden Williams” off a lateral.
Williams caught three touchdown passes.
“Malik Howard was back (from an injury), and he caught a touchdown pass. That was big,” Rang said.
“You know, Malik was kind of a game-time decision as far as can he play or not.
“We’re pretty inexperienced on the offensive line, but, you know, those guys are working hard every week to get better,” the coach added. “And I think it just ... says a lot when you can go up there and get a win like that.
“We had a blocked punt,” Rang said. “They had a bad snap. So we actually had two short fields there in the first half. So special teams ... kind of played a role for us there.
“Their punter kind of dropped the ball and we chased him down and we had a blocked punt. King Sandoval blocked the punt.”
Along with stopping a 2-point conversion attempt, Oak Ridge also blocked an extra point.
