Farragut advanced to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs with a 17-7 victory over McMinn County.  The win is the 27th in a row at home for Farragut and moves the Admirals to 11-1 on the season. Farragut makes an appearance in the quarterfinals for the fourth straight year, this year traveling to Ooltewah, where the Admirals suffered their only loss of the season thus far.

Getting here was not that easy.  McMinn County came in expecting to upset the Admirals, and it wasn't until late in the fourth quarter that Farragut was able to put the game away. Farragut struck first on a quarterback sneak by Reese Browning to take a 7-0 lead.  That was pretty much it until just before halftime, when McMinn County ended up with great field position and converted it to a touchdown, deadlocking the game 7-7 at the halfway mark.

In the second half, the Admirals struggled to put it together, as two red zone opportunities resulted in only a field goal. Midway through the third quarter the Admirals led 10-7, as neither team could do much on offense.  Farragut was controlling the pace of the game, but the Cherokees were one play away from taking the lead.  That where the defense stepped up.

When Farragut needed it, they got big plays from Terry Wheatley and Brooks Harper.  Wheatley recorded a 16-yard sack of the McMinn quarterback to stop a Cherokee drive and Harper made some big tackles at key points in the second half.  In the end the Admirals prevailed 17-7.  Click here for video highlights of the game.

Farragut faces Ooltewah in the quarterfinal round for the second time in three years.  In 2006, Farragut traveled to Ooltewah and was eliminated from the playoffs [video | recap] by the Owls 42-14.  Including that loss, the Admirals are 1-3 in their last four games with Ooltewah, with the win [video] coming at home last year 44-41 in the regular season.

Kickoff will be at 7:00 PM at Ooltewah High School, and the game can be heard LIVE on WFIV 105.3 FM locally and over the Internet from this web site.  WFIV will also be doing a stadium-cast at the game for fans in the stands who want to listen to the radio broadcast.  Since this is a road game, there will not be a delayed broadcast of the game against Ooltewah.