Thursday night was a special night at Bill Clabo Field, not only did the Admirals have their 2017 home opener and debut a new scoreboard, they also remembered five members of the Admiral family that were lost over the past offseason.  Coach Ken Sparks, Coach Lendon Welch, Teacher Charlotte Welch, Longtime Statistician Shannon Gossage, and Coach Buddy Fisher, who all played vital roles in Farragut Football’s history, were honored before kickoff on the new Jumbotron.

On the gridiron, the Admirals found themselves in unfamiliar territory by opening the game with the ball and punting, as opposed to scoring on the first drive of the game as they did at McMinn and Bradley.  Luckily, the Admiral defense locked in and forced a Morristown West punt on the ensuing drive, setting up Farragut with the ball at their own 19 yard line.

First time starter at QB Gavin Wilkinson, a sophomore, found Jacob Warren for a 28-yard pass reception, that setup a 51-yard touchdown pass from Wilkinson to Andrew Williams two plays later.  This put the Admirals on the board 6-0 with 5:59 left in the first quarter.  The Admiral defense stayed strong on the next drive, forcing a 3-and-out to set up the Admirals offense up at their own 45  yard line following the Trojans’ punt.

A 39-yard pass from Wilkinson to Tanner Corum, paved the way for a 2-yard Isaiah Gibbs touchdown run. The Admiral defense would again force a 3-and-out for the Trojans, and a 46-yard punt return by Isaiah Gibbs would give the ball to the Admiral offense on the 20 yard line going in.  First down would see a four yard loss on a sack, but a facemark penalty would replay the first down play.

Isaiah Gibbs carried for 5 yards.  Then, on second down, Wilkinson would find WR Jaden Gibbs for his first touchdown catch of the year.  At the end of the first quarter, the Admirals led 20-0.

The Trojan offense would find some life of its own, marching 80 yards on 11 plays, to punch it in from the 2-yard line on 4th down.  The Admiral offense found themselves way behind the sticks due to a 14-yard loss on a bad snap.  Farragut would punt the ball away, and Mo-West would take over on their 47 yard line.

The Trojan drive would stall out, but left room for a 43-yard successful field goal try.  With  just two minutes left before halftime, the Admirals got into hurry-up mode to try and score before the horn sounded.  Unfortunately the drive stalled in the red zone, and the Admirals couldn’t connect on a 28-yard FG attempt.  At half, Farragut led 20-10.

The second half proved to be all Farragut though, the defense set the tone early as it forced an interception on a tipped ball, as Isaiah Gibbs was able to catch the deflection and give the ball back to the Admirals.   Farragut would throw an interception of their own, but following a Trojan stop on 4th down, the Admirals would cash in on their ensuing drive.  It was the second touchdown connection from Wilkinson to Andrew Williams, this time for a 39-yard score.

At the end of the third quarter, the Admirals led Mo-West 27-10.  The defense again showed their grit, as they forced a turnover on downs, as the Trojans could not convert on a fourth-and-one.  The Admirals would then embark on a 9-play drive that saw them get into the end zone on three separate occasions.  The first being a 64-yard TD run by Isaiah Gibbs, only to be negated by a holding penalty.

The next was a 60-yard TD pass from Wilkinson to Jacob Warren, but this time a block in the back behind the play wiped the score off the board.  The third time was a charm though, as a broken-play off a bad snap found QB Gavin Wilkinson scrambling around to eventually find Wyatt Lucas for the 28-yard TD catch.  This made the final score 33-10 in favor of the Admirals.  Farragut improves to 3-0 overall, earning their first region 1-6A win of the season.

Farragut will play host next Friday, as the Oak Ridge Wildcats come to Bill Clabo Field.  The Admirals will look to avenge a loss a year ago to the Wildcats, the only blemish on state championship run of 2016.

A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz and Ashley Wathen of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to checkout CRFOTO.com every week for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.

OFFICIAL GAME STATS

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The last two years have brought many new upgrades to Bill Clabo Field and the surrounding facility, including a new track and the new artificial turf football field, both thanks to the generosity of the Haslam Family and Pilot Flying J, with the help of Mark Packer.  This year, the Farragut Football Booster Club and Coach Courtney set out to bring closure to a project that has been ongoing for nearly 5 years, bringing a new scoreboard and Jumbotron to our stadium.  When presented with the task from Coach Courtney, the football booster club, combated it head on.  Seeking bids from all the major players in the scoreboard  market, and working tirelessly to make it happen for the 2017 football season.

When the dust settled, Electro-Mech won the final bid, and then the real work began.  From choosing the resolution of the screen, to decorating the top arch, and choosing the color of the scoreboard itself, there was a lot of work to do in a short period of time.  Work began on August 22nd, digging four footers, 13-feet deep and 3-feet wide, for the new structure.  Two 48-foot and two 50-foot I-beams were lifted into position with each pole weighing in at over two tons.  After the poles were set, the concrete was left to settle and cure for 5 days.  In the meantime, work began to dismantle the existing scoreboard and structure.  On Saturday, August 26th, the scoreboard was removed, and the structure that stood for nearly 20 years was dismantled.  After the concrete and I-beams were settled, work quickly began on Monday, August 28th to construct the new scoreboard.  By sundown the new scoreboard and bottom advertising panel was assembled and welded to the structure.  With time running out, and 48 hours before kickoff for the 2017 home opener, crews finally assembled the video board on Tuesday evening.  On Wednesday, August 30th, crews completed the structure with the two ad panels that flank the video board, and topping it off with an illuminated Farragut Admirals arch.  Work quickly turned to connecting the scoreboard, video board, and play clocks to electricity, as well as connecting and provisioning the new scoreboard. Finally, after months of hard work by the football booster club, Coach Courtney, and Lee Ann Kelly of Electro-Mech, as well as gracious donations from our supporters and sponsors, the video board came alive on Wednesday, August 30th!

Here is a gallery of the video board:

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Take a look back at the history of the Farragut Football scoreboards:

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The Admirals got off to a quick start defensively, as Isaiah Gibbs returned a fumble 43 yards for the Admirals touchdown on the Cherokee’s first offensive play of the night.  The Admirals and Cherokees would both then trade series, forcing punts, before a Farragut fumble set up the Cherokees with the ball at the Farragut 12 yard line.

Five plays later, McMinn County would punch it in, but a blocked XP try by Wyatt Lucas kept Farragut ahead 7-6 with :51 left in the 1st quarter.

The Admirals wasted little time answering, as Gavin Wilkinson found Jacob Warren three plays later on a 75-yard TD pass.

The Admirals and Cherokees would then trade series until the Admirals were able to put together a potent two-minute drive as the 2nd quarter wained. Unfortunately, the 64 yard play drive would end at the Cherokee 12 yard line after a Farragut interception. McMinn would kneel the ball and head to halftime trailing Farragut 14-6.

The Admiral defense opened the half with what would have been a 3-and-out, but a running into the kicker penalty on a McMinn punt put the Admiral defense back on the field.  The defense was able to force another McMinn punt five plays later.  The Admiral offense wasted no time, as it only needed one play to find the end zone, on a 74-yard Kyle Carter run to extend the lead to 21-6 in favor of the Admirals.

The Cherokees did not give in though, instead answering with a 10-play touchdown drive, that also saw them convert a 2-pt conversion to cut the Admiral lead to 7 with 1:29 left in the 3rd.

Farragut’s ensuing drive spanned into the 4th quarter.  The Admirals moved in 7 plays for 55 yards, and was capped off by a 2-yard Kyle Carter touchdown run.  But, a missed extra point made the Farragut lead 27-14 with 11:35 left to play.

McMinn’s next drive started off promising, but stalled as the Cherokees failed to convert on a 4th and 5.  Again, the Admirals only needed one play to score, as Kyle Carter ran 55 yards for a touchdown to make the final score 34-14.

The Admirals improve to 2-0 and will have their first home game of the season, as they take on Morristown-West.  The game is on Thursday night, as it it being televised by Rivalry Thursday, and kickoff is set for 7:00pm at Bill Clabo Field.

A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz and Ashley Wathen of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to checkout CRFOTO.com every week for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.

OFFICIAL GAME STATS

**Click to Enlarge**