There was no shortage of excitement at Bill Clabo Field on Friday night as the Admirals played host to the South Doyle Cherokees in the semifinal round of the TSSAA Class 5A playoffs. Junior Andrew Williams started the scoring early for the Admirals after a Trey Minix block of a Cherokees’ punt. Following a quick three-and-out on South Doyle’s first possession, the Cherokees lined up to punt from their own 29-yard line. Minix broke through the line of scrimmage and blocked the punt attempt that was recovered in the end zone by Williams. With 10:52 left in the first quarter, it was 7-0 Admirals.
The Cherokees were able to march downfield on a 17-play, 62-yard drive that resulted in a missed field goal attempt from the left hash. The Admirals’ offense took over from their own 20-yard line with just 3:54 left in the first quarter. Leading 7-0, the Admirals were able to march on a 9-play, 80-yard drive capped off by a 22-yard TD pass from QB Adam Fulton to junior TE Jacob Warren. With 17.8 seconds left in the first quarter, the Admirals led 14-0.
South Doyle began the second quarter with the ball at the 20 yard line after a Joe Doyle touchback. The Cherokees drove 80 yards on 4 plays, thanks to a 77-yard screen pass that saw Jack DeVault chase down the South Doyle WR at the 2 yard line. Two QB sneaks later, South Doyle made it a 14-7 with 10:57 left in the second quarter.
After a 32-yard Isaiah Gibbs kickoff return, the Admirals would take over at the 44 yard line, but were unable to capitalize and punted back to the Cherokees. South Doyle picked up one first down, but the Cherokees’ offense would stall and punt the ball back to the Admirals. Jack DeVault’s four-yard punt return would set the Farragut offense up at their own 37-yard line. A 28-yard Braden Collins catch would move the ball to the South Doyle 35-yard line, and after picking up 14 more yards, the Admirals faced fourth down. Joe Doyle was called in to kick a 38-yard field goal that split the uprights, and gave Farragut a 17-7 lead with 5:28 left in the first half.
South Doyle took over at their own 22-yard line and would drive the the Farragut 29, but after a big Cooper Hardin 14-yard sack, the Cherokees were forced to punt the ball back to the Admirals with 1:17 left to go before halftime. After an 8-yard sack put the Admirals behind the chains, they would punt it away to South Doyle with just under 9 seconds left in the half, and send the teams into halftime with the Admirals leading the Cherokees 17-7.
A spirited halftime speech by Coach Eddie Courtney, one in which he reminded his team that 24 minutes stood between them and Cookeville, would rally the troops as the Admirals were to receive the ball after half.
The Cherokees opened the second half with a high, pooch kick to the 26-yard line where Max Travis would call for the fair catch and the Admiral offense would take over with a 17-7 lead. The Admirals used a 7-play, 76 yard touchdown drive lasting just 1:58 on the clock. Cooper Hardin rushed for 64 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown run that gave the Admirals a 24-7 lead with 10:02 left in the third quarter.
A Joe Doyle kick would be fielded by South Doyle at the 3 and returned to the 10-yard line. South Doyle only needed 6 plays to cover 90 yards, capped by a screen pass that would go for 47 yards and the Cherokee touchdown. This made it a 24-14 game with 7:27 left in the third quarter.
From this point forward, it was all Farragut. After another pooch kick, the Admirals started at the 29-yard line. Farragut would pick up three first downs after an Amon Johnson 17-yard run, a 18-yard Adam Fulton to Jaden Gibbs pass, and then a 10-yard Cooper Hardin run. On the next play, Adam Fulton would find WR Jack DeVault for the 26-yard touchdown. Farragut now found themselves leading South Doyle 31-14 with 5:55 left in the third.
After a touchback by Joe Doyle followed by a quick three-and-out, the Admirals would get the ball back on the South Doyle 42-yard line. On the first play of the drive, the Admirals would go for another strike as Adam Fulton found Braden Collins, who then broke two tackles and scampered in for the 42-yard score. Adam would finish the game 11-of-19 passing for 200 yards and 3 TDs. Collins once again led the team in receptions with 5 catches, 112 yards, and a TD. This last score put the Admirals ahead of South Doyle 38-14 with 4:32 left to play in the third quarter.
The Cherokees would take over at their own 32, but would punt the ball away after six plays and pin the Admirals down at their own 10 yard line. Running back Amon Johnson would hear his number called on first down where he picked up 5 yards. Cooper Hardin then was stopped on two, short carries to end the third quarter. Hardin, who finished the night with 145 yards rushing and a TD on 15 carries would give way to RB’s Amon Johnson and Kyle Carter in the final frame.
Joe Doyle would boom a 51-yard punt to begin the fourth quarter, and set the Cherokees’ offense up at their own 34-yard line. The next play, South Doyle would attempt a halfback pass to create some momentum, but instead would find the waiting hands of Griffen Swicegood to give the Admirals’ defense their first interception of the game. Farragut would begin possession at their own 39-yard line.
An 8-play Farragut drive saw Hardin rush four times for 44 yards, Johnson once for five yards, and capped off by Kyle Carter’ s six-yard TD run. Carter, who got his first varsity action Friday after sitting out the majority of the season as a transfer, took his first varsity carry as an Admiral into the end zone to extend the Farragut lead to 45-14 with 9:14 left in the game.
The ensuing kickoff was returned out to the 32-yard line of South Doyle. Max Travis’ interception and 31-yard return would end a 10-play, 43-yard drive, and give the Admirals the ball back with 4:37 left between them and a trip to play for a state title. The Admirals would rush 7 times and run out the remainder of the clock to begin the celebration at Bill Clabo Field. The Admirals will play next week in the school’s first trip to a state championship game since it began playing football in 1947.
The Admirals will play Independence next Friday night at 8:00 EST/ 7:00 local time at Tucker Stadium on the campus of Tennessee Tech University. The Eagles are the defending Class 5A champions and carry a 29-game win streak into the game. Independence narrowly defeated the Brentwood Bruins 27-24 on Friday at Brentwood. The Eagles also escaped with a 49-46 win over Cane Ridge in the quarterfinals. The Admiral Nation is expected to invade Cookeville next Friday night to cheer on the Admirals as they continue their quest for the school’s first football state championship.
Coach Courtney gets the Gatorade bath! @FarragutFB going to state for first time ever.
HIGHLIGHTS/REACTION: https://t.co/rH34KTzIuG pic.twitter.com/vZrtvfuwNU— WBIR Sports (@WBIRSports) November 26, 2016
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz 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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