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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Before Friday, it had been over 30 years since the Admirals hosted a a quarterfinal matchup.  It had also been 21 years since the Admirals last reached the state semifinals, and at halftime it looked as if it would be another year added to that total.  Ooltewah got out to a fast start, leading the Admirals 21-0 with 10:28 left in the first half, after two early interceptions led directly to 14 points for the Owls. While the Admiral’s  Griffen Swicegood was able to intercept the Owls in the first quarter, Farragut was unable to score. That changed  when senior quarterback Adam Fulton found Braden Collins for a 15 yard TD pass that made the score 21-7 with 8:14 left in the second quarter.

The Owls scored 5 plays later via a 63-yard TD run by Owls’ sophomore RB Sincere Quinn, but Farragut answered as Adam Fulton showed great pocket presence and found Braden Collins again in the end zone, this time for 7 yards, which cut the Owls’ lead to 28-14 with 4:26 left in the first half.

After forcing an Ooltewah punt from the Farragut 43 yard line, a penalty kept the Owl drive alive and moved the ball to the Farragut 28 yard line, where the Owls would score five plays later, to push the Owls’ lead to 35-14.  The Admirals’ offense would drive down the field, but a last-second, 47-yard FG attempt by Joe Doyle was just short.

The Admirals received the ball to begin the second half, but were unable to convert on 4th-and-1, turning the ball over on downs. The Owls would take over at the Farragut 40-yard line and throw a TD pass to extend their lead 42-14 with 9:08 left in the third quarter. While a 28-point comeback with just a quarter and a half left was improbable, but not impossible, the Admirals dug in.

Adam Fulton found Braden Collins for a 35-yard TD pass for the third time of the night, which tied the school record for most TD receptions, a feat Collins had already accomplished against Campbell County earlier this season. The touchdown and Joe Doyle extra point made the score 42-21 with just under 8 minutes left in the third quarter. After a pair of Ooltewah punts and a Joe Doyle punt, the Admirals found themselves down 21 points with 1:31 left in third quarter. After a 54-yard Cooper Hardin run, Adam Fulton again found Braden Collins for a 20-yard Farragut TD for his fourth score of the night.

After an Ooltewah three-and-out, the Admirals found themselves with the ball their own 34-yard line with just over 10 minutes left in the game down 42-28. After a punishing 52-yard Cooper Hardin run, tailback Amon Johnson punched it in from five yards out to make it a 7-point game with 9:12 left.  After a long Ooltewah drive stalled out, the Owls would punt and down the ball at the 4 yard line, leaving the Admirals 96 yards away from the end zone.  Adam Fulton would march the Admirals’ offense down the field,  completing 7 of 8 passes for 80 yards on the drive, culminating in an 8-yard TD reception by TE Jacob Warren, Fulton’s fifth TD pass of the game.  Joe Doyle’s extra point would tie the game at 42-all with 1:08 left to play.  A 28-yard kickoff return by Ooltewah gave them the ball at the 47.  The Owls were able to drive the ball downfield and setup their kicker for a game-winning, 28-yard FG try with :02 left on the clock, but the kick was wide right as time expired. The game was headed for overtime.

The Admirals won the coin toss and elected to play on defense first. With the ball placed on the 10 yard line, the Owls would work their way down to the 2 yard line. This brought up 4th-and-2 where the Owls would punch it in and take a 49-42 lead.  The Admirals would also get the ball on the 10 yard line, where it would take Cooper Hardin just two carries to punch it in the end zone. With the score tied at 49, a second OT would be needed.

After a roughing the kicker penalty in the previous OT, the ball would be spotted at the 5-yard line and the Admirals would take over 1st-and-goal. This time Cooper Hardin would only need one carry to get into the end zone to give the Admirals their first lead of the game 56-49.  Ooltewah took over at the 10 yard line, but quickly found themselves 4th-and-2 from the 2, needing to get in the end zone to force another overtime period.  This time, the Owls chose to run up the middle, but Farragut’s Devin Yarborough met the Owl RB at the 1, stopped his momentum and then was joined by other Admirals to drive the RB backwards and deny the touchdown.  This completed the 28-point comeback the Admirals needed to advance to the state semi-finals for the first time since 1995.  Quarterback Adam Fulton ended the game 22-of-35 passing for 294 yards, 5 TDs and 2 INTs. Running back Cooper Hardin carried 23 times for 168 yards and 2 TDs, while Amon Johnson carried the ball twice and found the end zone once. WR Braden Collins had 13 catches for 191 yards and 4 TDs, and 2 rushes for 70 yards.

This game saw several school records broken or tied  for Farragut:

• Most XPs Made in a Season–60 Joe Doyle

• Most Receptions in a Game–13 Braden Collins

• Most TD Receptions in a Game–4 Braden Collins

• Most TD Receptions in a Season–13 Braden Collins

• Most Passing TDs in a Game– 5 Adam Fulton (tied)

• Most Passing Yards in a Season–2,733 Adam Fulton

The Admirals will host the state semi-final game on November 25th against South Doyle. 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

**Click to Enlarge**

With his team up four points with just under seven minutes to play, Farragut coach Eddie Courtney elected to keep the field-goal unit on the sideline and go for a touchdown with the ball on Rhea County’s 2-yard line.

His aggressiveness paid off.

The touchdown by Cooper Hardin stretched the Admirals’ lead to 11 before the host Eagles knocked it down to a 33-30 final score. The win advanced Farragut to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state playoffs and a visit from Ooltewah next week.

“We felt like we needed to be aggressive there because we didn’t want to kickoff to them with it being a seven-point game,” Courtney said.

“We felt comfortable with our line getting the push, because they were in my ear wanting to go for it.”

“That was the biggest play of the year and probably my career,” Hardin said about his 2-yard touchdown run. “Plays like that are all about execution, and we did it perfectly.”

Both teams’ play reflected their records and the playoff atmosphere in a first half that included four lead changes. The Eagles (9-3) had the grasp on the lead at the break, but the Admirals (11-1) struck first out of it.

Six quick plays netted Farragut a four-point lead after an Adam Fulton pass to Jack Devault. That lead held until the fourth quarter, when the teams took turns trading the advantage once again.

First, it was Rhea County and running back Mason Stephenson who took the lead early in the fourth on a 12-yard run to the outside.

Minutes later, Farragut quarterback Fulton found sophomore Jaden Gibbs downfield for a 46-yard reception that led to a scoring run by Hardin a play later.

After turning the Eagles over on downs for the third time, Farragut marched down to score on the 2-yard fourth-down play that essentially sealed the win.

“I told Coach (Mark) Pemberton that this truly should’ve been a game played in the semifinals,” Courtney said.

“I’m excited for our guys: We came down to a real tough and great place to play where everybody loves football and earned a big win.”

There was a penalty called on nearly every drive of the game, with most of them being on the Eagles — many stalling key drives.

“I guess this was a night where we made too many mistakes to win,” Pemberton said. “I’ll have to go and look at the film on whether some of the penalties were the right call, but that’s honestly not the reason we lost. We lost because we didn’t play well enough.

Continue Reading Article

John Mitchell, Chattanooga Times Free Press
Contact John Mitchell at sports@timesfreepress.com

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

**Click to Enlarge**