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Preseason Over, Game Week Here for 2022 Admirals

The Admirals are days away from opening the 2022 season at home against Beech High School. The summer and preseason were packed full of football activities including 7v7s, fall camp, and three scrimmages.

Fall camp started in late July and the first week was capped off with a scrimmage against the Cookeville Cavaliers at home, and the annual fall scrimmage for the Admirals. The second week saw Farragut take on the defending state champion in the Powell Panthers at their place. The final scrimmage of fall camp took place at Walker Valley 8 days before the first game. The final dress rehearsal took place at the annual KOC High School Football Jamboree. In the jamboree, the Ads took on the Karns Beavers in a one-quarter battle, winning 7-0.

Now the time has come when the Ads will put to test their offseason and preseason work in Week One of the season. The Admirals will host to face the Beech Buccaneers, who they met for the first time in 2022. Beech is coming off a 9-4 season in 2021 and a quarterfinal run in the playoffs.

Week Two will see the Admirals travel for the first of a three-game roadshow. Farragut will travel to Knox West, a very familiar and perennial foe for the Admirals, with 2022 marking the 31st meeting of the two schools. The Rebels are coming off an 11-2 season last year that ended in the state semifinals.

The Admirals will travel to Maryville to take on the Rebels in Week Three. The Rebels, a perennially nationally-ranked program, will be the first region game for both schools in the 2022 Region 2-6A schedule. The Ads and the Rebels met in the quarterfinals in the 2021 playoffs where the Admirals fell short 28-21.

Week Four will find the Wildcats from Oak Ridge hosting Farragut. 2021 was a disappointing year for Oak Ridge, compiling a 3-8 record fresh off their 2020 state championship game appearance. Oak Ridge will be looking to avenge their 2021 loss to the Admirals. This will be the 48th meeting between these two storied programs.

The Admirals will return home to take on the Cleveland Raiders in Week Five, the first of a three-game homestand for the Admirals. Cleveland is coming off a 6-5 2021 campaign that saw them miss the 6A playoffs. While the two schools have met four times before, this will mark just the second regular-season meeting between them, and also the second time the two schools will meet as Region 2-6A foes.

In Week Six, the Admirals will host South Knoxville’s own, the South-Doyle Cherokees. The Cherokees are coming off a 6-5 2021 campaign that saw them lose in the first round of the playoffs. This will mark the 9th meeting between the two schools.

A Region 2-6A game will follow in Week Seven as the Admirals will again be at Bill Clabo field to host the Hardin Valley Hawks. Separated by merely 5.5 miles, this is a bitter rivalry game for both schools. The Admirals lead the all-time series 4-3.

The Admirals will have a deserved bye week in Week Eight, as they recover for the final three games of the 2022 season.

In Week Nine the Admirals will return to the road to take on the Bradley Central Bears in another Region 2-6A matchup. The Bears are coming off a 9-3 record in 2021 where they met Farragut twice, once in week nine and once in the second round of the TSSAA playoffs. While Bradley got the best of Farragut in the regular season, the Admirals avenged the loss in the playoffs ending the Bears’ season.

The final non-region game of the season will take place in Week Ten when the Fulton Falcons travel from Broadway to Bill Claob Field and take on the Admirals. The Falcons compiled an 8-4 record in 2021 and birth the second round of the 2022 TSSAA playoffs. Farragut and Fulton have met ten times, and the Admirals’ lone win in the series came in 1972.

Week Eleven will conclude the regular season for the Admirals as they travel to take on the Bearden Bulldogs in a Thursday night matchup. Bearden’s 4-6 record in 2021 was not enough to make the playoffs. The 64th meeting of these two perennial rivals promises to be another great one as the two schools will be looking to hurdle each other in the final Region 2-6A matchup of the season.

The 2022 season will mark the 76th season for the Admirals on the gridiron. You can see the entire 2022 schedule and plan to follow the Admirals in another exciting season this fall. One thing of note for the 2022 season, all games kick off at 7:00 pm. Season pass information can be found below. We look forward to seeing you on Friday nights!

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Cole Strange Selected 29th Overall by Patriots

Foxboro, MA – April 29: The New England Patriots Robert Kraft and son Jonathan Kraft introduce their first round draft choice Cole Strange at Gillette Stadium on April 29, 2022 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

The New England Patriots, winners of seven Super Bowl titles, made a dream a reality on Thursday, April 28th for Cole Strange. The Patriots and Bill Belichick selected the class of 2016 Admiral as their top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Cole has ascended up the draft radar this spring after his composition of work at the Reese’s Senior Bowl and NFL Draft Combine. A projected 2nd-to-3rd round pick, the Patriots surprised most “experts” when they selected Strange 29th overall in the 1st round Thursday night.

“He would not still be around much longer”, said coach Bill Belichick at the Patriots’ media presser following their pick Thursday night.

Coach Belichick went on to add that Strange was “pretty athletic guy with good size, smart, so he does a lot of things well … a lot of good tools to work with.”

It’s hard to argue with the seven-time Super Bowl winning coach in what we’ve known about Cole Strange for a while now.

Following a stellar career at UT-Chattanooga where he started 44 games on the offensive line, Cole proved to be a relentless worker, intelligent, and physical player that embodies the “Team” aspect over individual accolades. The accolades still continued to reign in for Cole each year at UTC. Following an All-State career at Farragut in 2016, Cole was named 1st-Team Freshmen All-American, twice named All-American, All-SoCon three times, and twice the recipient of the Jacobs Blocking Award given to the top Offensive Linemen in the SoCon. He was also a member of the Honor Roll and All-SoCon Academic Team each year.

Cole Strange is seen on billboard near downtown Chattanooga. Photo credit Jack Tate on Twitter, @coachtatefhs20

Cole is the sixth Admiral to sign an NFL contract but the first to be drafted in the NFL Draft. Neil Clabo (1975 Vikings), Bill Bates (1983 Cowboys), Tyson Clabo (2004 Broncos), Nick Reveiz (2011 Buccaneers), and current Pittsburgh Steeler Nate Gilliam (2020 Chargers) all went undrafted. Cole is the first player from Knoxville to be drafted in the 1st Round of the NFL Draft since Harrison Smith in 2012.

You can revisit the moment that Cole was drafted here by courtesy of the Patriots team website.

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Spring Practice Starts April 27th

The 2022 version of the Farragut Admirals will begin Spring practice on Wednesday, April 27th. This will be the first time that the Admirals will have the opportunity to prove themselves for the upcoming season. The 2022 Admirals will return a solid corp of returning players who earned significant roles last season. This year’s squad returns 26 Seniors along with 33 Juniors and an exciting group of rising sophomores that steadily improved last season. There are still some giant holes to fill with the graduation of All-Region performers like Trace Corum, Dawson Moore, and Corey Walker. The Admirals have been very busy in the weight room during the strength training and conditioning phase. Many players have significantly improved in their strength and agility measures this semester and are eager to transition to the gridiron. There will be plenty of competition to go around through 10 practices as the Admirals will conclude Spring practice in a scrimmage with the Central Bobcats on Tuesday, May 17th at Central. The Admirals will hold five practices before hosting the annual Blue-Grey Game on Friday, May 6th at Bill Clabo Field. Check the schedule below for all the dates for spring practice and plan to be at the Blue-Grey Game on May 6th.

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Admirals Name 8 to All-Region Team

Though the season was full of ups and downs, the 2021 Farragut Admirals Football team finished the season with a quarterfinals berth in the TSSAA 6A Playoffs, quite the feat as a 4-seed. Individually the Admirals were honored to have 8 players named to the Region 2-6A All-Region Team.

Best 2-Way Lineman: Corey Walker

Corey finished the 2021 campaign as the heart and soul of both the offensive and defensive lines. Corey played both ways in all 13 games, something that had not been done for the Admirals in a very long time. He finished the season with 74 total tackles and was 2nd on the team in TFLs with 10

Best Kick/Punter: Reese Keeney

Keeney’s junior campaign was the next in a long tradition of skilled kickers and punters for the Admirals. Reese finished the season with a 40 yard punting avg. and a long punt of 60 yards. He also converted on all but one extra-point attempt and had a long FG make of 43-yards. Nearly half of his kickoffs reached the endzone for touchbacks.

All-Region: WR Trace Corum

Trace leaves Farragut as one of the most accomplished receivers in school history. He set multiple receiving records in 2021. Corum now holds the single-season record receptions(78). He also set the single-game record for receiving yards with 234 against West in Week 2. He ended the season with 1,127 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns.

All-Region: QB Dawson Moore

A two-year starter for the Admirals, Dawson had a record-setting senior year. He finished the season with 2,181 passing yards with 184 completions on 274 attempts and 21 passing TDs. Moore also tallied 7 rushing TDs and was the team’s 3rd leading rusher. He set the Admirals career passing touchdown record with 49 and ranks 4th all-time in passing yards with over 4200 yards.

All-Region: LB Jerome Brekken

Jerome played an integral part on the defensive side of the ball for the 2021 Admirals. He finished the season with 69 total tackles. Brekken forced a team-high 2 fumbles while recovering 2 other fumbles. He returned a blocked punt against Hardin Valley 21 yards for a touchdown.

All-Region: LB Jay Smiley

In his first year as a starter for the Farragut defense, Smiley made a quick and lasting impact, he recovered a fumble in his first start at Beech in Week 1. Jay finished the season with 67 total tackles including 4 minus-yard tackles. He was one of three Admirals Juniors to make the Region 2-6A All-Region Team.

All-Region: CB John Duncan

John was a leader in the defensive backfield for the 2021 Admirals. He recorded 40 tackles on the 2021 campaign with 2 fumble recoveries and returned those two fumbles for a total of 27 yards. Duncan led the team with 3 interceptions and 7 passes broken up overall on the season. He was one of three Admirals Juniors to make the Region 2-6A All-Region Team.

All-Region: RB Schumman Xie

While his senior campaign was plagued with injury, Xie still made the best of his opportunities. He led the 2021 Admirals in rushing yards with 629. Schumman led all RBs with 136 carries and also led in touchdowns with 5. He also recorded 13 pass receptions and 118 receiving yards,

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Ads Fall to Maryville 28-21

November 18, 2021, by Alan Sloan
https://www.farragutpress.com/articles/2021/11/11288

For a Farragut offense that scored 21 points on mighty, unbeaten Maryville — without a turnover — perhaps senior guard Corey Walker best represented the Admiral spirit in a near major upset of the Red Rebels.

“The umpire came to me tonight, in the fourth quarter, and said, ‘Your No. 75 (Walker) hit one of their players the hardest I’ve seen in 10 years,’” said FHS head coach Eddie Courtney, whose team lost 28-21 in the TSSAA Class 6A state quarterfinals at MHS Friday night, Nov. 19. Farragut’s season ends with a 6-7 record. 

At 6-foot, 290 pounds, Walker also was a standout defensive tackle. “We haven’t had a guy at our school for a lot of years who has played that many snaps on both sides of the ball and been that effective,” Courtney said.

“We wanted it so much,” Walker said. “… The last four games, we had to pick it up, we had to get better.” 

As for other top efforts, especially seniors, “Of course, Dawson (Moore’s) leadership at quarterback,” the coach said. “He’s tough; he’s taken a lot of hits the last few weeks and he keeps bouncing back.”

Moore was 23-of-29 passing for 180 yards and two TDs. 

Led by senior Trace Corum (among the school’s all-time single-season leaders in receptions with 76 for 1,131 yards and 14 TDs), but with lots of help from senior Zach Keasling and sophomore Landis Davila (9-yard TD catch Friday) among others, “Our receiving corps just made a lot of improvement,” Courtney said.

Corum had six grabs for 38 yards, including a 1-yard scoring catch, Friday. 

“I think we came out and gave great effort,” he said. “We had about three drives that lasted five minutes or more.” 

“We incorporated new routes and we blocked well in the run game, so altogether we played a good game,” said Keasling (six catches for 47 yards. “We finished strong.” 

“And the run game, too,” Courtney said, which was led by senior Schumann Xie (622 season yards, 4.6 per carry) and junior Elijah Gibbs (572 for 2021, 4.7 per carry). Gibbs scored from 2 yards out late. 

“He had some tough runs,” Courtney said of Gibbs, who also had six catches (45 yards).  

“The offensive line made a lot of improvement the last five weeks,” he added, also led by seniors Aiden Smith and Dennis Longmire. 

Holding MHS (13-0) to only 306 total yards, “We knew it was going to be a hard game, but we knew we were going to scratch and claw to do whatever we could to get as close as possible to win,” senior defensive back/linebacker Jerome Brekken said. “… I’m proud of our team’s effort, I’m proud of how close we came.” 

In addition to recovering a fumble, sophomore linebacker Jack Alley, along with senior safety Sam Moses, led the Ads in solo stops with six each, including Moses’ minus-11 sack.

A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to check out 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.