In case you missed it Friday in another wild night of high school football across the 5Star Preps coverage area:
- Give Holloway six – and Bearden the win.
- Hardin Valley edges Jefferson County in Region 1-6A.
- Oak Ridge’s Herbert Booker is “Mr. Pick Six.”
- West pulls out a must-win region game against Clinton.
- QBs Ballard and Martin ring up more big numbers.
Bearden wins at D-B, with eight seconds to spare
Bearden High School’s dramatic 33-30 win at Dobyns-Bennett on Friday night at J. Fred Johnson Stadium has the Bulldogs in prime position heading down the stretch run in ultra-competitive Region 1-6A.
With three games to play in the regular season, Bearden (6-1, 2-1) controls its own destiny in the region after rallying from 17 down and scoring 19 fourth-quarter points to clip the Indians (2-4, 1-1).
Condredge Holloway snagged a 3-yard touchdown toss from quarterback Collin Ironside with eight seconds remaining to secure the key victory.
“We ran a play we hadn’t run since Week 1 against West,” explained Bearden coach Morgan Shinlever.
“(Holloway) was lined up at tight end and ran back across the formation. He came through uncovered and was so wide open he could have pitched a tent in the end zone.”
Ironically, Holloway dropped the pass against West the only other time Bearden has run the play this season in a game.
“We have repped that play probably 100 times (in practice),” said Shinlever.
Game winning TD tonight!@BeardenFB @MamaIronside @coachtatebhs pic.twitter.com/ghzsmQD0ba
— Kevin Cloer (@kvncloer1) September 29, 2018
The tight Region 1-6A standings find Farragut (3-0) and Hardin Valley (2-0) on top, followed by the Bulldogs (2-1), Dobyns-Bennett (1-1) and Science Hill (1-2).
However, Bearden can win the region title outright with wins against Farragut at home on Thursday, Oct. 11, at Hardin Valley on Oct. 19 and against Morristown West at home on Oct. 26.
Collin Ironside passed for 201 yards and threw three touchdowns in the second half to spark the Bulldogs.
His totals were 18-of-32 passing for 269 yards, with additional TD strikes of 26 yards to his brother, Addison Ironside, and 67 yards to Matt Carr (seven receptions, 137 yards).
“Collin did a great job of really turning it on in the second half,” said Shinlever.
Kahlil Abdullah snagged six passes for 62 yards and Addison Ironside had four receptions for 68 yards.
Senior Caleb Wilkins was once again a workhorse for the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball.
Wilkins ran 19 times for 67 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns on 2-yard runs.
On defense, he recorded 11 tackles and nine solo stops at linebacker.
A.J. Simon and Shamarcus Brown each added nine tackles on defense for the Bulldogs.
Bearden has a week off before it gets ready for the big rivalry game against Farragut and the stretch run of the regular season.
Three more wins and the Bulldogs are region champs.
“Any time you don’t have to rely on anybody else to give you help, it’s always good,” said Shinlever.
@CondredgeH @BeardenFB @5StarPreps Condredge Holloway game winning TD reception last night at DB #wideopen pic.twitter.com/S2ajKAv6O1
— Bernard Moss (@dixiedad1) September 29, 2018
HVA survives against Hawkins, Jeff County
Hardin Valley overcame a herculean effort by Jefferson County running back Kris Hawkins Friday night in a wild 38-35 Region 1-6A contest in Dandridge.
The Hawks’ Josiah Lambert booted a 33-yard field goal with five seconds to play to give HVA (4-2, 2-0) the win over the Patriots (4-3, 0-3).
FINAL (Region 1-6A 🏈):@HVhawkfans 38, Jefferson County 35
Josiah Lambert hits a 33-yard field goal with 2 seconds to win it pic.twitter.com/VQbltFkeaS
— JD Vaughn (@JDVaughn91) September 29, 2018
It was Lambert’s second game-winning field goal of the season.
He kicked a 37-yard field goal with no time remaining to give the Hawks a 15-12 win over West earlier in the season.
HVA trailed 21-7 at the half.
“The biggest thing that happened for us was we challenged our kids at halftime,” said Hawks coach Wes Jones.
“We just spread the field out, put the kids in space and our quarterback made some plays in the second half.”
Hawks quarterback Grayson Vaughn had 295 total yards to spark the rally.
Vaughn threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns on 16-for-31 passing.
He also ran nine times for 48 yards and one touchdown.
Cartez Campbell caught TD passes of 57 and 30 yards for HVA.
Kelton Gunn added 86 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Hawkins’ phenomenal performance included 36 carries for 331 yards and five touchdowns.
He scored on runs of 39, 59, 1, 18 and 52 yards.
“He (Hawkins) had an unbelievable game,” said Jones.
“It has been a long time since I’ve seen a kid run that hard. He was everything he was advertised to be. We could not tackle him.”
Hawkins has rushed for 1,468 yards and scored 18 touchdowns this season.
Hardin Valley, like Bearden and Farragut, controls its own fate in Region 1-6A.
The Hawks can take the region title outright by winning out, but that’s a tall task.
Hardin Valley’s final four games are against Science Hill, Dobyns-Bennett, Bearden and Farragut.
Another pick six for Oak Ridge’s Booker
Just call Oak Ridge senior cornerback Herbert Booker, Mr. Pick Six.
Booker turned in another dynamic defensive performance in a 48-7 win by the Wildcats at Karns on Friday as he returned an interception 104 yards for a touchdown on the game’s final play.
Booker also had another interception he hauled back 46 yards.
Booker has returned four of his seven interceptions this season for long-distance touchdowns.
“He continues to make big play after big play,” said Wildcats coach Joe Gaddis.
“He’s just really a one-of-a-kind guy at cornerback. I’ve never had anybody like him.”
Booker previously had interception returns for touchdowns this season of 99 yards against Farragut, 81 yards against Campbell County and 28 yards against Sevier County.
His 99-yard interception matched the previous school record set in 1983 by Tommy Laurendine.
The 6-foot, 185-pound Booker is averaging a whopping 51.1 yards a return on seven interceptions and is closing in on Diandre Johnson’s single-season school record of nine interceptions (1993).
Booker, who also starts on quarterback, played sparingly on offense against the Beavers. His chief assignment was sticking to standout Karns receiver Thomas Harper.
“We put him on Harper all night,” said Gaddis.
“Harper is really good, but he didn’t have a really big night against us.”
Harper had just five grabs for 43 yards and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Kitts against the Wildcats.
Harper has 58 catches for 951 yards and 14 TDs on the season.
Oak Ridge limited Karns to 180 total yards.
With Booker playing sparingly on offense, sophomore Mitchell Gibbons stepped in for the Wildcats at quarterback.
Gibbons tossed scoring passes of 19 yards to Isaiah Johnson and 5 yards to Kai’Reese Pendergrass.
“He (Gibbons) played well,” said Gaddis. “He was like 9 of 13 (passing) with the two touchdowns.”
Oak Ridge running back Tyrell Romano scored on runs of 5, 28 and 6 yards.
The Wildcats are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in Region 3-5A. Karns falls to 1-6 and 0-4 in the region.
West clips Clinton in OT
With big Region 3-5A games coming up against Powell and Fulton, West could ill-afford a slip-up Friday at Clinton.
The Rebels (3-4, 2-1) escaped with the decision against the upset-minded Dragons (1-5, 0-2), but barely.
A 16-yard touchdown run in the second quarter by Clinton’s Josh Breeden was the only score until late in the fourth quarter.
West finally got on the scoreboard on a 2-yard run by Omarian Wright with 1:43 to play in regulation to force overtime.
Isaiah Mattress plowed over from the 1 to give the Rebels the OT victory, 13-7.
“I was proud of our boys and the way they kept fighting and found a way to come out with the win,” said West coach Lamar Brown.
Sophomore Baker Dance got the starting nod at quarterback for the Rebels in place of Jawaun Moore (concussion).
As usual, West’s defense proved tough to move.
Senior linebacker Ben Skvara had 15 tackles to lead the Rebels.
Defensive lineman Tyrece Edwards added 12.5 stops and a couple of tackles for losses.
Wide receiver Will Eggleston had a big catch on fourth down to keep West’s game-tying drive in regulation alive.
West’s game at home this week again region foe Powell (6-1, 3-1) shapes up as one of the area’s headliners.
“It’s a big game and it’s going to be a hard-fought region game,” said Brown.
Cade Ballard. (Photo: Danny Parker)
Greeneville report – Ballard by the numbers
Greeneville quarterback Cade Ballard continues to put up prodigious numbers for the state’s No. 1-ranked Class 4A team.
Ballard completed all five of his first-quarter pass attempts for touchdowns Friday night as Greeneville (6-0, 2-0 Region 1-4A) cruised to a 63-7 win over Sullivan Central (0-6, 0-2).
Ballard and the rest of the Greene Devils starters were pulled for good from the game with three minutes remaining in the first quarter, according to Greeneville coach Caine Ballard.
Greeneville led 49-0 after the first quarter.
An Army commit, Ballard has passed for 1,383 yards and 21 TDs.
Anderson County report – Martin by the numbers
Anderson County quarterback Stanton Martin upped his season total for touchdown passes to 27 on Friday night as the Mavericks (7-0, 3-0 Region 2-4A) raced past East Ridge, 62-14.
Martin threw five TD passes against the Pioneers (0-6, 0-2) as Anderson County accumulated 631 yards in total offense.