Feature Photo by Ephraim Rodenbach
Story by Willie Phaler
Oakland High School (11-1) protected their home field in a 35-28 thriller over Mt. Juliet (10-2) in the second round of the TSSAA 6A playoffs.
The visiting Golden Bears received the opening kickoff, and marched down deep into Oakland territory, coming away with a 20-yard field goal off the leg of Daniel Echeverria.
After the two teams traded a set of three-and-out drives, Oakland running back Daune Morris had the first of many explosive plays of the night, breaking away for a 51-yard touchdown scamper.
Mt. Juliet responded back with a second field goal from 25 yards out. The points came after a similar drive as the Golden Bears pushed deep into Patriot territory, losing momentum near the goal line, pushing things to 7-6.
After a third drive pushing deep into Oakland’s side of the field, Mt. Juliet finally broke through in the red zone, finishing the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Travers to Baylor Osborne.
The Golden Bears were able to build off their momentum found by Travers and Osborne by recovering a Craig Tutt fumble at the Oakland 37-yard line. Travers quickly found the end zone once again, this time connecting with Isiah Roseberry for six. The Golden Bears stole two points, with a fake field goal that Travers ran in pushing the lead to 21-7.
With tons of momentum on the opposing sideline, Oakland found some success once again from Morris. Catching the kickoff on the goal line, Morris took it back 100 yards untouched for a Patriots touchdown.
“I just needed the opportunity, and the opportunity came to me, and I took its full potential,” Morris said.
Morris continued to shoulder the load for Oakland in the first half, with a two-yard rushing touchdown with under a minute left in the half. The two teams went into the break with things knotted at 21 apiece.
Morris opened the scoring in the second half, with a 25-yard rush out of a wildcat formation to finish off a 99-yard drive that included a 59-yard run from the University of Southern California commit.
Travers and the Golden Bears answered back in seconds, 23 to be exact, with an 80-yard pass to Roseberry to tie things back up at 28.
After an Oakland turnover on downs on the Mt. Juliet 34-yard line, the Golden Bears drove the ball to the Patriots 28-yard line. Oakland was able to gain possession of the football after holding Mt. Juliet on a fourth-down attempt.
After regaining possession on their own 28, Oakland slowly chewed the clock out with a nine-minute drive, which was finished with a fifth touchdown on the day from Morris.
With two and a half minutes left on the clock, Mt. Juliet was hoping for more explosive plays from Travers and the offense, but Oakland’s defense stepped up with a strip sack from Taurus Allen and recovery from Ethan Burrell at midfield. The Patriots had the ball back and kneeled out the final minute on the clock.
Morris carried Oakland’s offense to victory in this matchup, including 364 all-purpose yards to go along with his five touchdowns.
“The five touchdowns don’t mean much to me, but as a team, it means a lot because I’m doing my job and helping my team,” Morris said. “I have a great team around me and I’m capable of doing everything I can that we practice.”
While Morris remained humble after Oakland’s tight victory, his head coach complimented him on the huge outing.
“He [Morris] gave us a spark that we needed,” Oakland head Coach Kevin Creasy said. “I think he’s finally healthy and played a tremendous game, and he even got in on defense some.”
After the second-round victory over the Golden Bears, Oakland will host Murfreesboro rival Riverdale High School on November 22nd for a TSSAA 6A Quarterfinal game with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Willie Phaler is a sports reporter for MTSU Sidelines
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