Feature Photo by Ephraim Rodenbach
Story by Willie Phaler
Are you not entertained?
Oakland head coach Kevin Creasy offered that message to his players and fan base after a nail-biting 49-46 comeback win in the TSSAA 6A state quarterfinals against Murfreesboro rival Riverdale.
The playoff edition of the ‘Battle of the Boro’ between Oakland (12-1) and Riverdale (10-3) lived up to the hype with an offensive explosion for both teams. On Friday night, 13 total touchdowns led to the highest scoring game in the history of the Murfreesboro rivalry.
“It is the Boro rivalry,” Oakland running back Daune Morris said. “Everything we do in a season is for us to be able to host a game like this at Oakland.”
Riverdale started the scoring on the first drive of the game, with quarterback Malachi Telin finding wideout Ke’darian Fletcher from 10 yards out.
Oakland answered quickly to the Warriors’ opening drive touchdown, as the University of Southern California commit Morris found paydirt after a 49-yard rush on the second play from scrimmage for the Patriots.
Riverdale found the endzone through the air for the second time in two drives, as Telin found Cameron Booker for a score to push the Riverdale lead to 14-7 in the first quarter.
Morris once again found a quick score for the Patriots, scoring his second touchdown of the night from 14 yards out to tie things up at 14.
Riverdale grabbed their third lead at 17-14 after kicker Khalil Arman booted a 47-yarder through the uprights.
The Patriots found themselves in front for the first time after quarterback Kyler Creasy hooked up with Chase Bandy for a 38-yard score.
“I’ve got complete trust in him [Bandy],” Kyler Creasy said. “We run that play every day in practice, so I knew the spot he’d be in.”
Telin found the end zone for the third time in the half for Riverdale, this time doing it himself with a quarterback sneak from the one-yard line with 17 seconds left on the clock. On the back of Telin’s big first half, Riverdale took a 24-21 lead into halftime.
Oakland received the kickoff to open the second half and Morris found the endzone again after a 77-yard run on the second play from scrimmage, putting the Patriots out in front with his third score of the night.
Telin and the Warrior offense struck right back, as he found Zaiden Jones for a score from 66 yards out, putting Riverdale in front 31-28.
Riverdale extended that lead to 38-28, stemming from Middle Tennessee State University commit Dominic Taylor, who rumbled into the endzone for a 36-yard touchdown.
Down 10 points with five and a half minutes to go in the third quarter after a Patriot three-and-out, Oakland was desperate for a spark on defense. After a handoff to Taylor, multiple Oakland defenders were able to punch the ball out, and the Patriots came up with possession.
Oakland capitalized on the fumble soon after, as Kyler Creasy scored on a quarterback sneak of his own from one yard out, cutting the Riverdale lead to three with a minute and a half left in the third quarter.
After forcing the Riverdale offense to a three-and-out, Oakland’s Craig Tutt scored his first touchdown of the game from seven yards out to give the Patriots a 42-38 advantage.
Oakland found yet another stop on defense, fueled by a nine-yard sack from linebacker Justin Barber that pushed Riverdale to a 3rd and 11. After an incompletion, the Warriors were forced to punt and gave the ball back to Oakland while trailing.
On the ensuing drive, a 57-yard rush by Tutt put the Patriots right back in the red zone. Morris found his way to the endzone for the fourth time on the night from 16 yards out to push the lead to 49-38.
Despite the two-score deficit, Riverdale wouldn’t go down without a fight. The Warriors scored within a minute as Telin found Fletcher for the second time on the night for a score. Trailing by three after a successful two-point conversion, Riverdale head coach Will Kriesky elected to attempt an onside kick with 2:39 left to play.
Oakland recovered the onside try and was able to bleed out the clock to win the rivalry game.
The quarterfinal victory for Oakland was made even sweeter by the fact that it was another installment in the storied cross-town rivalry.
“This rivalry means everything,” Kyler Creasy said. “The opposing side of the stands are completely full, and it’s a every seat is taken type night.”
“[These are] two schools with a lot of tradition and two schools that have a lot of pride when it comes to their football teams, and both teams have been the top dog at different times,” Kevin Creasy said. “They are trying to knock us off and unfortunately for them they lost twice to us.”
Oakland will stay at home to face off with Maryville High School with a trip to the state championship on the line on Nov. 29th. This will be the 10th time in 11 years the two powerhouse programs will face off in the state semifinals.
Willie Phaler is a sports reporter for MTSU Sidelines
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