Oakland High School (7-0) extended its win streak to 13 games in a 35-14 win over Rockvale High School (3-4) in a Thursday night matchup.
Oakland wasted no time scoring. Ja’Vonni Malone ran the opening kickoff 94 yards to the house, giving the Patriots a 7-0 lead in the first 15 seconds.
After a quick stop by the Oakland defense, the Patriots got on the board again as freshman quarterback Kam Morton found University of Tennessee-commit Joel Wyatt for a 42-yard touchdown, his fourth of the year.
Rockvale answered towards the end of the first quarter with Rayene “RC” Chiha hauling in a 45-yard pass from Johnathon Hamby. The Rockets trailed 14-6 after a missed extra point.
Oakland’s Morton found Velon Henderson for a 48-yard gain on one of the first plays of the second quarter, setting up a Justice Haggard touchdown from 2 yards out. Haggard was a big part of the Patriots’ win against a Murfreesboro rival, as the two-way senior finished with 103 rushing yards, three touchdowns on the ground and two interceptions on defense.
“Sticking to what we practiced on all week … good teams find a way to win,” Haggard said.
Haggard left his fingerprints all over the next two drives, as he intercepted a pass from Rockvale’s Hamby with a 44-yard return and then ran it in on offense from four yards out to make it 28-6.
After an interception by Elom Ametitoui for the Rockets, Tikum Asongwe ran 21 yards to the endzone. Rockvale converted a two-point conversion as Hamby found Pauldo to make it a 28-14 ballgame going into halftime.
Both offenses came out of the break shaky, as both teams traded fumbles to open up the third quarter.
Wyatt hauled in an interception of his own to close out the third quarter. The Webb School transfer continues to have an impressive senior campaign, as he finished the game with a touchdown and an interception while playing in front of his future head coach at Tennessee, Josh Heupel.
After Rockvale forced Oakland to punt for the first time in the third quarter, Haggard intercepted Hamby again. The turnover was his second of the night and the third overall for Oakland.
The Patriots added some insurance in the fourth quarter after Haggard ran for his third touchdown of the night. The senior’s hat trick score made it a 35-14 game, all but killing Rockvale’s hopes of a comeback.
“It’s a 48-minute ball game,” Oakland head coach Kevin Creasy said. “I give Rockvale a lot of credit. They fought all 48 minutes and made a ball game out of it. They could’ve easily quit … give [Rockvale head coach James] Counce credit, they kept fighting and gave us a heck of a game.”
The Patriots’ defense and special teams units were once again a factor, forcing six turnovers between three interceptions and three fumbles. They once again did a nice job setting the table for the offense, as 21 of the 35 Oakland points came off turnovers.
“We wanted to start fast; when you start off with a kickoff return, it’s phenomenal,” Creasy said. “We put an emphasis on special teams this week. We felt like we got outplayed last week in that third of the ball game, so we wanted to make sure that we went and did a good job.”
Both teams are on bye next week for fall break in Rutherford County Schools; however, they will be back in action on Oct. 17. Rockvale will be looking to bounce back as they travel to Tullahoma High School (4-2). Oakland looks to remain undefeated once again as they travel to LaVergne High School (0-7).
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