Sponsors


Eric Kennedy Photography. 


 

Mynatt Minute – Oak Ridge Game Report

By Bill Mynatt, Radio Voice of Powell Panther Football on AM 620 WRJZ

    Rarely do football games live up to their billing, but Thursday night at Scarbro Stadium was an exception to the rule.  In a game that pitted what most thought would be the 2 pre-season favorites in district 3AAA, Powell came from 10 down twice to earn a hard fought 21-17 win over Oak Ridge.  With the win Powell goes to 4-0 overall, and 2-0 in district play.  Oak Ridge drops to 1-2, and 1-1.  
Oak Ridge got off to a quick start, dominating both sides of the football in the first quarter.  
    The Wildcats got on the board first when junior place kicker Brett Beeler kicked a 22 yard field goal at the 5:15 mark, giving Oak Ridge a 3-0 lead.  They then added to that lead 4 minutes later after intercepting a pass in Powell territory.  Quarterback Bradley Zulliger rolled away from pressure, buying just enough time to find running back Rian Hall in the middle of the field.  Hall evaded a would be Panther tackler and took the ball in to the end zone from 29 yards away.  Beeler’s kick gave the Wildcats the 10-0 lead with 36 seconds to go in the opening period .
    In that first quarter, Oak Ridge outgained Powell 111 offensive yards, to Powell’s 19.  
Powell’s first score would come at the 7:29 mark of the second.  Dy’shawn Mobley got to the corner, aided by key blocks by the left side of the Panther offensive line, and outran the Oak Ridge secondary to the end zone on a 68 yard burst down the sideline.  Josh Neely’s kick made the score 10-7 at that point. 
    Oak Ridge had an opportunity to put points on the board late in the quarter and take a huge momentum swing with them to the locker room.  The Wildcats had the ball first and goal inside the Panther 5 with about 4 minutes to go.  The Panther defense made a serious stand, however, keeping Oak Ridge out of the end zone – twice from inside the one yard line.  
    Powell took over at its own one, moved the chains once, and then failed to execute a flea flicker on third and one from its own 25 yard line, and punted the ball back to Oak Ridge.  Hall took over at the quarterback spot at that point, as Beeler had been injured on the 4th and goal play on the previous series. The Wildcats then put a scare in the Panthers once again, moving the ball to the Powell 20 in less than a minute and a half.    
Then with just 4 seconds to go in the half, Beeler entered the game to try and put the Wildcats up by 6.  Uncharacteristically, Beeler’s kick was well short from 37 yards away, so the Panthers had kept the Wildcat lead at 3 at the half, taking a huge boost of confidence with them to the locker room.  
    Powell received the second half kickoff and hoped to score on its first possession of the second half for the 4th time in as many games this year, but Oak Ridge defensive back strong safety Alex Ingham spoiled the plans when he stepped in front of a Dustin McPhetridge pass, and returned it 37 yards untouched for the score.  Beeler kicked the extra point, and Oak Ridge had a 10 point lead once again, 17-7 just 2:15 in to the second half.  
    At that point,   Panther head coach and offensive coordinator Matt Lowe made the decision to go away from the normal Panther spread offense and go to a power set – 3 backs and 2 tight ends, with no wide receivers.  That proved to be a hugely successful decision by Powell, as Oak Ridge never was able to adjust to the move.  
    With a huge crowd in attendance, as well as a TV audience witnessing the game on MyVLT TV, the Panthers took control of the football game, scoring the final 14 points to earn the win.
    The first score came on Mobley’s second long TD run of the night, as he again ran off the left side for the score, this time from 75 yards way.  With Oak Ridge putting all 11 men in the box trying to stop the run, Mobley got to the corner and he was gone.  By the time he crossed the goal line there wasn’t an Oak Ridge defender within 20 yards of him.  The Neely kick missed, however, and Powell still trailed, now 17-13, with 1:37 left in the third. 
    With Zullinger on his way to the hospital with what would be diagnosed as a bruised kidney, Hall tried to rally his offense, but couldn’t put together a sustained drive.  Powell got the ball back and began 6 play, 70 yard scoring drive, taking just 2:23 off the clock.  Mobley scored what would be the eventual winning points on a 15 yard run, this time to the right side out of the power set, going untouched in to the end zone.  Powell opted to go for 2, with Mobley running the same play as he scored on the play before, only this time cutting back to the middle of the field.  Powell led 21-17 at the 8:29 mark of the 4th.  
    The Panther defense would hold Oak Ridge, and its hopes of a late potentially winning score, twice before the clock would expire.  
    Oak Ridge had the ball two more times, hoping to find a way to win the football game.  
    On the ensuing kickoff after the go ahead score, the Wildcats returned the kickoff to their own 22.  They could only manage one first down, however, and punted back to Powell.
Unable to move the ball, Powell punted back to Oak Ridge, as senior Justin Wood did the job well by punting the ball out of bounds, forcing Oak Ridge to try and go 90 yards for the potential winning score with just 2:09 to go in the game.   Although they moved the chains one time, Oak Ridge turned the ball over on downs, and the Panthers took over with just 19 seconds to go. Powell took the victory formation to kill the clock, and the hard fought win was secured by the Panthers.  
    After a first half which saw Oak Ridge outgain Powell 257 to 158 in total offense, the Panthers’ power set registered 189 yards of offense in the second half, while holding Oak Ridge to just 78.  For the game, Powell had 347 total yards, including 295 on the ground.  Oak Ridge ended up with a total of 335 – 195 on the ground, 140 through the air. 
    Mobley’s 256 yards rushing on 20 carries bettered his career best of 238, set just 6 days earlier against Halls.  He is now only 7 yards away from the 3,500 mark for his career, adding to his Powell career rushing record total on every carry. 
    Before his injury, Zulliger became the all time leading passer in Oak Ridge football history.  He was 9-13 for 109 and 1 TD on the night. 
    Powell now turns its attention to heated rival Anderson County.  The Panthers will travel to AC to take on the Mavericks on Friday.  Anderson County won at Central on Friday by the score of 34-7, and come in to this week with a record of 2-2 overall, and 2-0 in district play.    
 Oak Ridge will meet Halls on Friday, with the game to be played at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge.
You can hear the broadcast of Powell at Anderson County beginning at 7 PM on AM 620 – WRJZ.  
Unofficial Statistics from the Oak Ridge – Powell game are below along with photos courtesy of Erick Kennedy and Brianne Wood.

Powelll                    Oak Ridge       
14        First Downs            18
295        Rush Yards            195
52        Pass Yards            140
347        Total Yards            335
7-57        Penalties            6-56
3        Turnovers            2
20:58        Time of Possession        27:42
3-10        3rd Down Conversions    3-11
0-0        4th Down Conversions    2-3
Scoring:  
5:15 1st: Oak Ridge - Brett Beeler 22 yard field goal
:36 1st:  Oak Ridge - Bradley Zulliger 29 yard TD pass to Rian Hall, Beeler kick
7:29 2nd:  Powell – Dy’shawn Mobley 68 yard TD run, Josh Neely PAT kick
9:45 3rd:  Oak Ridge – Alex Ingham 37 yard Interception return, Beeler PAT kick
1:37 3rd:  Powell – Mobley 75 yard TD run, PAT kick no good
8:29 4th:  Powell – Mobley 15 yard TD run, Mobley 2 point conversion run

Powell Rushing    Att/Yds/TDs
McPhetridge        4-13-0
Mobley        20-256-3 (1-2 PT Conv.)
Logan            8-20-0
Washington        1-6-0

Powell Passing        Comp/Att/Yds/Int/TD
McPhetridge         5-13-52-3-0
D. Owenby            0-1-0-0-0

Powell Receiving        Catches/Yds/TDs   
H. Owenby            2-25-0
Logan                2-15
Wright            1-12

Oak Ridge Rushing    Att/Yds/TDs
Zullinger            12-39-0
Moore                9-40-0   
Hall                19-85-0
Brooks            1-15-0
Normand            1-2-0

Oak Ridge Passing        Comp/Att/Yds/Int/TD
Zulliger            9-13-109-1-1
Hall                4-11-31-1-0

Oak Ridge Receiving       Catches/Yds/TDs
Thompson            4-35-0
Hall                5-74-1
Wheeler            1-14-0
Gray                1-6-0
Hull                2-11-0