CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Farragut has one of the nation’s top-rated senior tight ends in the country and the Admirals weren’t shy about utilizing their primary offensive weapon against Bradley Central on Friday night at Bear Stadium.
Jacob Warren, the super-talented 6-foot-6, 226-pound receiver caught four touchdown passes that included the game-winner in the Admirals’ 27-21 overtime victory over the Bears in the season opener for both teams.
The game drew a good crowd on a hot night and the fans were thoroughly entertained with good high school football action.
To a degree, that is
“I didn’t have us ready to play and that’s my fault,” Bradley coach Damon Floyd said. “We shouldn’t get down 14-0 and we did. I give the team credit because they fought back and got in the game. We can’t let this one affect us and I don’t want this to define our season.”
Warren’s scoring receptions – all from quarterback Jake Evans – covered 44, 22, 27 and 12 yards. The first two catches came in the first quarter and gave Farragut, the defending state Class 5A champions, a two-touchdown lead.
His third quarter TD reception was in the third quarter and tied the game at 21-all after Bradley Central had taken a 21-14 lead 2 minutes and 17 seconds earlier.
Warren’s final grab in the end zone ended the game and gave Farragut its 11th win in 12 games against the Bears. He had five catches for 115 yards, the longest going for 44.
“That’s the most touchdown passes I’ve had in a game,” said Warren, who already is committed to Tennessee. “I was working hard, the linemen were blocking great and everybody else was running good routes. We ran our usual plays and stuck with them.”
Bradley, which posted its lone win over the Admirals in 2001, got the ball first in overtime and it was a strange possession by any measure.
On third-and-goal from the 1, quarterback Dylan Standifer scored on a keeper up the middle, diving into the end zone for what appeared to be the go-ahead score. The play was wiped out by an illegal shift penalty.
On the next snap, Standifer connected with a diving Stephen Muhonen for an apparent touchdown, but a holding penalty took another six-point play off the scoreboard.
Standifer’s next throw, intended for Nick Howell in the back of the end zone, was well defended and fell to the ground.
Clay Shoemaker tried a 37-yard field goal, but a penalty flag (for delay of game) hit the turf as Shoemaker kicked. The ball was wide right.
Rather than attempt a 40-plus yard field goal, the Bears decided to go for a touchdown. Standifer’s pass was intercepted in the end zone.
“We scored twice in overtime and neither of them counted,” Floyd said. “That was frustrating. I’ll have to look at the film and see what we did wrong. I know we gave up too many plays against a good team.”
Howell caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Standifer in the second quarter and ran 14 yards for a TD that tied the game with 6:57 left in the game. He led all rushers with 112 yards on 18 carries tries. His 58 receiving yards gave him 158 all-purpose yards and he punted five times for a 34-yard average.
“We faced adversity early and came back on them,” Howell said. “We faced adversity again late and couldn’t overcome it that time. We’ll have to do better on that. Our run game was good because our linemen were giving us perfect holes to hit all night.”
Howell caught two touchdown passes from Standifer, covering 25 and 14 yards. The second TD tied the game at 14-all in the fourth period.
Devon Moore had the other Bear TD on a 2-yard run.
Notes: Friday’s contest wasn’t the longest overtime game between the two teams. In 1995, the Admirals pulled out a remarkable 65-64 second-round playoff record-tying seven overtime thriller … Thirteen-year-old Tray Curry, younger brother to former Cleveland basketball standout KK Curry, is playing for the Bears. KK Curry is now attending a private school in Connecticut. Tray Curry, a 6-foot-3 freshman caught one pass for 11 yards in a fourth-quarter drive that ended with one of four Standifer interceptions. Getting the picks were Drew Butler, Wyatt Lucas, Neyland Harmon and Andrew Williams each had interceptions for Farragut … Jay Person and Tucker Still had interceptions for Bradley. Person also had six tackles, including a sack.
SCORING
Farragut 14 0 0 7 6 – 27
Bradley Central 0 7 7 7 0 – 21
First Quarter
FARR – Jacob Waren 44 pass from Jake Evans (Dalton Dalliburton kick), 10:51
FARR – Warren 22 pass from Evans (Dalliburton kick), 8:04
Second Quarter
BRAD – Nick Howell 25 pass from Dylan Standifer (Clay Shoemaker kick), 0:56
Third Quarter
BRAD – Devon Moore 2 run (Shoemaker kick), 5:54
Fourth Quarter
BRAD – Nick Howell 14 run (Shoemaker kick), 6:57
FARR – Warren 27 pass from Evans (Dalliburton kick), 4:40
Overtime
FARR – Warren 12 pass from Evans
YARDSTICK
FARR BRAD
First Downs 14 19
Rushes-Yds 26-118 43-152
Passing Yards 207 238
Comp-Att-Yds 15-32-2 18-28-4
Total Yards 41-325 55-390
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-1
Punts-Avg 5-34.6 5-34.0
Penalties-Yds 12-97 10-81
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING -- Farragut: Isaiah Gibbs 12-61, Kyler Carter 9-45, Jake Evans 5-12; Bradley Central: Nick Howell 18-112, Adam Mullis 4-18, Lameric Tucker 5-14, Devon Moore 5-6, Kahlil Lambreth 1-2, Dylan Standifer 10-0.
PASSING – Farragut: Evans 12-29-2-202, Gavin Wilkinson 2-3-0-5; Bradley Central: Standifer 18-28-4-238.
RECEIVING – Farragut: Warren 5-115, Gibbs 3-42, Wyatt Lucas 2-20, Jaden Gibbs 1-11, Carter 1-7, Tanner Corum 1-6, Braden Collins 1-5, Andrew Williams 1-1; Bradley Central: Tucker 5-80, Stephen Muhonen 5-30, Howell 3-58, Saylor Clark 3-30, Moore 1-29, Tray Curry 1-11.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming 44)