| Oakland's state title tops Top 10 sports stories of '08 |
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By: Mike Pirtle, Post Publisher
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Posted: Sunday, December 28, 2008 10:58 am
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It was a sweet celebration for Oakland High School.
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The year of 2008 will be remembered as a good one for high school sports on the state level for Rutherford County teams who brought home three state championships, two by one school, and competed strongly in almost every sport.
Topping the year’s Top 10 sports stories was perhaps the most surprising of the three state titles – Oakland’s Class 5A football championship.
After going 3-7 the previous year and with a new coach in Thomas McDaniel, the Patriots sent a warning shot early by opening the season with a 17-6 win over archrival and perennial state power Riverdale.
Winning their next six games before finally losing a close one, and ultimately their defeat, to Lebanon, 17-14, the Patriots made it clear they would be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
McDaniel’s team followed a straightforward path throughout the season: 1) Play tenacious defense; 2) control the ball on offense and hammer opponents with a strong running game; and 3) limit mistakes.
Those precepts were perfectly on display in the Patriots playoff run to a 20-13 win over Franklin in the BlueCross Bowl, a third straight year of Rutherford County over Williamson County for the championship.
After smacking Cookeville, 28-7, in the opening round of the playoffs, the Pats faced inter-county rival Smyrna, the double defending state champion, in possibly its toughest game of the series. Dominating possession in the second half, Oakland put on a patented long, run-dominated scoring drive to win the game.
East Tennessee’s Ooltewah was supposed to give the Pats a stern test with its strong running game and tenacious defense, but on the Owls’ home field Oakland administered a 35-0 whipping.
The BlueCross Bowl turned out to be exactly the type of competitive, all-out game anyone could hope for in a championship contest.
Senior fullback Sam Bass forced his way into the end zone from half a yard out with nine seconds left on the clock as Oakland claimed the school’s third state football title
With the score tied at 13-13 with 7:11 left, Oakland launched a 15-play, 82-yard drive, eating up the clock and producing Bass’ third touchdown of the night to claim the school’s first state championship since 1998.
The game was a classic display of first-year head coach McDaniel’s Patriot football:
• They held a talented, multi-faceted Franklin offense to 13 points despite the Rebels scoring 31 points or more in seven of their last eight games.
• They pounded out 270 yards total offense, all of it on the ground as the Pats ran on 58 of 60 plays with the two passes coming on a last-minute first-half drive.
• And, they never gave the ball up while recovering two Franklin fumbles that played a role in Oakland’s second touchdown of the night.
Bass earned offensive MVP honors for the game, scoring all three Oakland touchdowns on runs of 44, 3 and one yard while gaining 111 yards on 15 carries. Precious Valentine led all rushers with 122 yards on 28 carries.
2. Raiders knock off Maryland – Sparked by excellent defense, MTSU beat Maryland of the Atlantic Coast Conference 24-14 Saturday night in front of 22,605, giving the Blue Raiders their most prestigious win since beating Vanderbilt in 2005.
The win was MTSU’s first over the ACC and fourth win over a program from a power conference. The previous three wins came against Vanderbilt.
Maryland went to post a 7-5 record in the highly competitive ACC and earn a berth in the Humanitarian Bowl against Nevada.
“It was a great win for our players, our school and our fans, everyone involved,” said MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill. “I thought it was an awesome win. I’m happy for our players that they could feel the excitement of the fans running on the field to celebrate with them.”
Against Maryland MTSU had 402 total yards, committed only one turnover and didn’t surrender a sack. Maryland, conversely, netted 357 yards, threw three interceptions and gave up three sacks. The Terrapins went 0-for-2 in the red zone.
Leading 17-14 with 22 ticks remaining in the third quarter, MTSU iced the game with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Joe Craddock to Malcolm Beyah.
“(Maryland) hit my leg, and I spun, and my shoe came off,” Beyah said of the touchdown. “I was like, “Forget it.’ I just kept on going.”
Beyah caught four passes for 94 yards, while Wes Caldwell caught six passes for 32 yards. Phillip Tanner led the MTSU rushing attack with 61 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
Craddock was 28-of-40 — the 28 completions mark a career high — for 256 yards and two touchdowns.
3. Price stars in pro playoffs _ Rutherford County native and pro pitching phenom David Price was among the four finalists for ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Finalists.
The magazine describes the NEXT athlete as "the athlete destined to make the biggest impact on sports in the coming year (and years).
ESPN The Magazine’s 2009 NEXT finalists were Joey Logano (NASCAR), David Price (Tampa Bay Rays), Ricky Rubio (Basketball/Spain) and Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons).
Price earned the national spotlight with a stellar performance for the surprising Rays in post-season play with some arguing he should have been on the mound for Tampa Bay at the start of the delayed final game of the World Series.
Price, a former Rockvale, Blackman and Vanderbilt star baseball player, was drafted No. 1 by the Rays in 2007, signing a multi-million-dollar deal, and posted a 12-1 record in minor leagues before making a big splash in the major leagues.
Price came on late to earn a victory for the Rays in the American League playoffs and earned the save in the deciding, championship game.
He also pitched well in the World Series.
4. Middle’s Holt nation’s top scorer – Lady Raider Amber Holt led the nation in scoring, earned several All-American honors and was drafted to play pro basketball as Middle’s women posted a 22-12 season in what was expected to be a rebuilding year
Rick Insell’s Lady Raiders played two games in the Women’s NIT before falling to Kentucky, 68-66 in overtime, in Lexington.
Holt led the nation in scoring with 26.9 points a game and was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year, giving Middle that prize for the sixth straight year, after leading the league with 2.66 steals per contest. She was also first-team all-conference for the second straight year.
She scored a school-record 44 points in Middle Tennessee's 64-61 victory at Louisiana-Monroe, breaking Kim Webb's 21-year-old record.
Holt was drafted by the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA and made the league’s all-rookie team.
5 (Tie) . Siegel girls tennis team state champs – Siegel’s Kelly Gray said the girls’ team always desired to be like the boys team and win a state title.
Gray got her wish.
The Lady Stars brought the state crown to Siegel High School by beating Tennessee 4-2 in the Class AAA team finals of the BlueCross Spring Fling May 20 at Old Fort Park.
“It’s huge,” Siegel coach Jeff Martin said of the Lady Stars winning the state title. “It’s a culmination of a lot of work from a lot of young people. They’ve put in many years. To see it all come together like this is a very special moment.”
It’s the first girls state title in school history for Siegel. The Lady Stars were Class AAA tennis runner-up to Germantown Houston in 2007. Siegel won the boys team title in 2006, and Kyle Wishing won the individual tennis title in 2005.
“It’s huge,” Gray, who has since signed a tennis scholarship with University of Memphis, said. “It’s great to finally get it. We’re on the same level as the guys now.”
Siegel led 3-2 after the completion of singles competition and needed to win one of two doubles matches to get a state title. The Lady Stars made sure there was little drama in doubles competition as the team of Jessica Ginn/Gray beat Sarah Anderson/Megan Buckmaster 8-0 to clinch the match.
Gray/Ginn had momentum entering the doubles match as Gray blanked Courtney Conley in the third set of singles competition after dropping the second set.
Siegel’s Katie Hargrove scored a crucial point by beating Kimberly Smith 6-1, 7-5 at No. 5 singles. Hargrove trailed 4-1 in set two before closing the match on a 3-1 run.
Brianna Wishing, who’ll play tennis at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga next season, disposed of Jessica Ratliff 6-1, 7-6 (2) at No. 3 singles. She rallied to win set two after trailing 6-5.
Buckmaster defeated Siegel’s Hayley Edwards 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 singles, and Anderson beat Ginn 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
5 (Tie). Siegel girls wins state soccer title – Siegel's girls’ soccer team made its fourth straight trip to the TSSAA State Championships one for the record books Nov. 7 by claiming the winners' hardware.
The Lady Stars defeated Brentwood, 2-1, at GPS in Chattanooga for the state championship in the first appearance in the final game by a Rutherford County team.
After losing in the semi-finals the past two years, Eric Shelton’s Lady Stars made the most of their berth in the finals and avenged an earlier 2-0 loss to Brentwood.
Siegel's Mackenzie Gibson scored unassisted at 45:11 in the second half with Caroline Elbaum netting the winner at 51:39.
The Lady Stars finished the season 19-4-1.
The finals’ berth was earned when Siegel held off a Franklin offensive onslaught and won a penalty kick shootout to post a 2-1 win in the semi-finals.
Goalkeeper Sydney Dewberry recorded 21 saves as Franklin out shot Siegel 29-6, but when the match went down to the penalty kick stage after a scoreless overtime Siegel scored on all five kicks while Dewberry twice thwarted the Lady Rebs.
The first half was scoreless with Franklin taking the lead after 58 minutes.
Just four minutes later Tori Hawkins netted the ball for Siegel with Hayley Sloan getting an assist.
Regulation time ended at 1-1 as did the overtime period.
In the penalty kick shootout Siegel was perfect with goals from Kerbi Towry, Hawkins, Stephanie Surgener, Maggie Trollinger and Kim Conrad.
In the tournament’s opening round Wednesday night, Kayla Ernst scored unassisted with four seconds left to lift Siegel to an exciting, come-from-behind victory over Houston of Germantown, 2-1.
Siegel was thwarted through much of the second half but Kim Conrad scored with 62:23 to play on an assist by Mackensie Gibson.
The defensive struggle saw Siegel take seven shots, Houston only five.
Riverdale also represented Rutherford County in the state tournament, falling 1-0 to Dobyns Bennett in the opening round.
7. New MTSU baseball stadium – Chris Massaro remembers driving to campus when he interviewed for the athletic director position at MTSU.
The first facility he saw was Reese Smith Field, and he thought MTSU needed to make a better impression with the community. He got his wish Sept. 26 as MTSU unveiled the renovated Reese Smith Field to the community and allowed fans to take a tour of the new facility that cost around $6.2 million to build, according to Massaro.
“We’ve got all the elements for a successful baseball program,” Massaro added. “That’s one of the sports that people have won without being in a BCS conference. Rice has won it, and Fresno won this year. There’s no reason in the world that we can’t have a Sun Belt program win it.”
Renovating Reese Smith Field was no easy feat with Peterson working tirelessly to raise funds and help Massaro with construction details. Last season ongoing construction resulted in no seating at the baseball field, forcing fans to watch games from Floyd Stadium.
The improved stadium features a top-notch press box and nice seating for fans. Peterson thinks the stadium is second to none.
“We’ve got great coaches. We had fallen behind on facilities. With this and the Stephen B. Smith Clubhouse we’ve got all the elements to build a championship baseball program, ” Massaro said.
8. Middle Half draws 1,700 – The inaugural Middle Half half-marathon was no fluke as clearly evidence by the second event Oct. 11 this year that saw 1,700 runners from across the country sign up for the event.
Building on the initial success that saw 1,000 run in the 2007 event, there were 1,740 registered runners for this year’s half marathon, ranging in age 13-79, and 142 registered participants for the inaugural Kids’ Fun Run. There were five state records broken and more than 1,000 pair of shoes were collected and donated to Soles4Souls. There were also more than 300 volunteers who gave their time to the event.
“The Middle Half,” and the Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department won the “4-Star Award” for Excellence (highest award given) in parks and recreation from the Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association as the best parks and recreation event in the state of Tennessee
The TRPA also honored Melinda Tate, race director and president of the MHM, with its Volunteer Service Award in recognition of the significant contributions she made to the field of parks and recreation.
9. Siegel, Eagleville boys in state tournament – Siegel and Eagleville represented Rutherford County boys basketball in the TSSAA State Tournament last spring.
The Stars, in fact, advanced to the semi-finals, but fell to a nemesis as Ridgeway, which beat Siegel in the 2005 Class AAA semifinals, jumped on the Stars early and didn’t relent in a 66-46 win.
Siegel ended the season with a 27-12 record.
The Stars made the state by winning four straight games after falling to White County in the District 7-AAA finals. They beat Lawrence County, Shelbyville and White County in the Region 4-AAA tournament before hammering Cleveland in the sectional round.
Eagleville simply dug itself too deep a hole in the first half to recover against Moore County in the Class A quarterfinals.
The Eagles, who trailed 40-19 at halftime, waged a furious comeback, but it wasn’t enough in a 71-63 loss at Murphy Center.
The Eagles (26-8) made their second appearance in the Big Dance this decade. They made it in 2001, losing to South Fulton in the quarterfinals.
10. Smyrna, MTCS in football playoffs – Smyrna and Middle Tennessee Christian School joined Oakland in the TSSAA football championship playoffs.
After winning the state championship two straight years, a first for a public school, Smyrna came on strong as the season progressed and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Oakland, 9-3.
MTCS made its first playoff appearance in school history after a sterling 7-3 season in the tough Region 5A, losing to Wayne County, 42-14, in the first round.
11. Shadowens moves again – Football coach Phillip Shadowens left Smyrna after leading the Bulldogs to two straight state titles and led MTMC to its first ever state playoff berths in 2008.
But, shortly after the season ended Shadowens moved again, taking the head coach position at Blackman High School.
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