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2005 Wildcats defeat Dragons 28-13 at Jamestown
Wildcats defeat Dragons 28-13 at Jamestown
By MAC McLEOD, OCN Sports The conversation was based on the fact that Livingston Academy, although 2-2 prior to the game, was big, strong, versatile and quite explosive on both offense and defense. That plus the fact that the Dragons had only one victory in five games appeared to set the stage for a Wildcats walk through the park. As it turned out, the 28-13 LA victory was certainly no "walk in the park", and "ugly" was perhaps the most fitting description of the game, and very few non-starters needed a shower after the game. Wildcats Head Coach Matt Eldridge stated after the game, "I take full responsibility for our showing tonight. After last week's close loss, we let the kids have a few light days of practice, and it definitely showed up tonight. This was not pretty tonight, and we played just like we practiced. "Those late scores saved us, which indicates we can do it if we have to, but we won't have any more weeks of practice like we had last week." On the other hand, it appeared the Dragons had a very intense week of practice. Despite their losing record, York was well prepared for the game, and as Livingston lineman Wade Ford pointed out, "This is their Super Bowl, and they played like it. "You have to give them credit, they brought their best tonight and gave it all they had." The normally high-powered running attack for the Wildcats got some time off in the first half as Livingston immediately took to the air. In the first quarter, LA ran the ball only three times and gained only 23 yards while completing 5 of 8 passes for 61 yards. Eight of the 23 yards on the ground gave the visitors their first score of the night. With 5:15 remaining in the period, quarterback Wilson Cates scampered 8 yards untouched around his left side for Livingston's first touchdown. Jonathan McGill kicked the point-after, and the Wildcats were on top 7-0. But even with the score, it wasn't a smooth quarter by any means. Cates, the senior signal caller who has routinely marched his team up and down opponents' fields with the skill of a surgeon, fumbled once and was sacked once. He was caught four times for losses in the first half alone. For the night, he would be sacked twice more, but in the end, would race 70 yards late in the game on an option play that would finally break the backs of the Dragons. "It's apparent that they (York) weren't going to let Cates hurt them tonight," Coach Eldridge said. "They covered him well, but in the end, that probably hurt them when Jamey (Vaugh) got free." After Livingston took the lead in the first quarter, York marched right back down the field on an 87-yard drive that took 18 plays and used over 8 minutes off the clock to post its answering score. A missed pass for 2 points on the conversion try was the only thing that gave the Wildcats the 7-6 lead at intermission. In the first half, Livingston put seven first downs on the board, but ran the ball only seven times for 10 yards. In the air though, Cates hit 10 of 16 passes for 122 yards. Three fumbles killed everything the Wildcats tried to do offensively. Offensive Coach Danny McCoin moaned at the half, "Too many mistakes. We fumbled three times, dropped a touchdown pass and let them (York) get the momentum. We've got to do much better on both sides of the ball in the second half. Period." But seconds into the third frame, the Wildcats were back to their old ways. After making the Dragons kick off for a second time after the first one went out of bounds, Steven Morgan fumbled the ball and York was in action at the Livingston 42. On the very next play though, Morgan redeemed himself by intercepting a York pass. The Wildcats attack went back to its bread and butter and stayed on the ground. Cates was sacked for a 5-yard loss on the first try, and Jake Reeder was stopped for no gain on the second try, but a 15-yard penalty kept the march alive. Vaughn was slammed down for no gain at the LA 25 on the next play, then on a third and 10, the fleet-footed back took a pitchout from Cates around the right side, then outraced defenders for a 75-yard score. Vaughn explained after the game, "They had been playing off Wilson all night. This time they thought he would keep it and he didn't. "That score hurt them, and it finally got us back in the game." Vaughn ran in the point-after attempt, and, though is was slim, the Wildcats had the lead at 15-6. But York wasn't about to fold. Using the power running of Jordan Potter, the Dragons took the ensuing kickoff and marched 99 yards back down the field, with Potter going the final 15 right up the middle of the Wildcats defense. The point-after kick was good, and with only 8:23 left in the contest, York trailed by only 2 at 15-13. Despite all their mistakes on the night, the Wildcats offense still had spark, and it took only three plays on the next drive to take the ball 70 yards. Vaughn ripped off 56 yards in two plays, and Mike Jones powered up the middle from 14 yards out for the score. McGill missed his first attempt in three weeks on the point after, but it didn't matter, Livingston was on top 21-13. For the final score of the night, the Dragons decided to key on Vaughn on a sweep to the right, but this time Cates kept the ball and raced 70 yards untouched for the night's final touchdown. "It finally got them," Vaughn added. "They would key on Wilson, and, after I scored, they keyed on me, and that time he caught them napping. " Reeder said after the game, "They (York) took advantage of everything we gave them, and we gave them a lot. It certainly wasn't pretty, but we won. "Now we have got to get serious about Austin East. I promise you practice will be a lot more intense this week, and we'll be ready Friday. "It's kinda hard to explain, but even though this was York, I don't think we took them serious and they certainly did. Hats off to them for a tough game, but when it counted, we did what we had to do." This week's Livingston Academy Homecoming contest will be played at Tom Davis Stadium starting at 7 p.m.
LA Volleyball vies for top spot in district
MaryJane Young/OCN Sports The Livingston Academy Wildcats volleyball team played very well last week. On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the team defeated Smith County 25-14 and 25-17. The Cats also defeated the Bees from Upperman, for a tie for first place in the district, by winning 28-26 and 25-21. The LA volleyball team played Macon County on Thursday, Sept. 22 in five very close matches. Scores were 22-25, 27-25, 25-23, 22-25, and 15-17 in the losing effort. Then the team was on the road to the Glencliff Tournament held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 23 and 24. Livingston Academy won the Silver Division by defeating Antioch, Pearl-Cohn, Maplewood, CPA, and Clarksville North East. The week's games moved Livingston Academy's overall record to 24-9 and 9-1 in the district. LA Volleyball Coach Merl Smith said, "We're playing much better, our defense has improved a lot, our serving is still our strong point, and we're ready for district tournaments." After a scheduled trip to Red Boiling Springs to play the home team and Jackson County on Tuesday, Sept. 27, the Wildcats are slated to travel to Woodbury to take on Cannon County and Monterey on Thursday, Sept. 29. Then the Cats are headed to Sparta on Monday, Oct. 3 to play White County.
Jr. Wildcats win two games in three days
Leah Thomas/OCN Sports In a week in which the Overton County Jr. Wildcats had to play two games in three days, they came up winning big. The Jr. Cats defeated Jackson County 28-6 on Tuesday, Sept. 20, and came back on Thursday, Sept. 22 to defeat Sparta 14-6, running the season record to 6-1. The Jackson County game began with Ethan McDonald taking the opening kickoff 43 yards to Jackson County's 33. On the second play from scrimmage, McDonald took the ball in from the 33 for the touchdown. The conversion was no good, but the Jr. Cats led 6-0. Upon Jackson County's opening drive after the Jr. Wildcats' touchdown, defensive end Jacob Parsons recovered a fumble on the Jackson County 24 yard line. The Jr. Wildcats moved the ball down to the 1 yard line, where quarterback Brannon McCoin punched it in for the TD. The extra point was good on a Hayden Hill to Jake Huitt pass, making the score 14-0. After a strong defensive stance, the Jr. Wildcats again took over with their strong running game. They drove the ball down the field to Jackson County's 21 yard line. McDonald then took it in for the final 21 yards for the Jr. Cats' third touchdown in the half. The conversion was good on a McCoin run, making the score 22-0. With 1:20 left in the half, Jackson County scored its lone touchdown. The third quarter saw both defenses holding the offenses for no scoring. In the fourth quarter, linebacker Cody Stafford intercepted a pass and brought it back to Jackson County's 2 yard line. Stafford then drove it in from the 2 for the touchdown. The conversion was no good, making the score 28-6. The Jr. Wildcats defense held Jackson County the rest of the way in another outstanding game. The offensive line played great, opening holes for the backs so the Jr. Cats could play ball control. Members of the offensive line are Jackson White, J.W. Lee, Jordan Danner, Justin Hill, and Seth Kilgore. Individual Statistics Passing Receiving Lead Rushers Lead Tacklers Interceptions Fumble Recoveries The second game of the week matched up a big Sparta team against the Jr. Wildcats. The Jr. Wildcats received the opening kickoff and returned it to their own 39 yard line. Behind the strong running of Ethan McDonald and Cody Stafford, they drove the ball down to the Sparta 15 yard line. Quarterback Brannon McCoin then bootlegged around left and in from the 15 for the touchdown. Hayden Hill hit Caleb Sells for the conversion, making the score 8-0. For the rest of the half, both teams were pounding each other. The Jr. Wildcats offense moved the ball, but were unable to put it in the endzone. The defense did not allow Sparta a first down throughout the half. Sparta received the kickoff to open the second half, and again the tough Jr. Wildcats defense held. The Jr. Cats took over on their own 41, and moved the ball down to the Sparta 21. Then fullback Stafford took the ball right at them and strong-armed his way in for the touchdown. The conversion was no good, making the score 14-0. Late in the third quarter, on a third and long, Sparta scored their lone touchdown, making the score 14-6. The Jr. Wildcats played ground control to eat up much of the fourth quarter. Sparta got the ball back one last time and was driving the ball, but Stafford deflected an attempted pass and McCoin intercepted, sealing the Overton County victory. The Jr. Wildcats' next game will be at DeKalb County on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. Individual Statistics Passing Receiving Lead Rushers Lead Tacklers Interceptions Fumble Recoveries
Jr. Wildcats soccer team closes regular season 9-0 ÊThe Overton County Jr. Wildcats soccer team ended their regular season undefeated, with a record of 9 wins and no losses. The Lady Cats' last home game was on Monday, Sept. 19 against White County, where four different players scored for Overton County. Leading the scoring was Kathryn Nigro and Heather Marshall with 2 goals each, and Savannah Vaughn with her first goal of the season. The Lady Cats also received a goal from Allyssa "Bruce" Thompson, which was scored when Coach Phil Marshall called her up from her defensive position to take a penalty kick. Thompson put a strong leg on the ball, firing a shot past the White County goalkeeper to score her first goal of the season. The Jr Wildcats defeated White County by a score of 6-2. The last regular game of the season against second place Avery Trace Middle School was the toughest contest of the season. The game is played with two 35 minute halves, for a total playing time of 70 minutes. Neither team scored 67 minutes into the game, in what was looking to be a 0-0 tie; however, with less than 3 minutes left to play, Heather Marshall launched a corner kick right on target in front of the goal, and Kathryn Nigro charged in to head the ball into the back of the net. This was the second time this season that Marshall and Nigro connected on this same well-practiced play. The Jr. Wildcats outscored their opponents 49-15 on the regular season, locking in the first seed position for the Upper Cumberland Soccer Tournament, which will be held on Friday evening, Sept. 30 and Saturday evening, Oct. 1 at the Cookeville Soccer Complex. The Jr. Wildcats will be defending their tournament title from last season.
Fourth tie leaves Lady Cats scratching for victories By BETH UNDERWOOD, OCN Sports LA Soccer Coach Ethan King said, "The tie almost assures that we will not finish first this year in the regular season. With four ties, the season turns into what could have been. Now 3-4-4, (we could) have easily been 7-4. Then again, we could have been 3-8." The tie was the teamÕs third in less than three weeks. On Monday, Sept. 12, the girls ended a contest against Friendship Christian tied at 0-0, although both teams had chances to hit the post, King said. As the team moved into the Franklin County tournament on Friday Sept. 16 and Saturday, Sept. 17, LA dropped a 0-2 game to Franklin County. "Brianna Colson had a good game with 12 saves," Coach King said, "(but) was unable to play Saturday morning." In SaturdayÕs action, LA first faced Mount Juliet. "Heather Camp played goalie with Colson unable to play, and gave up one in the first half," Coach King said. Early in the second half the score was tied, with Mt. Juliet scoring on their own goal due to pressure from Devin Thompson and Allie Baltimore. A goal from Jessica McDonald gave LA a second half lead. But Mt. Juliet came back to tie the score, then advanced in the tournament by taking the shootout, 2-1. "The girls showed a lot of heart scoring the two goals in the second half," Coach King said. In their last game of the weekend tourney, LA dropped a 0-2 game to Lebanon. Both goals were scored in the second half. "There was good competition there, and it was a good experience for the girls," Coach King said. "Our lack of depth really showed with three games in less than 24 hours. But we are getting better, no doubt about it." With four regularly scheduled games, and one make-up game, before tournament time, every victory will have to count. "This week is an important week," Coach King said. "We can still finish second in the district, but would need help to finish in first." After a visit to Wilson Central for a make-up game on Monday, Sept. 26, and hosting DeKalb County on Tuesday, Sept. 27, the Lady Wildcats will be on the road Thursday, Sept. 29 for a 5:30 p.m. game against the Lady Dragons of York Institute. Livingston Academy is scheduled to host Station Camp in a 7 p.m. game Tuesday, Oct. 4.
Overton County News |
