Movies are signs of the times in Oak Ridge-Jefferson County football rivalry
WHAT: Oak Ridge Wildcats play Jefferson County Patriots
WHERE: Blankenship Field, Oak Ridge
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
In the past few weeks, with "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" dominating the box office, the Oak Ridge Wildcats have been preparing for their own premiere on Friday with the Jefferson County Patriots. It has always been a love story with the football Wildcats and their fans and hopefully this week the horrible ghosts of the past won’t play out as a horror movie at Blankenship Field.
Freddy Krueger, Norman Bates and Michael Myers didn’t line up against the Oak Ridge football team back in the early 1980s, but you would have thought those iconic characters played for the Jefferson County Patriots. For Wildcat fans, it was truly a horror movie when this series began and the early sequels were just as horrific. Oak Ridge enters Friday’s game with the Patriots with an overall series-leading record of 11-7; but the first five meetings might as well have been played at the Bates Motel. The first five games in the series were both frustrating and heartbreaking as the Wildcats lost them all.
The series began on Nov. 19, 1982 on a cool night in Dandridge. The Wildcats were just two years removed from a State Championship and rolled into town with a 10-1 record facing this alien team for the first time. Playing at the Grove Theater that night were several more aliens with the "Empire Strikes Back" and "E.T." sharing this Friday night bill with the Wildcats. Despite out gaining the Patriots 251 yards to 200, the Wildcats failed to score a single point. An Oak Ridge fumble late in the fourth quarter at the Oak Ridge 16-yard line led to the only score of the game. It was the third turnover of the night for Oak Ridge. The Patriots won 7-0. The other movie playing that night in Oak Ridge was "Rambo: First Blood." The first blood and tears were shed in this series that night.
The first sequel in the series came in 1984 on another cold November night in Dandridge. It was a second round playoff game and the Wildcats under then Head Coach Bill Young entered the game 11-0. Playing that night at the Grove Theater was the George Burns comedy, “Oh God you Devil.” There was nothing funny about this night for Oak Ridge fans. The opening drive was nothing but perfection for the Wildcats as they crisply walked down the field with the smooth quarterback play of Tommy Laurendine, a long run by current Oak Ridge Assistant Coach Eric Thomas, and the shifty running of running back, Eric Menefee. The Wildcats were on the board just moments into the game.
Also playing at the Grove that night was the “Terminator” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold would say, “I’ll be back” and so was Jefferson County. With the Wildcats threatening to score again on their second drive, once again the curse struck the Wildcats. Eric Thomas’ fumble at the Patriot 8 was scooped up by Mitch Waldo. “Where’s Waldo”? In the end zone. It was all down hill from there. Two more blockbuster plays would doom the Wildcats. A 60-yard run and a 84-yard punt return was all the Patriots needed to end the Wildcat’s season. The third movie playing at the Grove kind of summed up the Wildcats' game - Chuck Norris’s movie, “Missing in Action.” A side note to this game was that future Maryville State Champion Head Coach George Quarles was the Patriots’ quarterback that night. He would coach his team to six straight wins over Oak Ridge between 2009-2012. That nightmare still continues.
The 1985 season rolled around and for the first time ever the Patriots were coming to our house. At the Grove that night, “ Back to the Future” was playing but at Blankenship it was back to the past. Things started pretty well for the Wildcats as they took a 7-0 lead on a short burst by quarterback Dean Williams and in the fourth quarter Oak Ridge led 7-0. At that point it looked like Oak Ridge was going to beat Jefferson County for the first time. Meanwhile at the Grove Theater that night, “The Return of the Living Dead” was playing and back from the dead came Jefferson County when a fumbled exchange between Williams and running back Greg Campbell at the Oak Ridge 13-yard line resulted in a turnover. Three plays later they scored and converted a two-point conversion to beat Oak Ridge 8-7 in front of 8,000 fans. This game featured future Georgia star and the Buffalo Bills’ seventh round pick, Brent Collins, the first of three brothers from Jefferson County to terrorize Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge was 0-3 against the Patriots.
Film No. 3 showing in Oak Ridge that night was “The Year of the Dragon." That proved to be all wrong, because Oak Ridge would beat the Clinton Dragons for the 13th year in row later that season. Oak Ridge is currently riding a 13-game winning streak over the Dragons. It’s always fun to take a shot at our friends to the east.
Like this year and in 1985, Oak Ridge’s season opener in 1986 was against the Patriots. Playing at the Grove that night was “ Karate Kid 2,” but unfortunately, it was Collins Kid 2 - Todd Collins - who wreaked havoc on the Wildcats. The future Super Bowl Champion with the St. Louis Rams would intercept three Oak Ridge passes; three of seven Oak Ridge turnovers that night. Oak Ridge’s only score came on a 85-yard punt return by Kwayu Graham. The second movie at the Grove Theater that night was the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2." This game was the first massacre in the series with Jefferson County winning 29-7 in Dandridge. “Howard the Duck” was also playing and for sure Oak Ridge laid an egg that night.
Keeping with the horror theme of the early series with Jefferson County, the fifth straight loss of the series came on “Friday the 13th” 1987. It wasn’t Jason Vorhees, the killer of that horror franchise that did the Wildcats in, but this game would do in the Wildcats’ head coach. The nationally-ranked Patriots would end the Wildcats season and the head coaching tenure of Bill Young. The Patriots wracked up 51 points on the Wildcats. Oak Ridge only had 69 yards of offense against the future State Champion Patriots. It was the second worst loss ever by an Oak Ridge team.
Meanwhile at the Grove, Charles Bronson and "Death Wish 4" was playing. Evidently, Oak Ridge didn’t have a death wish because they wouldn’t schedule another game with Jefferson County for another six years. The “Running Man” with Arnold Schwarzenegger was also playing that night and it would take a running coach and a running back to lower the curtain on the Patriots.
By 1993 Oak Ridge was back on top of the high school football scene having won a State Championship in 1991. After six years you would have thought the memories of those Jefferson County losses would have been banished. But Wildcat fans have long memories. From the 51-point thrashing to the annoying public address announcer at Jefferson County, I can tell you for one, I hadn’t forgotten. The then-Head Coach of the Wildcats, Joe Gaddis, was hired in part to beat the “Evil Dead” known as the Jefferson County Patriots.
He told me, “Even during my interview process in 1988, I could sense that there was more than just a casual interest in hiring a coach that would lead Oak Ridge to victories over Jefferson County. The topic came up several times during the interview and in subsequent conversations with members of the administration. Jefferson County had put Oak Ridge out of the playoffs in 1982, 1984, and 1987 (the 1987 game was by a score of 51-0). The 51-0 game came up quite often during the interview and fans asked me for years "when are we going to play Jefferson County" and more importantly to our fans was the question, "when are we going to beat Jefferson County?"
Playing at the Grove on the opening night of the 1993 season was “The Fugitive." It was the story of the relentless search by Dr. Richard Kimble for the one-armed man who killed his wife. Oak Ridge was on a similar search, a relentless search for their very first win over Jefferson County. Not to be anticlimactic, but that night came on Sept. 3 1993 in front of a stunned crowd in Dandridge. The big-play Wildcats had a 91-yard kickoff return by Shawn Williams and a 51-yard touchdown grab by Diandre Johnson from Alonzo Howard and that helped exorcise the demon Patriots, 23-14. Coach Gaddis said it best after the game, "It’s great to eliminate that cloud hanging over the heads of a lot of Oak Ridge fans. It’s a big win.”
The other movie playing that night at the Grove was “The Rising Sun” starring 007 Sean Connery. The sun was rising on this rivalry for the Wildcats and setting on the Patriots.
Oak Ridge would beat Jefferson County twice that season and then again to open up the 1994 season. The Patriots were shaken, but not stirred. Jefferson County would only taste victory over the Wildcats two more times in this series, once in 1996 and the 1997 regular season game.
The red carpet has been good for Oak Ridge since, and it began on Nov.7 In the second round of the 1997 playoffs. Three interceptions by Kiki Houston and a stout defense ended the Patriots season at Blankenship Field. Future Penn State running back Ricky Upton had 146 yards in the regular season game, but was held to 27 yards and was rocked by a “Boom Big Stick” by Matt Smith, setting the tone for this game and the future. Since that time the series has been totally dominated by Oak Ridge.
Heading into Friday night’s game, Oak Ridge has won seven straight games with the last game between the two coming on the same night that “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Rick Bobby” was playing at Tinseltown in 2006. The Grove Theater was long gone by then. That night I was honored to be inducted to the Oak Ridge Sports Hall of Fame. Even that didn’t ease my pain over this series’ beginnings.
I am guessing my radio counterpart in Jefferson County isn’t commiserating over their recent horror show against Oak Ridge like I did against them. It has taken me all these years to get over those first five games, but Friday it’s time for a reboot of the the main event. Time for me to move on myself. The season opener is always special and the fans are always excited because everybody begins 0-0.
At 7 p.m. Friday night, Oak Ridge takes on Jefferson County for the 19th time since 1982. It’s the premier of a new era of Oak Ridge football against an old nemesis. To conclude with an old TV horror/comedy show, which this football series has been, to quote The Addams Family butler, “You Rang?”
David Clary has been the "Voice of the Wildcats" for over 40 years and may be heard during football season on FM 92.7 and on YouTube on the Prepradio Channel.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Movie titles reflect upon Oak Ridge-Jefferson County football rivalry
