Oakland football routs Maryville to reach TSSAA championship game for 3rd straight season
MURFREESBORO - Oakland is headed to the TSSAA Class 6A state championship game for the third straight season and fourth time in five years.
The Patriots (13-1) defeated Maryville 38-15 in Friday’s state semifinal to earn the trip to Chattanooga, where they will play Beech (13-1, a 50-39 winner over Bartlett) in the BlueCross Bowl on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. ET.
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Eric Taylor rushed 11 times for 210 yards and two touchdowns for Oakland, which had four scoring plays of more than 65 yards.
Oakland dominated the first half, scoring on all five possessions.
It started on the opening kickoff, as Jeremiah Collins returned it 99 yards to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead.
Maryville (10-4) bounced back and drove 80 yards, highlighted by a 34-yard touchdown run by Gage LaDue to tie it at 7-7.
After a 38-yard Jacob Taylor field goal gave Oakland a 10-7 lead, the Patriots broke out the big plays again, scoring on TD runs of 83, 68 (both by Taylor) and 79 yards (T.T. Hill) to lead 31-7 at halftime.
Hill had 108 yards rushing and two TDs for Oakland.
LaDue led Maryville with 28 carries for 158 yards and a TD. Matthew Clemmer passed for 224 yards, including a 21-yard TD to Cannon Johnson.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Oakland routs Maryville to reach another TSSAA state championship game
