Sophomore Porter sparks Oak Ridge offense
High school football teams across Tennessee got their first opportunity to scrimmage last week, using the controlled settings to evaluate players, build depth and generate video for review.
Oak Ridge High School was no exception as the Wildcats closed out the week with a scrimmage at Fulton High School in North Knoxville.
“I call scrimmages competitive events,” Oak Ridge Coach Derek Rang said. “You get to go against another team, and that’s always good.
“But the big thing is that we got to see a lot of guys and give guys a lot of reps,” he said. “It was pretty basic. It wasn’t anything fancy.”
Sophomore wide receiver Lamiere Porter provided the offensive highlights, hauling in two touchdown receptions against the Falcons at Bob Black Field.
While Rang was pleased to see the offense produce, he said the most-valuable takeaway came from the opportunity to evaluate video after the Wildcats’ first week in full pads.
“Our offense was efficient,” Rang said. “But the big thing is that we have some work on film and something we can correct off of.
“We played with the 10-play pod model and we moved the ball,” he said. “But defensively, Fulton made a couple of big plays on our defense, and we’ll need to correct that.”
Oak Ridge finished 9-2 in 2025 during its first season in Class 6A.
The Wildcats closed the regular season with a loss to Maryville before being eliminated in the opening round of the TSSAA playoffs.
Oak Ridge returns to action Friday night when it travels to Cookeville for another scrimmage against the Cavaliers. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT.
