By Michael Lindsay
The Cookeville Cavaliers are one of 16 Class 6A football teams remaining in Tennessee as the Cavs cruised to a 35-14 victory over Siegel in the first round of the playoffs on Friday.
“I’m proud of our seniors and our leaders who had not experienced a home playoff game,” said Cookeville head coach Taylor Hennigan. “To be able to play in this environment and get a win against a good team (is big). I’m happy for them; they’re getting a reward for their hard work.
Friday’s victory was Cookeville’s first playoff win since 2017 and is the first under Hennigan.
“This is part of the goal; to host playoff games and win playoff games,” Hennigan said. “This is a big one for our program. I’ve told our program since early on that we’re going to play in meaningful games and host playoff games. To do it and get a win, I hope this is the start of something we can do every year.”
Cookeville was led by quarterback Blake Owen, who posted 133 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 21 carries. Running back Thomas Johnson had 92 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns along with Caden Outlaw posting 85 yards and a score.
“Runs and pounding the ball really worked,” Owen said. “I saw the holes my linemen made; they were playing a great game and I just did my part.
“It was amazing,” Owen added. “I haven’t done anything like this before. Just the feeling in the air, I couldn’t recreate this.”
The Cavaliers struck on the game’s opening drive as they took the ball 64 yards in 12 plays to set up a 10-yard Johnson touchdown run to give the Cavs a 7-0 lead with 6 minutes left in the first period.
Siegel answered with a touchdown less than four minutes later to tie the score at 7-7 after the first quarter.
A long Owen run on the ensuing drive set the Cavaliers up in the red zone before Owen punched in a 1-yard touchdown on the first play of the second period. Following Alonzo Sanchez-Cantu’s extra point, Cookeville led 14-7 with 11:55 left until halftime.
The Cavs went up two scores midway through the second quarter as Caden Outlaw rushed in a 1-yard touchdown to give Cookeville a 21-7 advantage with 6:40 left until halftime.
Cookeville threatened late in the second period, but the Stars intercepted a Cavalier pass and returned it 90 yards to the Cookeville 10-yard line with less than 20 seconds left in the second quarter. Siegel converted the turnover into a touchdown with 7.9 seconds remaining in the second period to make the score 21-14 Cookeville at halftime.
“Obviously a bad way to end the half,” Hennigan said. “You’ve got to reset and look at the first half as a whole. We had a lead going into the half and they really hadn’t stopped us running the football. I’m very proud of the second-half effort.”
After a scoreless third period, Cookeville found the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter as Owen powered in a 1-yard touchdown to give the Cavs a 28-14 advantage.
Johnson tacked on a 4-yard touchdown run with 7:55 remaining to give Cookeville a 35-14 lead.
Siegel couldn’t crack the Cavalier defense in the second half as Cookeville shut out the Stars in the final two quarters to lock up their 35-14 victory.
Cookeville’s win advances them to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs as they’ll travel to Region 3-6A champion Riverdale (9-2) next Friday, Nov. 10.
