Oakland Patriots named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the Oakland (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) Patriots have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its fourteenth year honoring football.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For football, only 50 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 17,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Patriots ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Whitehaven 37-0 in the TSSAA Division I Class 6A state championship contest on Thursday, November 29 marked the completion of an incredible 14-1 season — and earned Oakland an invitation to the Tour of Champions.

After dropping a 12-9 decision to Whitehaven in the 2016 state championship contest, the Patriots had to wait an extra year to exact their revenge on the Tigers, when both clubs lost close semifinal matchups in 2017. Not only did Oakland upend Whitehaven in the title game last November, the Patriots dominated from beginning to end, securing their fourth state football title in seven trips to the finals at Tennessee Tech's Tucker Stadium in Cookeville.



Xavier Myers opened the game's scoring midway through the first quarter when he barreled over the goal line from three yards out. Mookie Wilson added a one-yard plunge in the second quarter before Christian Cantrell and Justin Jefferson scored touchdowns on a fumble recovery in the end zone and on a two-yard run respectively. Tennessee Kicker of the Year Garrett Taylor booted four extra points and made field goals of 29, 31 and 39 yards in the second, third and fourth quarters respectively.

Brevin Linnell completed nine of 14 passes for 97 yards, while Myers ran the ball for 107 yards and a score on 29 carries. Jefferson and Wilson ran for 66 and 53 yards on 19 carries collectively as the Patriots racked up 225 yards on the ground. Woodi Washington hauled in three passes for 48 yards, while Jefferson caught five balls for 40 yards. Joe Anderson, who had two tackles for negative yardage, and Tekoy Randolph led the Patriot defense with eight and seven tackles respectively, while Quinton Buczynski picked off a pass and Aaron Moore was credited with four quarterback hurries. Oakland out-yarded Whitehaven 322-81 and allowed just three Tiger first downs.

Oakland opened postseason play with a 49-10 win over Rossview. Then, following a 28-0 blanking of Hendersonville, the Patriots kicked in the door to the Final Four with a 14-7 triumph over Mount Juliet. Oakland bumped Maryville from state championship contention with a 38-0 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with Whitehaven.

The Patriots opened the season with a 46-7 win over Independence. Then, following a 24-21 loss to Maryville, Oakland upended RePublic 70-8 to start the season 2-1. The Patriots did not lose again and outscored their opposition 637-110. Kevin Creasy's club posted four shutouts and limited 12 opponents to 10 points or less, while scoring a season-high 70 points in the win over RePublic.

Having won 13 straight contests to end the year, Oakland set itself up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only are the Patriots ranked the No. 1 team in MaxPreps' Tennessee Class 6A Rankings, Oakland is the best team in all of Tennessee. The Patriots are the No. 87 club in MaxPreps' National Rankings!

These incredible season achievements have earned the Oakland Patriots an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium as we celebrate with the football team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, February 1 at approximately 7:30 p.m. at halftime of the varsity boys basketball game.



For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.