Owens sets rushing touchdowns mark, returns kick 94 yards for TD

TOP PHOTO: Gavin Owens (6) leaves Blankenship Field at Oak Ridge with Campbell’s single-season rushing touchdown record.

Oak Ridge wins over Campbell

 By Clayton Carroll

OAK RIDGE, TN (WLAF) – Campbell County traveled to Blankenship Field at Jack Armstrong Stadium on Thursday. The Cougars came up short by a score of 55-28, in a game that had a couple of record breaking stats itself. First off the combined score, 83 points, made this the highest scoring affair in the series 39th meeting. Also, Campbell’s 28 points were the most it had ever scored against Oak Ridge (8 & 2 – 4 & 0).

Most importantly, a record was broken by a Campbell County Cougar. With 5:34 to go in the third quarter, Landen Hensley handed the ball off to Gavin Owens. Gavin found the end zone from 1 yard out, after coming inches short on the previous play. This was Gavin’s 18th rushing touchdown on the year.

That number, 18, means that Gavin Owens is the new single season rushing touchdown leader for Campbell County, surpassing C.J Allen’s 17 TDs he had in back-to-back seasons, 2020 and 2021. Owens added one more rushing touchdown with 5:00 remaining in the game as he now has 19 scores on the ground.

Though Owens set the new mark on rushing touchdowns, his highlight reel begins with his exhilarating kick-off return. After Oak Ridge tallied its first score, Owens muffed the ensuing kick-off inside the ten-yard line, caught the ball off the hop and raced to the south end zone for pay dirt. Watch HERE on demand from WLAF.

Owens kick-off return is officially 94 yards. Campbell’s record is a 97-yard bring back by Justin Young in 2007.

Campbell (4 & 6 – 1 & 3) can’t let the loss linger too long, as the Cougars find themselves on the road next Friday at either Walker Valley (Cleveland) or McMinn County (Athens) in Round 1 of the TSSAA playoffs. The winner of tonight’s Walker Valley at McMinn County Region 4 match-up will host the Cougars.

GAME STATS
Campbell County vs. Oak Ridge
10/26/23, 7:00 PM
Regular Season

	1	2	3	4	Total
Campbell County	7	0	14	7	28
Oak Ridge	14	21	7	13	55

SCORING SUMMARY:
1st Quarter
OR: Oak Ridge 2 56 yd Pass from Oak Ridge 1 (CNV) 0-6
OR: Oak Ridge 15 (PAT) 0-7
Cc: Gavin Owens 94 yd Kickoff Return (TD) 6-7
Cc: Rylan Sanders (PAT) 7-7
OR: Oak Ridge 22 14 yd Pass from Oak Ridge 1 (CNV) 7-13
OR: Oak Ridge 15 (PAT) 7-14
2nd Quarter
OR: Oak Ridge 22 69 yd Rush (TD) 7-20
OR: Oak Ridge 15 (PAT) 7-21
OR: Oak Ridge 3 9 yd Rush (TD) 7-27
OR: Oak Ridge 15 (PAT) 7-28
OR: Player 0 19 yd Pass from Oak Ridge 1 (CNV) 7-34
OR: Oak Ridge 15 (PAT) 7-35
3rd Quarter
OR: Oak Ridge 8 37 yd Pass from Oak Ridge 1 (CNV) 7-41
OR: Oak Ridge 15 (PAT) 7-42
Cc: Gavin Owens 1 yd Rush (TD) 13-42
Cc: Rylan Sanders (PAT) 14-42
Cc: Landon Hensley 7 yd Rush (TD) 20-42
Cc: Rylan Sanders (PAT) 21-42
4th Quarter
OR: Oak Ridge 22 49 yd Rush (TD) 21-48
OR: Oak Ridge 15 (PAT) 21-49
Cc: Gavin Owens 4 yd Rush (TD) 27-49
Cc: Rylan Sanders (PAT) 28-49
OR: Oak Ridge 29 41 yd Rush (TD) 28-55

Game Summary	Campbell County			Oak Ridge
First Downs	22			19
Rushes-Yards	25	61		21	251
Recep-Yards	26	276		10	231
Passing Yards	276			231
Comp-Attempts	26	35		10	14
TD-INT	0	1		4	0
Fumbles-Lost	0	0		0	0
Penalties-Yards	4	15		9	84
3rd Down Conv	6	12		3	6
4th Down Conv	1	3		1	4
FG Made-Att	0	0		0	0
Tackles	0			0
Sacks-Yards	0			0
Time of Possession	37:13			16:39

RUSHING LEADERS:
No.	Player	Rushes	Yards	TDs	Fumbles				No.	Player	Rushes	Yards	TDs	Fumbles
6	Gavin Owens	12	35	2	0				22	Oak Ridge 22	7	174	2	0
10	Landon Hensley	13	26	1	0				29	Oak Ridge 29	1	41	1	0
									34	Oak Ridge 34	3	9	0	0
									3	Oak Ridge 3	1	9	1	0
									1	Oak Ridge 1	3	9	0	0
									30	Oak Ridge 30	4	7	0	0
									10	Oak Ridge 10	2	2	0	0
PASSING LEADERS:
No.	Player	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT			No.	Player	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT
10	Landon Hensley	26	35	276	0	1			1	Oak Ridge 1	10	13	231	4	0
									13	Oak Ridge 13	0	1	0	0	0
RECEIVING LEADERS:
No.	Player	Rec	Yards	TDs					No.	Player	Rec	Yards	TDs
9	Luke Lindsay	6	95	0					2	Oak Ridge 2	4	109	1
6	Gavin Owens	13	84	0					0	Player 0	2	46	1
8	Gabe St. John	3	69	0					8	Oak Ridge 8	1	37	1
11	Timmy Gibson	2	16	0					10	Oak Ridge 10	1	15	0
28	KJ Chadwell	2	12	0					22	Oak Ridge 22	1	14	1
									3	Oak Ridge 3	1	10	0
FIELD GOAL LEADERS:
No.	Player	Made	Att	Avg	Long				No.	Player	Made	Att	Avg	Long
PAT LEADERS:
No.	Player	Made	Att						No.	Player	Made	Att
20	Rylan Sanders	4	4						15	Oak Ridge 15	7	8
PUNTING LEADERS:
No.	Player	Punts	Avg	Long					No.	Player	Punts	Avg	Long
20	Rylan Sanders	1	19.0	19					15	Oak Ridge 15	1	16.0	16
10	Landon Hensley	1	39.0	39
KICKOFF RETURN LEADERS:
No.	Player	Ret	Yards	TDs					No.	Player	Ret	Yards	TDs
6	Gavin Owens	9	179	1					10	Oak Ridge 10	2	17	0
									25	Oak Ridge 25	1	0	0
									16	Oak Ridge 16	1	0	0
									0	Player 0	1	0	0
PUNT RETURN LEADERS:
No.	Player	Ret	Yards	TDs					No.	Player	Ret	Yards	TDs
6	Gavin Owens	1	0	0					16	Oak Ridge 16	2	0	0
DEFENSIVE LEADERS:
No.	Player	Tackles	Sacks	Yards	INT				No.	Player	Tackles	Sacks	Yards	INT
									6	Oak Ridge 6	0.0	0.0	17	1

Stats courtesy of Dewayne Baird. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 10/27/2023-6AM)