On this day in Wildcat history, Oct. 11, 1991 - the "greatest high school game"

On this date in Wildcat football history, we go back to Oct. 11, 1991 . This game would give high school fans a sneak preview of the greatest high school game I personally have ever witnessed. It was the state semi-finals game between Oak Ridge and the Central Bobcats that would take place a few weeks later.

Like that semi-final game, this regular season game was played at Dan Y. Boring Field at Central High School in Knoxville. The Wildcats and Central were both in the Top 10 in the state and both had stacked rosters. Central was flat out loaded, led by eventual Mr. Football winner and future Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Todd Helton. Oak Ridge was just as talented with the roster filled with players who are still on top or near the top of most of the offensive statistics in Oak Ridge history. It wasn’t just the Todd Helton vs. Shawn Summers show as most remember it, but it was two great teams.

On the Oak Ridge side, this game featured the likes of Oak Ridge quarterback Mike Underwood plus Ron Black, Dennis Friendly, Chip Hewgley, Curtis Booker and Antone Thrift. I could go on and on. Central had Jimmy Fugate, Billy King, Ricky Kirkland and a kicker named Greg Johnson, who would become a big part of Oak Ridge lore in the second meeting.

The Wildcats had been beaten badly against Helton’s Bobcats in 1990 in a game that proved to be Helton’s only win against Oak Ridge in his five starts against Oak Ridge at quarterback in four years. On this date, Oct. 11, 1991 the Wildcats fell behind 12-0 in the first quarter and it appeared that this game might be another rout like the previous season. Greg Johnson, the Bobcat kicker, would miss his first extra point attempt following Central’s first touchdown on this night and he would miss his last attempt a few weeks later in the playoffs.

The score remained 12-0 into the fourth quarter but with 11:36 seconds to play in the game, Oak Ridge quarterback Mike Underwood connected with wideout Curtis Booker on a 34-yard touchdown reception pulling the Wildcats to within one score at 12-7 following a Chris Huber kick.

Three minutes later lightning would strike and the game would turn in the Wildcats' favor. Helton was pressured all night by the likes of Chris Turner and Dennis Friendly, but always seemed to manage to deliver a pitch or connect with a receiver just in time before he would get hit by a ferocious Wildcat defense. Then came Ron Black and arguably the most memorable call of my career. With just under nine minutes to play in the game, Helton, on a second and one play, rolled to his left on an option play, but got popped by defensive end Jay Ammons, forcing Helton to the inside where he was blasted by another Wildcat, Sean Miller. As he was going down, he attempted a pitch to his running back, Jimmy Fugate. Then entered Ron Black, who picked off the pitch and raced 64 yards in the opposite direction giving Oak Ridge its first lead at 13-12 over Central. As he crossed the goal line, I said, “You did it one too many times Todd Helton." This referred to his seemingly magical avoidance of being tackled or sacked during the game. This one call later drew the ire of the Central fans, administrators, players and even coaches at Central who threatened to not allow me to broadcast the playoff game.

Former Coach Joe Gaddis swears up and down that as late as three years ago he’s still being asked by Central faithful if I am still around. I get told every time I tell this story that I am wrong about the date that the Ron Black play happened in the playoffs, but that’s not the case. It happened on this date, Oct. 11, 1991.

Earlier I mentioned Greg Johnson and his missed kick. Well, missed he did in the playoff game because it was blocked by Chris Turner in overtime to send the Wildcats to the State Championship Game, where they would defeat Gallatin 30-0. Todd Helton’s last high school game would be in the playoff loss to Oak Ridge, but he would lose two too many times in 1991 to the Wildcats. Oak Ridge defeated Central on this date 33 years ago today, 22-19.

Tonight the Wildcats play another rival when they entertain the Farragut Admirals in what is the final regular season home game for Oak Ridge. We will broadcast the game tonight on FM 92.7 and stream the game live on the YouTube Channel-Prepradio. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

David Clary has been the "Voice of the Wildcats" for more than 40 years and may be heard during football season on FM 92.7 and on YouTube on the Prepradio Channel .

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: On this day in Wildcat history, Oct. 11, 1991 - the "greatest high school game"