Oakland-Blackman football game marred by postgame fight

A fight on the Blackman sideline immediately following Oakland's 13-12 comeback win over the Blaze on Friday night at the Inferno marred a Rutherford County classic between the two Murfreesboro rivals.

Following a blocked field goal as time expired to preserve the win for the Patriots (5-0, 1-0 Region 3-6A), at least one Oakland player ran past the Blackman sideline and toward the Blaze student section in the stands as teams began to line up for the postgame handshake.

A fight ensued from that point, as Blackman players were seen fighting with at least one Patriot player.

Rutherford County Sheriff Department School Resource Officers were on the scene in to attempt to break up the fight. At least one player from both teams and at least one coach from both teams were subjected to mace during the attempts to break up the fight.

"I'm not sure, but I do think that we were selfish and showboating and Blackman whooped us 47 1/2 minutes and deserved to win until the very end, until we finally made a play," Oakland coach Kevin Creasy said.

"And then we acted like we haven't ever made a play before and went over there and showed out, and I can't blame them for being upset," Creasy continued. "Emotional game like this, a game they probably should have won, and at the end of it, we had some guys that need to learn some class."

The postgame melee occurred after Blackman (2-3, 0-1) had a 37-yard field goal, which would have won the game, blocked by Oakland's Kyrie Gainor as time expired.

Blackman led the game until late in the fourth quarter, taking a 3-0 lead into halftime. That turned into a 5-0 advantage after a safety on Oakland's first possession of the second half, and the Blaze scored on their ensuing drive to go up 12-0.

Oakland then scored 13 consecutive points to avoid the upset, including a 5-yard run by Craig Tutt with 1:57 left in the third and a 1-yard run by TT Hill with 2:25 remaining in regulation.

It is left to be seen what punishments may be handed out after the fight. Blackman coach Matt Kriesky declined to comment about the incident following the game.

Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter,