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“If you look back at their success, they find ways to win football games and we got to find ways to close it out,� Green Hill coach Josh Crouch said.

The Hawks, who had left some points on the field earlier, were stopped at the Oakland 2-yard line with a seven-point lead. Crouch sent kicker Caden Chandler out for a 20-yard field goal which gave Green Hill a two-score lead at 17-7.

But the Patriots, who had struggled offensively — some of their own volition and mostly at the claws of the Hawk defense — put their act together and moved 64 yard downfield to Craig Tutt’s 22-yard pitch around the left side to get to within 17-14 with 6:15 to play.

Green Hill didn’t hold anything back, even unveiling its own version of the Tennessee Titans’ legendary Home Run Throwback which spawned the Music City Miracle 25 years ago. Will Butler took Luke Partin’s pitch on the kickoff 31 yards to the Hawks’ 48-yard line. But just when they needed to move the chains, they went three and out and had to punt.

Then the Patriots found some long ball of their own as quarterback Donte Cameron ran the ball up the middle and found lots of clearing for a 78-yard gut-punch touchdown with 4:13 to play.

Butler returned the ensuing kickoff 31 yards the conventional way. Green Hill converted a first down at the Oakland 42 before the final pass of Kannon Burroughs’ illustrious high school career was intercepted by safety Kyrie Gainor at the Patriot 34 with three minutes left.

The Patriots, who were penalized 15 times for 118 yards, got 15 on a Green Hill facemask foul for a first down before the Hawks spent their final timeout, enabling Oakland to run out the clock and advance to this week’s semifinal at home against city rival Blackman, which routed Maryville in stunning fashion, negating what has become a traditional Oakland-Maryville Black Friday semifinal.

Meanwhile, Green Hill saw a nine-game winning streak snapped as the Hawks returned to the Hill with a final 10-3 record.

“It’s going to be hard to match this group,� said Crouch, who saw 39 seniors end their high school football careers. “They can play with anybody in the state. I think we proved it tonight.

“I’m not one for moral victories at all. There’s no such thing as a good loss. At the end of the day, I’ve got to be better. Had good opportunities and just didn’t make them.�

But the Hawks never played like an underdog, taking the fight to Oakland right from the start. Burroughs’ 37-yard pass to a leaping Will Butler set up Zach Cartwright’s 6-yard touchdown run on Green Hill’s first offensive series for a 7-0 lead.

Oakland struck back with a 29-yard scoring sprint by the running quarterback, Cameron, who led all rushers with 156 yards on 16 carries.

Green Hill’s offense went back to work. The Hawks were denied a Burroughs touchdown by a holding penalty which drew the ire of Crouch, which in turn resulted in a 15-yard penalty. But Green Hill overcame that to reach the Oakland 3-yard line. But the Hawks weren’t able to overcome a fumble which was recovered by Gainor on the 4.

Oakland ended up punting. But the Patriots got the ball back in scoring position when the punt snap, perhaps because of a stiff breeze in the offense’s face, sailed over Chandler’s head. Chandler recovered the ball and even got off a desperation kick which went for minus-8 yards at the Green Hill 26.

But the Patriots failed to score as passes into the end zone on third and fourth downs were dislodged by the Hawks, the latter by Mike Palmer with a minute left before halftime.

Burroughs, who completed 11 of 20 passes for 157 yards, found Dylan Hawks open for a 34-yard throw to the Oakland 38 as time was ticking down. But an incomplete pass and a scramble which ended back at the line of scrimmage ended the first half in a 7-7 deadlock.

Green Hill got the ball to open the second half and broke the tie in peculiar fashion. Hawks caught a Burroughs pass but fumbled just outside the goal line. With the ball rolling through the end zone toward the back line, Hawks beat the Patriot defenders to the pigskin and recovered it before it went out of bounds, which would have been a touchback for Oakland but instead was a go-ahead touchdown for the visitors.

Then it was Oakland’s turn to lose a score to a penalty and the Patriots turned the ball over on downs at the Hawk 35.

Green Hill drove all the way to the Oakland 2, after converting a fourth down just shy of midfield, setting up Chandler for the chip-shot field goal.

“The touchdown on the first half with Kannon on the hold, the fumble on the 2-yard line, kicking a field goal there at the end, not getting a stop up two scores,� Crouch said. “Playing great defense for 3 1/2 quarters and just didn’t finish it out. Mistakes on the kicking game, we had a high snap.

“I think when we look back at the film, we had opportunities to make and just didn’t execute at the end.�

While 39 seniors is a large class, Crouch wasn’t having any talk about starting over in 2026, sounding like someone who has plenty of talent with names people who aren’t closely familiar with the roster don’t know about yet.

“Our program will show that we as coaches develop our talent,� Crouch said. “I think a lot of people will see there are kids that are waiting in the wings that are ready to take over.�

Oakland 21, Green Hill 17Green Hill|7|0|7|3—14

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First quarter

Green Hill—Zach Cartwright 2 run (Caden Chandler kick), 7:14.

Oakland—Donte Cameron 29 run (Jose Hernandez kick), 4:18.

Third quarterGreen Hill—Dylan Hawks fumble recovery in end zone (Chandler kick), 7:27.

Fourth quarterGreen Hill—Chandler 20 FG, 9:46.

Oakland—Craig Tutt 22 run (Hernandez kick), 6:15.

Oakland—Cameron 78 run (Hernandez kick), 4:13.

Team statistics|GH|Oak

First downs|17|11

-Rushing|8|8

-Passing|4|2

-Penalty|5|1

Rushes-yards|38-142|37-259

Passing yards|157|57

-Comp.-Att.-Int.|11-20-1|3-8-0

Punts-avg.|2-12.5|2-41.5

Penalties-yards|8-70|15-118

Lost fumbles|1|0

Individual statistics

RUSHING—Green Hill: Nathaniel Brogden 5-5, Kannon Burroughs 13-59, Zach Cartwright 20-78. Oakland: Kamani Bass 4-26, Donte Cameron 16-156, Craig Tutt 15-92, Kam Morton 2-(-15).

PASSING—Green Hill: Kannon Burroughs 11-20-1—157. Oakland: Kam Morton 2-6-0—17, Donte Cameron 1-2-0—40.

RECEIVING—Green Hill: Will Butler 1-37, Dylan Hawks 4-59, Ayden Sadler 2-27, Luke Partin 3-24, Zach Cartwright 1-10.