Eric Taylor scores 4 TDs, Oakland football routs Beech for third straight TSSAA title

CHATTANOOGA – Oakland football has done it again.

Oakland rolled to its third straight state championship with a 42-6 rout of Beech in the TSSAA Class 6A BlueCross Bowl on Saturday night at Finley Stadium to wrap up the 2022 Tennessee high school football season.

It is the fourth state title in five years under coach Kevin Creasy who has built a juggernaut at the Murfreesboro school.

Eric Taylor ran for 175 yards on 18 carries and scored four touchdowns to be named the Class 6A state championship game MVP. He took an Oakland 14-6 halftime lead and broke it wide open with three touchdowns in a 4:27 span. That included TD runs of 1, 4 and 4 to grab a 35-6 lead with 3:00 left in the third quarter.

And then Kade Hewitt, who wrapped up his career with one loss in two years as the Patriots' starting quarterback, topped it off with a 57-yard TD pass to Quincy Jackson, hitting him in stride.

Oakland's defense later made a big stop, stopping quarterback Justyce Law on fourth down inside the Patriots 7.

The Patriots (14-1) finished with 341 total yards to Beech's 199. Darius Johnson led Beech (13-2) with 122 yards on 22 carries.

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com.