Riverdale's Cortland Owens named player of week

MURFREESBORO – The big question centered around Cortland Owens was never if he could throw a football.

He'd proven that during his tenure at Cane Ridge, when he guided the Ravens into the Class 6A playoffs last year.

The question was could he learn the offense after arriving at the school prior to fall practice, and could he get in sync with his teammates.

So far, answer has been yes.

The Riverdale senior quarterback now is on the verge of leading Riverdale back to the 6A playoffs after a year of not making the postseason.

Owens completed 16-of-30 passes for 274 yards with three touchdown passes on Friday night in Riverdale's 39-36 upset of Hendersonville.

For his achievements, Owens was named Monday The DNJ's football player of the week.

"I've got to give credit to the offensive line," Owens said. "They blocked a heck of a game. That was our main focus this week."

Riverdale improved to 5-1 with the win and is now likely one win from clinching a wild card berth in the TSSAA Class 6A playoffs. No 6A team has ever not reached the playoffs with six wins since the Z-plan was instituted in 2009. And some five-win teams have reached the postseason each year.

Owens entered last week as the leading passer in District 7-AAA.

Three of Riverdale's five wins have come against non-district opponents. When the Warriors went 4-6 a year ago, they went 0-4 against non-conference teams.

Owens dismantled the Commando secondary in the first half, completing six passes to standout receiver Marquise Cantrell for 165 yards. Cantrell caught two TD passes in the first half and had three catches of 40 yards or more. He finished with seven receptions for 175 yards.

"Cantrell really did what he does best," Owens said. "He ran in his routes right. He ran every route right. We were on the same page. The whole team was on the same page. They even tried to double team him and it didn't work."

Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.

DNJ PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The Daily News Journal will name a football player of the week all season. Players are honored based on observations made by DNJ reporters. Nominations may be sent to DNJ prep editor Tom Kreager by noon on Monday at tkreager@dnj.com.

Week 0: D.J. Williams, Smyrna

Week 1: Justin Winn, MTCS

Week 2: RoShea Grays, La Vergne

Week 3: Jauan Jennings, Blackman

Week 4: JaCorey Smith, Oakland

Week 5: Cortland Owens, Riverdale

FRIDAY'S GAMES

(All games at 7 p.m.)

Blackman at La Vergne

Macon Co. at Cannon Co.*

Fayetteville at Eagleville

Moore Co. at MTCS

Stewarts Creek at Riverdale

Smyrna at Siegel**

*WBRY (1540-AM, 96.7-FM)

**WGNS (1450-AM, 100.5-FM)