The Seymour Eagles came into Burley Stadium on Friday night ready for a battled of unbeaten teams, but it was Greeneville who left unblemished after a dominant performance against their Region 1-4A foes.
The Devils had little trouble taking care of business, handing the Eagles 42-7 loss on Militarily Appreciation night to improve to 4-0 and 2-0 in league play.
Devil head coach Eddie Spradlen said after he game “Like I told everybody they’re a much-improved football team, they’re really good out there. They have good receivers and the quarterback throws a good ball. We had a chance to shut them out late in the first half, we gave them something at the end as the clock was running out to give them a little momentum. We had too many penalties and that hurt us, but we had a chance to stop them and shut em out”.
The Devils opened the game with a shovel pass to Zy Neal for 30 yards out to midfield. Jude Dyer then picked up 11 yards. Kaine Ricker then threw a pass to Taren Claridy, and Claridy spun and twisted his way to the four-yard line. Dyer capped the drive with a four-yard run into the end zone. Gannon Cogdell added the point after for a 7-0 lead, with only 2:25 ticking off the clock.
After the Devils defense forced a three-and-out the offense was back to work. Ricker hooked up again with Claridy for another 35-yard pass play before Neal caught a pass and weaved his way to a 41-yard touchdown. Cogdell’s kick made the score 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
After a Seymour punt the Devils were on the move again. The big play on the drive being a Ricker to Cole Smith 22-yard pass over the middle on third down to the15 yard line. Ricker called his own number and made his way through traffic for the Greene Devil touchdown. Cogdell split the uprights for a 21-0 lead just two plays into the second quarter.
Dyer was the workhorse to start the Devils’ next drive, picking up 28 yards on five carries. Ricker went for 16 yards on the RPO and a face mask penalty had the Devils at the Eagle three-yard line. Ricker walked in from there over the left side for his second rushing touchdown of the game. It was 28-0 with 2:22 left in the first half.
When Seymour got the ball back Levi Carson hit Mason Brown for 31 yards, and the Eagles were knocking on the door at the Devil 16-yard line with 27 seconds remaining in the half. The Eagles went with the bubble screen, but the Devils were waiting for it and blew up the play for a five-yard loss. Then a phantom pass interference penalty gave the Eagles a first down and an offside penalty moved the ball inside the 10-yard line.
Ricker then broke up a pass at the goal line and the clock showed zero’s, but the official ruled there was still one second left, and we all know what happens when you get a second chance. Carson hit Mason for a six-yard score on the last play of the first half for a new score of 28-7.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but the Eagles did put together an impressive drive. That drive ended on downs at the Greene Devil 11 yard line as the game entered the fourth quarter. After the Devils took over they immediately went backwards with a holding penalty.
Then it was Taren Claridy doing Taren Claridy things, he caught a short pass from Ricker on the perimeter, made a couple of defenders miss and was off the races. At the 35-yard line with only one man to beat Claridy made a move on the would-be tackler and made his way to the end zone for a 94-yard score .
On the ensuing drive Neal stepped in front of a Carson pass and nearly took it to the house, but a shoestring tackle brought him down at the 18-yard line. Just a few plays later Ricker and Claridy hooked up again for another score, this time from five yards out. With the kick from Cogdell the Devils were up 42-7 and the game ended with that score and the Devils move to 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in the conference.
Ricker and Claridy both had big nights to lead the Devils. Ricker was 15-of-21 passing for 332 yards and three touchdowns in the air, he also added two more scores on the ground. On defense he had three pass break ups. Claridy was targeted nine times and caught all nine for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Dyer also had a good game carrying the ball 13 times for 63 yards and a score.
Greeneville was penalized a program record 19 times for 166 yards.
Davis nearly broke the century mark to lead the Eagles with 94 yards rushing on 22 carries.
