A week ago West Greene hosted the No.6 ranked team in Class 2A and things won’t get any easier on Friday night as Unicoi County, ranked No.7 in Class 3A, visits The Range.
“We have a big challenge coming in this week with another ranked team,” West Greene coach Caleb Slover said. “We have to battle through it. We have to play as hard as we can, and we have to use this week to get better. It was encouraging to see this group battle last week, and they are going to have to do it again this week. We know next week is a really big week, and we need to find a way to be playing our best then.”
Unicoi County comes into the game with a 7-1 record, while the Buffaloes are 1-6. They have three common opponents in Gatlinburg-Pittman, Happy Valley and Chuckey-Doak. The Blue Devils beat all three opponents, 34-27 over Gatlinburg-Pittman, 36-29 over Happy Valley and 48-21 over Chuckey-Doak. West Greene lost to all three opponents, 51-10 to Gatlinburg-Pittman, 41-0 to Happy Valley, and 21-12 to Chuckey-Doak.
Unicoi County comes into the contest with a dynamic offense that averages 37.6 points per game. Quarterback Gunner Peterson leads the way with 1,693 yards passing through eight games with 18 touchdowns and one interception. Avery Hatcher has 633 receiving yards on 30 catches with six touchdowns. Blaze Rice is averaging 108 yards per game on the ground and has scored 16 touchdowns.
“Offensively they have some playmakers,” Slover said. “They go four wide and stack guys up. They go trips one side and then matchup the other guy one on one. They can really throw the football, and they have running back that is as good as any we have seen this year. They have a lot of options and a lot of weapons.”
West Greene’s offense will look to get more production this week after getting shut out a week ago against Happy Valley. The key will be protecting quarterback Aiden Thompson, and him finding the right guys on the perimeter.
A year ago, the Blue Devils won this meeting in Erwin 42-0. Unicoi County leads the all-time series 18-3. West Greene last won in 2022 and since the Devils have won three straight in the series.
Friday’s game will not impact playoff standings, but West Greene does have a big game Region 1-2A game looming next week with Cumberland Gap. The winner of that contest will host a Class 2A playoff game. Unicoi County has locked up the No.1 seed from Region 1-3A.
Friday will be senior night at West Greene and the class of 2027 will be recognized before the game. Kickoff is set for 7 PM and the game will be streamed on the Greene Sports Zone Facebook and YouTube pages.
