STONEY CREEK – The North Greene football team finished the season the right way on Thursday night, dominating on both offense and defense on the way to a 64-18 win over Unaka.
“This is what can happen when you just come out and execute. It feels good to go out doing things the right way,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said. “We faced a lot of adversity in the middle of the season, but these guys showed a lot of fight. These guys my not realize it now, but they are better for going through this and playing through the tough times and finishing strong.”
Already eliminated from the playoff the Huskies knew they were playing for pride on Friday, and they made the most of their last chance to play together. All of the team’s seniors made important plays in their final contest and left the field for the last time on a high note.
“We talked about all week, just leaving everything on the field and I think they did that. Every one of those seniors made a big play that contributed to this win,” Tilson. “They have left this program in a better spot than where they found it.”
The 64 points scored is a new program record for North Greene, passing the 58 points scored against Sunbright just one week earlier.
“It was just about doing our jobs. We were fantastic up front. Leon (Johnson) ran about as hard as I’ve seen him run,” Tilson said. “That led to a really good night across the board.”
A big reason the Huskies were able to score so many points is that they forced turnovers at a near record pace. North Greene picked off Rangers’ quarterback Jacob Carrier seven times, which is the second most single game interceptions in state history. They forced a total of eight turnovers in the win. Levi Gray and Kelson Eastep each had two interceptions while Charles Price, Turner Collins and Jared Swatzell each had one.
“We were where we were supposed to be and they just made whole bunch of plays. It was hard to keep up with, with so many crazy plays. We always talk about playmakers making plays and part of that is creating turnovers. That’s what helped our offense go score tonight,” Tilson said.
While most of Friday big plays were made by the visitors from Baileyton the night started with Unaka‘s Ashton Fuller returning the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown.
North Greene did not waste anytime answering and on its first snap from scrimmage Leon Johnson took a handoff straight up the middle. He burst through the line of scrimmage and was quickly past every maroon jersey on his way to a 52-yard touchdown that evened the score at 6-6.
Johnson finished his final high-school contest with seven carries for 185 yards and touchdown runs of 52, 50 and 64 yards.
It did not take long for the Huskies to take the lead. Two plays into the Ranger’s first offensive series Pirce picked off Carrier, and three plays later Swatzell found Eastep in the back of the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown.
An interception by Levi Gray got the next drive started and Price finished it by catching a pass in the flats before avoiding the defense on the way to a 10-yard touchdown. Johnson converted the two-point try and North Greene led 20-6 with 3:59 left in the first quarter.
Unaka was able to close the gap to 20-12 when Fuller got the behind the defense on a post route.
Johnson stretched the lead again on a 50-yard run around the left corner where he ran away from all of the Rangers.
Dylan Gentry plunged into the endzone from one-yard away and then Eastep returned an interception 30-yards for a touchdown as North Greene’s lead grew to 44-12.
Another interception by Gray set up the final score of the first half. This time Matthew Boyd grabbed a middle screen that covered nine yards and finished in the end zone for a 50-12 lead.
That lead grew to 58-12 three plays into the third quarter when Johson took a handoff to the right. He spun out of a tackle to pick of the first down, but then continued to churn before escaping for a 64-yard score on his final carry as a Husky.
Dylan Davidson scored Unaka’s final points of the season on a 25-yard reception.
Tanner Collins completed North Greene’s scoring with a four-yard run that set the program’s new scoring record.
As a team North Greene ran for 269 yards and produced 337 yards of total offense.
The Huskies wrap up the season with a 4-6 record.
For Unaka Carrier was 15-of-31 passing with two touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Rangers produced 180 yards of total offense.
