The dust has settled on the first ten weeks of the season and only one game is left. South Greene (3-6, 0-2) marches into the final game of the season bruised and banged up and hit the road for a date with Happy Valley (8-1, 2-0) on Friday night to close out the season.
“They are a great football team,” South Greene Defensive Coach Joe Case said. “They are always in the mix and there’s been times when we’ve had really good football teams and we go up there and it’s always been a dog fight. They do a great job. Got a great team and got a lot of skill this year. Great lineman. We expect a challenge and expect our kids to rise to the occasion and hopefully get after it a little bit.”
It’s not been quite the season South Greene wanted. The Rebels looked to get back on track after starting the season on a two-game losing streak followed by a three-game winning streak. A loss at home to West Greene in week six changed the season and set the Rebels up for another disappointing loss the following week to Cumberland Gap. Both losses locked South Greene into the No. 4 seed when playoffs rolled around.
In the meantime, Happy Valley has been dominating everybody. The Warriors are winning by an average of 38 points this season and are on a four-game winning streak. Happy Valley has won 32 of the last 34 regular season games dating back to an upset win on Rebel Hill in 2023. South Greene was the last team to defeat Happy Valley in region play dating back to a meeting on Warrior Hill in 2024. Since then, Happy Valley has won seven-straight region games.
Playoff seeding doesn’t matter in this year’s contest. While previous seasons decided a Region Champion and playoff seeding, both fates have already been decided. South Greene will travel next week as the No. 4 seed and Happy Valley locked up a second-straight Region Championship and the No. 1 seed with a 41-0 win over West Greene two weeks ago.
Happy Valley leads the all-time series 30-18 heading into Friday. The Warriors have lost five of the last seven though.
The Warriors are one of the top offenses in the state and average 45.7 points per game and the suffocating defense only allows 8.5 points per game. Another top scoring unit in the state.
The rushing department has produced 2,193 yards between a dozen different rushers led by seniors Lane Parker (715) and Nalique Anderson (675). Although Happy Valley has amassed 2,555 all-purpose yards this season, not one player has over 1,000 solo yards.
When asked what to expect from Happy Valley’s offense Coach Case joked about the amount of run plays the Warriors will run. “Run, run, run, run, run. Counter. They’re gonna run it, run it, run it, then after they run it, they are gonna run it again. They’re gonna run the counter. They may throw it once in a blue moon to try to keep you honest or catch you,” Coach Case said.
South Greene averages 22.7 points per game on offense and averages 27.0 points allowed on defense.
Happy Valley won, 20-14, on Rebel Hill in last season’s Region 1-2A Championship.
According to Coach Case, South Greene’s three keys to winning is to win the turnover battle, follow the “big 4”, (stance, alignment, assignment, execution), and play Rebel football.
Kickoff is set for 7 PM at Happy Valley High School on Friday night.
