The North Greene football team will be back in action on Friday after its bye week, and will be entering a crucial closing stretch of the regular season that starts with a trip to Unaka.
The Huskies (4-2, 2-0) have already clinched a spot in the Class 1A playoffs with two wins in Region 1-1A, but a win over Unaka would guarantee no worse than the No.3 seed. Even with a loss on Friday North Greene could win Region 1-1A, but there would be no room for error. Cosby (6-1, 3-0) and Cloudland (3-2, 2-0) are also unbeaten in league play. The Highlanders and Eagles will also meet on Friday night, and then North Greene will close the season with those two teams over the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Rangers will come into Friday focused on moving the Huskies down that playoff pecking order, and North Greene coach Eric Tilson knows that his team must be focused to make sure they can meet their season goals.
“They could not be any more happy than to try and ruin our season, and they will come into this game with that mindset,” Tilson said. “They have nothing to lose. They are going to play hard. They have played hard all year. We have to hold together, get stops when we need to, and make plays.”
The Rangers come into the contest with a 1-5 record, but Tilson knows that they can be a dangerous team. Unaka is healthy for the first time since week one, and the Huskies will be ready for their best effort because the Rangers still have a chance to make the playoffs.
“Unaka has not had a lot of team success this year, but they are very dangerous,” Tilson said. “They have play makers and they can score from anywhere on the field. They have given up a lot of points, but they score a lot too.”
Last week the Rangers picked up their lone win of the year, 36-18 over Hancock County. In that victory the duo of Connor McKinney and Brynin Repass put on a show, each scoring at least one rushing, passing and receiving touchdown.
The Rangers will use tricky formations and trick plays, and Tilson believes that the most important thing for his squad on Friday will be to play sound, assignment football.
“They will run a lot of unique, well-designed plays. They are one of the best coached team in the area,” Tilson said. “We have to do a really good job playing assignments defensively. Quite frankly we can’t prepare for everything they do. There are too many formations and too many looks. We have to be prepared and be in the correct position every play.”
On defense Unaka is giving up 45 points per game and the Huskies are hopeful that means plenty of opportunities for quarterback Thomas Darnell and his crew to make big plays.
Unaka has already played one game this week, and 40-24 loss to Thomas Walker, Va. on Tuesday in a make-up contest.
Last year North Greene won the matchup 22-20 on the Tundra.
