Every season fans of Greeneville football enter the year hoping for state championships, deep playoff runs, and wins over longstanding rivals, but for Greene Devils’ coach Eddie Spradlen the first priority is always being Region 1-4A champions.
On Friday night at Burley Stadium the region 1-4A championship will be decided when the Greene Devils clash with Elizabethton.
“This is a big-time matchup with a lot of excitement around it. There will be a tremendous amount of fans here because a lot of people from around the area want to see good high-school football game. This is what high school football is all about. It’s two communities that really support their football programs. It should be a good one.”
The Cyclones come into the contest with a 6-2 record and are 5-0 in Region 1-4A play. Greeneville is also 6-2 and is 4-0 in Region 1-4A. The winner on Friday will take the top seed from Region 1 in the Class 4A playoffs while the loser will be the No.2 seed.
When looking ahead to the playoffs Anderson County (7-1) has clinched the No.1 in region 2-4A. The winner of Gibbs (8-1) and Fulton (6-3) will be the No.2 seed and the loser will be the No. 3 seed. Carter(3-6) and Seymour (2-7) will play for the No.4 seed on Friday.
That means the winner of the Greeneville and Elizabethton game will host the winner Carter and Seymour next week, and the loser will host the loser of Gibbs and Fulton.
“The closer you get to the playoffs the more the level excitement increases. I expect our guys to come out fired up. You have to be dialed in to win this football game. It’s going to come down who wants it more. We have to be our best at all times and we can’t take a play off,” Spradlen said.
The Cyclones will bring a balanced offensive attack into Burley Stadium on Friday night. They average 185 per game on the ground and 129 yards per game through the air.
Quarterback Rhett Slagle will make Elizabethton go. Through eight games he has completed 69 percent of passes while throwing for 1,006 yards and 14 touchdowns.
On the ground the Cyclones have spread the ball around with five different players receiving 30 or more carries. Jaiden Wallin leads that effort with 73 carries for 519 yards and 10 touchdowns. Slagle has also run for seven touchdowns.
“They will do a little bit of both. They can line up and play power football, and they can spread you out and throw the ball if they need to,” Spradlen said. “The last few games they have thrown the ball more. They have three big backs that run the ball hard. They want to be the most physical team on Friday night.”
The Greene Devils have been led by their ground game this season and they are running for 259 yards per game while averaging 10.4 yards per carry as a team. Carson Quillen leads that effort with 1,091 yards and 22 touchdowns through eight games. Dual threat quarterback Caden Baugh has run for 705 yards and thrown for 838 yards with 23 combined touchdowns.
“We have to be able to run the football. That starts up front. They have a really good defensive line, that will be a challenge. But for us to be successful we have to run the ball,” Spradlen said.
Last year Greeneville won the meeting in Elizabethton 23-13 and the Devils have won the last three matchups between the two schools. The two teams have played 78 times since 1924 and the Cyclones lead the all-time series 42-36. Greeneville has played Elizabethton more than any other school throughout its history. Elizabethton has played Science Hill 99 times and has also played Dobyns-Bennett 78 times in its history.
