The North Greene football team is coming off its best season in school history and has even higher hopes for 2025, but coach Eric Tilson knows that Huskies have a tough road in front of them.
A year ago North Greene went 6-4 and hosted a home playoff game for the first time since 2011, but the season ended in a 46-7 loss to Harriman. The Huskies have been working hard all offseason to be even better this season, and they return plenty of talent to make that possible.
“We’ve purposely made a challenging preseason,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said. “We have gone up against some good teams in our scrimmages and 7-on-7, and this is as far along as we’ve ever been in terms of install at this point in the preseason. I think we’re pretty excited about the progress we’ve made. We just have to keep that up throughout the season, and let the chips fall where they may at the end of the year.”
The path to the playoffs gets harder for North Greene this year as Region 1-1A grew to eight teams who will battle it out for four postseason spots. Hampton and Sunbright moved into the region this year, joining Cosby, Cloudland, Jellico, Hancock County, Unaka and North Greene. That means the Huskies will play seven region opponents, and their three non-district games will be against cross-county rivals Chuckey-Doak, South Greene and West Greene.
While the slate will be tough, Tilson is excited for a schedule that has something on the line every week, whether that is postseason positioning or cross-county bragging rights.
“We’re good enough to beat everybody on the schedule, but there are teams that are good enough to beat us,” Tilson said. “So, we have to go play consistently and execute well every day. That makes things a whole lot of fun, especially with a senior laden team. We experienced success last year, but we weren’t successful in every game. That is more than wins or losses. We can go out and do all the right things, and execute the game plan, and lose. Against some opponents you can execute poorly and win. Our next step is being consistent about executing at a high level and competing every single week.”
While the path to success may be more difficult this season the Huskies have the right guy leading the way as senior Thomas Darnell returns at quarterback. Darnell has proven he is capable of getting it done with his arm and his legs, and his growth as leader has become evident to Tilson over the offseason. Darnell is heading into his third year as a starter, and Tilson now looks at the senior as an extension of himself in the huddle.
Joining Darnell in the backfield are a pair of running backs the Huskies think can do big things this year in junior Leon Johnson and senior Brayden Weems. The duo are two of the fastest players on the roster and can each bust a big run with the right hole.
Johnson has added weight this year to become a more physical runner, and Weems will be one of the most elusive athletes in the region. Combined with Darnell’s running ability the Huskies plan to use the option attack to befuddle defenses this season.
Freshman Charles Price will also be in the mix to receive carries this season.
Out wide the Huskies have some talented targets that were some of Darnell’s favorite options last year. Out wide are 6’3” junior Matthew Boyd and 6’4” junior Kelson Eastep return as two targets that will be a mismatch for most defenders. Speedster Brandon Weems is back as well and will be a guy the Huskies count on to turn short tosses into big gains.
North Greene will also look to Damian Phillips and Turner Collins to provide depth at the wide out position.
Tilson expects the Huskies to use a tight end more this season and feels like he has two who can get the job done. Junior Dylan Gentry has impressed as a pass catcher in 7-on-7 scrimmages, and Tilson feels like sophomore Casen Massey has shown a great deal of growth over the offseason.
Along the offensive line the Huskies return a lot of experience and that starts with senior left tackle Owen Pierce who has emerged one of the team’s most important leaders.
“Owen has played that left tackle slot for us consistently the entire time he’s been here, and he he’s one of the most technically sound lineman I’ve coached at this point,” Tilson said. “He’s really a thinker. He’s a real physical thinker. He can go out and go maul people, but he really pays attention to those little details. That really enhances his physicality and doesn’t get beat very often.”
Senior Blake Hurd returns for his third year as a starter at center and Tilson will count on him to direct the other four guys with their hands in the ground. Junior Shawn Russell returns as a starter at right tackle and will be one of the Huskies top pass protectors.
At the guard spots Tilson has three guys he feels good about in starting roles in Colten Suggs, Adam Bernard and Caleb Gilliam. All three will have the opportunity to start and regardless of who starts the Huskies expect all three to play.
On the defensive side of the ball the Huskies return a lot of talent in the secondary. North Greene will expect a lot out of Boyd as a lock-down corner, and on the other side sophomore Jared Swatzell has worked hard to earn a starting spot.
At free safety Kelson Eastep will use his length and range to cover ground on the back end of the formation.
At the strong safety spots Brayden and Brandon Weems return as two of North Greene’s most important defenders. Their roles require them to be versatile, sometimes playing in the receiver’s face, sometimes dropping deep into coverage, and at other times they will be some of the defense’s most important run stoppers. The senior twins were two of the team’s top tacklers a year ago, and both will be key parts of the return game as well.
At the linebacker spots Johnson has been a starter since his freshman season, and he will be counted on once again to be the first guy to find the ball carrier. Hurd will be the other linebacker and Tilson expects him to be a bruiser in the middle of the formation.
Levi Gray is another athlete Tilson is optimistic about. The 6’2” junior is playing football for the first time, but through the summer he has quickly shown he has a knack for playing defense.
Along the defensive line Bernard, Suggs and Massey will all be part of a rotation at defensive end. Tilson is really excited about what Gentry can do at defensive tackle. At nose guard Pierce, Russell and Skyler Miller will be in the mix to hold things down in the middle.
In the kicking game Juan Soto returns for the Huskies and after learning the position last year Tilson feels like the sophomore is closer to mastering the craft. With Soto’s ability to send the ball deep on kickoffs the Huskies are hopeful in picking up a lot of hidden yardage in the field-position battle.
Darnell will handle the punting duties.
The Huskies will open the season on August 22 at Chuckey-Doak. A week two game with West Greene will be followed by the Huskies first Region 1-1A matchup at Hancock County on September 5.
Region 1-1A now includes Cosby, Cloudland, Hampton, Jellico, Hancock County, Sunbright and Unaka. A year ago Cosby was the region champion.
The Huskies will trying to advance to the playoffs for the fifth straight year, something the program has not done in its history. North Greene will be looking to win its first ever playoff game.
