SNEEDVILLE – North Greene’s run game would not be denied on Friday night as the Huskies kept following road-grading blocks across the goal line on the way to a 55-22 win at Hancock County on Friday.
The long and winding bus ride to Sneedville was worth it for the Huskies as they improved to 2-1 overall and picked up their first win in Region 1-1A action.
“Offensively we had a really sharp, solid night,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said. “We didn’t punt. Our run game really picked up, and we expected that tonight. Any time you score 50 points it’s a good day offensively. We had some adversity and had to change the schedule in the middle of the day to avoid the weather, and these guys handled that really well. The big thing is we came out with a region win. To get to our goals we needed to be 1-0 in the region tonight. This was an important step.”
North Greene ran for 228 yards as a team on Friday. Leon Johnson ran for 78 yards and three touchdowns, Brayden Weems ran for 71 yards and three touchdowns and Thomas Darnell ran for 82 yards. Darnel also threw for 75 yards and a touchdown and the Huskies finished with 319 yards of total offense.
“It was execution, we had very few missed assignments. We played well up front and the running backs did a real good job seeing the holes,” Tilson said. “I told those running backs before that game that it was going to open up for them. Teams have been trying to take away the run against us and it has opened up the passing game, but tonight was the opposite. I think that is the key to our offense, whatever you pick to take away we can have success with the other.”
Friday was the third highest point total ever recorded by North Greene. Last year the Huskies scored 56 points against Hancock County and in 2002 they scored 57 points against Cosby. It is the 10th time in program history that the Huskies scored 50 or more points in a game.
While most everything went right for the Huskies on Friday the game started with Hancock County going 75 yards in three plays to score the first six points. The decisive play was a 55 yard run by quarterback Elijah Jones.
Those were the only points the Huskies’ starting defense allowed.
North Greene wasted little time evening the score and marched 65 yards on its opening offensive series. The big play was a 30-yard fade from Darnell to Brandon Weems. Johnson finished things with a powerful three yards up the middle. That started a run of 55 unanswered points by the Huskies.
On the Indians’ next offensive play they coughed up the ball and defensive tackle Owen Pierce jumped on it for the Huskies. Two plays later Brayden Weems took a pitch to the left on an option play and trotted across the goal line for a 16-yard score. Brandon Weems ran in the two-point conversion and North Greene led 14-6.
After a failed fake punt North Greene put together another short drive. This one was finished by Johnson who bowled over the Indians’ defense on his way to a 12-yard touchdown run.
Next an eight-yard punt set up North Greene 15 yards away from its own goal line. Three plays later Brayden Weems went around the right edge untouched and into the endzone. Juan Soto’s extra point gave the Huskies a 28-6 lead before the first quarter expired.
Hancock County started the second quarter by marching down to the Huskies’ seven yard line, but it stalled there, failing to convert on fourth down.
North Greene then marched 91 yards in five plays. Darnell picked up 56 yards when he broke to the boundary and waived off three would-be tacklers. Brayden Weems went up the middle for 20 yards and finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown run.
Hancock County fumbled on the next play and the Huskies got one more chance to score before halftime. Darnell had runs of eight and nine yards before he delivered a tunnel screen to Brandon Weems for a 12-yard touchdown. After Soto nailed the extra point the Huskies led 41-6 with 34 second left in the first half.
North Greene has made it a habit of returning kicks for touchdowns and for the third straight game this season the Huskies scored on special teams. This time Brandon Weems took the opening kickoff of the second half 80 yards up the left side and put North Greene in front 48-6.
“Special teams is a very important part of our game and I bet we practice those returns more than anybody we play,” Tilson said. “We work on that technique and it’s really important to us. What I really liked about the return tonight was Brandon had a great return, but his brother sprung it with a great block.”
On Hancock County’s first drive of the second half North Greene’s Levi Gray intercepted Jones for the Huskies third takeaway of the day.
The ensuing drive was a heavy does of Johnson that he finished with a two-yard plunge that gave North Greene a 55-6 lead with 1:10 left in the third quarter.
North Greene’s reserves gave up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but by then the outcome had been settled.
The competition will get stiffer for North Greene in the coming weeks. The Huskies will take on South Greene next week and follow that with meetings with Cosby and Hampton.
North Greene picked up their first Region 1-1A victory of the season after running away with a 55-22 win over Hancock County. Hear from Head Coach Eric Tilson on how a lethal running attack helped pave the way to a win. pic.twitter.com/upJqGAMLNx
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) September 6, 2025
North Greene’s Brayden Weems had a trio of touchdowns in last night’s 55-22 win at Hancock County. Hear how he was able to find the end zone three times on Friday night. pic.twitter.com/kr6Yj8hL2g
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) September 6, 2025
