The Greeneville football team will be taking its high-powered offense on the road this week as it travels to Seymour for a Region 1-4A contest.
“We are going to go down there, and we have to play with the same intensity that we have been playing with against a much improved Seymour team,” Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said. “We need to have a really good week of practice, and make improvements during practice this week. We can’t stay the same we have to be getting better each week.”
Greeneville comes into the contest coming off a 49-0 win over Northivew Academy, and will be looking to put up another big number on the scoreboard this week. The Greene Devils are averaging 41.7 points per game this season and that includes a game against Morristown West that was called before halftime.
A week ago the Devils produced 408 yards of total offense with quarterback Caden Baugh going 10-of-10 through the air for 197 yards and two scores. He also ran for two touchdowns. Maddox Bishop got the day started with a 50-yard touchdown run and became the team’s third different leading rusher in as many games.
Spradlen expects the Eagles to load the box to stop the run this week and that could mean receivers Zaydyn Anderson, Taren Claridy and Cole Franklin have room to run on the outside.
“Last week it took us a little while to get the ball for the first time, but those guys scored something like 35 points on 15 plays in the first half,” Spradlen said. “We have to win on the offensive line this week. We need to lean on that offensive and have that mentality that nobody is going to stop us. We don’t want to punt the football.”
Seymour comes into the game with a 2-1 record and is coming off and 27-7 win over Cocke County. The Eagles will spread the ball out on offense and be led by quarterback Madden Guffey who last week was 6-for-8 for 139 yards.
“They are going to spread it out on offense and do a lot of RPO stuff,” Spradlen said. “They pretty much run with four receivers all the time. They have a good left-handed quarterback that throws it well and they have a hard-nosed running back. It will be a good challenge for us. This past week we played a team that ran it 90 percent of the time, and this week they will mix it up and take what is there.”
Seymour is off to its best start since 2022 under first-year head coach Caleb Olive, and has not won three of its first four games since 2021. That was the last time the Eagles had a winning record, they went 6-5 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Last year the Eagles were 2-8.
This will be the fifth time ever the Greene Devils and Eagles have met on the gridiron, and Greeneville is 4-0 in the series with an average margin of victory of 52.8 points. In the last meeting in 2022 Greeneville won 61-0, and three of the previous four contests have been shutouts for the Greene Devils.
Kickoff for Friday is set for 7:30 p.m. in Seymour. The game will be broadcast live on WGRV 99.5 FM.
