Big time high school football matchups get started a day early this week as Greeneville heads to Sevier County for a Thursday night showdown.
It will be a battle between two of the top teams in the state as the Smoky Bears are the reigning Class 5A state champions and are presently the top ranked team in Class 5A on a 19-game win streak. Greeneville is now 5-0 on the year and ranked No.3 in Class 4A.
“These type games are what high school football is all about. This is the type of game I want to coach in and that the guys want to play in,” Greeneville head coach Eddie Spradlen said. “It’s two schools that their community really support them. I expect a big crowd with people from all over East Tennessee there. Hopefully we get a matchup between two really good football teams.”
For the Smoky Bears it all starts with quarterback Cooper Newman who has one of the best arms in the state. The junior boasts offers from Michigan State, Georgia Tech and Appalachian State. He is throwing for 215 yards and 3.25 touchdowns per game while completing 74 percent of his passes.
In addition to Newman Sevier County is running for 143 yards per game and that effort is led by Nathan Patterson who has 325 yards and four touchdowns through four games.
“This is a big time quarterback,” Spradlen said. “We don’t see many guys with ACC and SEC offers. He can scramble around and then throw 60 yards. We have to be able to limit those big plays. We have to control the line of scrimmage and not let them get their running game going.”
Thursday night’s contest will be one of the biggest games in the state this week and will draw interest from all around the region. It also gives Greeneville the chance to play the role of underdog, something it is not accustomed to, but is embracing.
“We don’t have anything to lose, so lets just lay it all on the line and see what type of football team we really are. It’s going to take our best effort to go down there and get a win,” Spradlen said. “Practice has been different this week. In some of these region games I have to get them fired up when they know they are the better football team. I don’t have to bring anything extra out of them this week. They know what this game means and they are excited about it.”
Sevier County brings a tough defense into the contest that is giving up just seven points per game. Greeneville is brining an offense into the contest that is scoring 47 points per game, and Spradlen knows his offense is going to have to score on Thursday to stay in front of the Smoky Bears.
For Spradlen the goal on Thursday will be to establish the run game to open the pass game.
Through five games the Greene Devils are running for over 200 yards per game. That effort is led by quarterback Caden Baugh with the help from running backs Maddox Bishop and Jude Dyer.
“On offense we have to win the line the scrimmage and use our run game to open things up for our passing game,” Spradlen said. “They are going to do their best to limit Zaydyn (Anderson) and Taren (Claridy), but you can’t double everybody. Somebody is going to be open and whoever that might be is going to have to make a play.”
The Greene Devils have been equally potent in the passing game with Baugh throwing for 919 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 77.6 percent of his passes. His favorite target has been Zaydyn Anderson who has 543 yards and nine touchdowns through five games while averaging 32 yards per catch.
Greeneville enters the contest coming off a 63-0 win at Sullivan East. Sevier County beat David Crockett 55-14 last week.
The two teams have met 21times in their histories but not since 1996. Greeneville leads the all-time series 13-7-1. The first meeting came in 1925 and finished as a 12-12 tie. Greeneville won for first the time in 1938, 20-0. In the last meeting in 1996 Sevier County won 24-7.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Sevierville. The game will be live on the airwaves on 99.5 FM WGRV.
