South Greene had another battle with Eagleton on Friday night and did what needed to be done in order to earn a hard-fought 27-13 victory atop Rebel Hill.
“We just had to play well. We had to play hard because after last week we didn’t know what we were going to do. I’m just super proud of the boys there. We felt like we left a bunch of points out there in the first half. Just proud of the boys coming out here tonight after what happened last week and felt like we played well on both sides of the ball,” South Greene head coach Shawn Jones stated.
The Rebels welcomed Eagleton to Greene County for only the second time in the short history of the head-to-head series. Just like last year’s game, South Greene jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Eagleton made things interesting and kept the Rebels on their toes. Coach Jones’ resilient band of Rebels forced three turnovers and kept the Royals out of the end zone for most of the night.
The offense was held honest on Friday and did not explode with the number of points the Rebels are used to putting up, but the defense played stellar to make up for it. Charlie Lane, Shawn Ownby, and Heath Norton delivered big-time performances under the lights. Lane, especially, was all over the field and was unblockable at times from his linebacker spot.
“He’s a heck of a linebacker. We’re gonna go as he goes at linebacker. I heard them over there saying ‘you’ve got to block 10.’ I don’t know if you can block 10 sometimes when he doesn’t want to be blocked,” Coach Jones said.
Lane explained his mentality and mindset and what drives him to be successful, “I’ll be tired tonight, but I’ll be just fine tomorrow. Just keeps me going.”
The Rebels improved to 7-2 (2-0) with the win. They can now fully focus on next week’s Region 1-2A Championship Game with Happy Valley on Thursday night.
“Next week is going to be huge. We’ve got big Happy Valley coming here and we’re gonna play for a conference championship. They’re undefeated. We’re going to have to be ready, it’s a short week,” Coach Jones stated.
To get there, they had to deal with Eagleton first. Eagleton was in the mix for the Region 1-2A crown last year, but have been moved to Region 2-2A after offseason realignment. Nonetheless, the Royals presented a tough challenge for South Greene that could potentially serve as a playoff preview in the coming weeks. Eagleton will win the Region 2-2A championship if it beats Oneida next week.
Eagleton began the game with the ball and managed to drive into the red zone, but came up empty after missing a 30-yard field goal attempt.
It didn’t take long for South Greene to get on the board as Nash Rader raced 66 yards into the end zone for a rushing touchdown with 5:39 remaining in the first. The play was successful in part to a huge block laid by wideout Shawn Ownby on the edge. He discussed the block by saying, “Knowing your assignment and knowing where to go. He was there and just made the block on him. Nash does what Nash does and took it all the way.”
Eagleton punted on their next drive and looked to surrender more points before a fortunate break rolled their way, literally. The Rebels had the ball 1st-&-Goal on the 3-yard line before Rader fumbled reaching for the end zone.
It didn’t hurt them in the end and they received the ball again soon after when Eagleton was forced to punt it away again.
The next drive started on the 47-yard line and all 47 yards were picked up by Tripp Neas. The junior back rushed for long gains of 22 and 19 before a short three-yard gain set him up for a three-yard touchdown run. The Rebels led 14-0 with 7:43 left in the second quarter.
The Royals drove 67 yards in 2:17 on the next drive that resulted in Eagleton’s first touchdown. The drive ended with Mason Mitchell finding Wyatt Matossian on a wide-open post route for a 26-yard receiving touchdown. The lead was cut to 14-7 with 5:17 left in the half.
South Greene punted from their own end zone and put Eagleton at the 37-yard line. Eagleton looked like they could tie the game with another quick scoring drive, but Ownby said, not so fast. The junior corner plucked a fourth-down pass out of midair and returned it 51 yards before an unnecessary roughness call took some of that return yardage away.
The drive started at the 49-yard line after the penalty yardage was tacked on. The Rebels moved downfield and eventually scored until the play was called back due to holding. In an unfortunate turn of events, Lane Cope intercepted a pass intended for Lane in the end zone on the very next play and kept the score at 14-7 going into halftime.
The Rebels defense stepped up again to start the second half with Ownby intercepting his second pass of the game on another fourth down conversion attempt. “Nine played well and he’s been a ball hawk back there all year and he got two more picks tonight,” Jones mentioned.
Neither team found any success in the third quarter and both teams entered the fourth with the score still 14-7.
The Rebels finally found the end zone again early in the fourth quarter with a four-yard touchdown pass from Nash Rader to Charlie Lane.
South Greene came up with another clutch stop on 4th down as Heath Norton rushed into the backfield for a sack.
“He stepped up tonight. Heath played really well on both sides of the ball. I’m so proud of him,” Jones bragged.
As if they hadn’t done it three times already, the Rebels came up with a fourth stop on fourth down and it was the one that would put the icing on the cake. Nash Rader jumped a pass at the goal line and returned it 88 yards to the 12-yard line. That set up Tripp Neas with his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 12-yard play. The Rebels led 27-7 after the PAT was blocked.
Eagleton drove the field and scored as time expired, but it was too little too late for the Royals.
South Greene left Rebel Hill with a 27-13 win when the clock hit triple zeros.
The Rebels take on Happy Valley on Thursday night for the Region 1-2A Championship. Senior night will be held on Thursday also. Kickoff is set for 7 PM.
South Greene outlasted Eagleton in another hard-fought battle to gut out a 27-13 win on Friday. Hear what Coach Jones thoughts were after another win. pic.twitter.com/xSeMXpM56W
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) October 25, 2025
South Greene linebacker Charlie Lane was virtually everywhere making plays left and right to keep Eagleton in check on Friday night. Hear how the Rebels game plan and his motivation led to a big night on the gridiron. pic.twitter.com/eUhcsq4NXj
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) October 25, 2025
South Greene’s Shawn Ownby (@S_Ownby12) came away with a pair of key interceptions in Friday night’s win against Eagleton. Hear from the junior and what led up to him making both big plays. pic.twitter.com/GT0zvBbcHa
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) October 25, 2025
South Greene got an important win last night, building momentum towards next week's clash with Happy Valley.
Let's watch some highlights from the second half of the Rebels' 27-13 victory over Eagleton. #FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/Yzi2DGCWGD
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) October 25, 2025
South Greene sends Eagleton packing from Rebel Hill, beating them 27-13. #FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/bV5LrkWc61
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) October 25, 2025
