The Greeneville football team went through the regular season with a 9-1 record and the captured its fifth straight Region 1-4A title.
But now the stakes get higher and a loss will end the year as the Greene Devils begin postseason action by hosting Knox Carter on Friday night.
“Carter is a good football team. They are 6-4, but they have lost some close football games,” Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said. “This is not your typical first-round matchup. It will be a tough matchup, but one we look forward to. This is the time of year that if we want to keep playing we have to win this one.”
The Hornets come into the game with a 6-4 overall record and as the No.4 seed from Region 2-4A. A week ago they lost a 31-28 nailbiter to Gibbs. Carter does not have a win over a team with a winning record or over a team that made the playoffs.
The game will be a rematch of last year’s first-round contest that Greeneville won 56-7. The two teams have met in the playoffs five times since 2011 and Greeneville has won those games by an average of 50.4 points. The last time Carter scored more than seven points on the Greene Devils was in 1993.
The Hornets’ offense will be led by quarterback Brody Sparks who has thrown for over 2,000 yards and 16 touchdowns. His favorite target is Jordy Scruggs who has 732 receiving yards, 476 rushing yards and 13 combined touchdowns. Joseph Armentra leads the ground attack with 520 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“They like to throw the football around and they have a quarterback who throws it as well as anybody we have seen,” Spradlen said. “They have a kid that they move around at receiver and running back who we have to keep an eye on. Going into last week they had thrown the ball a ton, but last week against Gibbs they really relied on the running back, so we have to be prepared for both.”
Greeneville is coming off of a 48-7 win over Elizabethton, the No.8 ranked team in Class 4A. In that game the Greene Devils were once again led by quarterback Caden Baugh who threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 127 yards and another score. He hit Cole Franklin, Zaydyn Anderson and Taren Claridy for scores while Maddox Bishop and Tegen Begley had rushing touchdowns for the Devils.
“The offense has carried us all year. It’s one of the most explosive offenses in the history of Greeneville football,” Spradlen said. “We have scored a lot of points, but that starts up front. We have to continue to win at the line of scrimmage. In these types of games we have to rely on that offensive line to run the football and provide protection.”
Kickoff for Friday’s action is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Burley Stadium. The game will be live on your airwaves on WGRV 99.5 FM.
The winner of Friday’s game will play the winner of Hixson (5-5) and White County (7-3) in the second round. Those teams will play on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“When you look at all of the brackets, Class 4A, especially on this side of the state is a really tough bracket. When you look at having to go through really good teams like Upperman, White County, Stone Memorial, Alcoa and Anderson County it’s a tough path. But hopefully the Greene Devils come out on top,” Spradlen said.
