A new opponent will visit Burley Stadium in Greeneville, Tennessee, on Friday night, November 14, 2025, for the second round of the playoffs after the TSSAA shook up the playoff format in the offseason.
White County will be making the three-hour drive from Sparta to take on the Greene Devils in the second round of the Class 4A Playoffs.
“The TSSAA has thrown wrinkle into the playoffs this year, but I’m excited about it,” Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said. “It creates extra travel, but the good thing is that we are at home. White County is a really talented team, and they have won a lot of football games. We are going to have to be ready for a tough game.”
In previous years Region 1 and Region 2 teams were placed in one section of the bracket and Region 3 and Region 4 teams were placed in another. Teams from those sections could not meet until the semifinals.
This year the sections were mixed and the No.2 and No.3 seeds were swapped. That led to the No.3 seed from Region 4-4A, White County, traveling 168 miles to Greeneville in the second round of the playoffs. It will be the first ever meeting between the two programs.
The Warriors come into the contest with an 8-3 record and are coming off a 20-14 win at Hixson in the first round of the playoffs. They won seven consecutive games during the regular season, including wins over Class 5A Tullahoma and Class 6A Cookeville. White County did end the regular season with losses to region foes Upperman, 42-0, and Stone Memorial, 16-0.
In week two Greeneville beat Upperman 41-33.
Offensively the plan of attack for the Spartans will be to line up in power formations and run the ball while trying to chew up as much clock as possible.
That effort will be led by Cole Sims who has carried the ball 271 times this season for 1,507 yards and 15 touchdowns. For comparison Greeneville as a team has run the ball 263 times for 2,203 yards and 35 touchdowns this season. Quarterback Tucker Pinion has 83 carries this season and Jojo Dowell has 61.
“They just want to line up and run right at you, and they can cause a lot of problems doing that,” Spradlen said. “They want to control the clock. They have a big running back and a lot of times they will put a lineman in the backfield to be a lead blocker. They try to create mismatches and that means we have to make sure we are doing those little things right defensively.”
Defensively the Warriors are stout, and they have allowed more than 16 points just one time this season. Spradlen expects them to load the box to try to slow the run, but going to the air has rarely been a problem for Greeneville this season.
Mr. Football semifinalist Caden Baugh has thrown for 2,233 yards this season while completing nearly 80 percent of his passes. His favorite target has been fellow Mr. Football semifinalist Zaydyn Anderson who has 1,149 receiving yards on 37 catches, and last week he broke the program for touchdown receptions in a season with 18.
Cole Franklin has a touchdown catch of 80-plus yards in each of the last two contests, and Taren Claridy has a pulled in a receiving touchdown each of the past two weeks.
“On defense they will try to stop the run and make you beat them throwing the ball,” Spradlen said. “We have to make sure we have a good plan on offense. They have a really good defensive line, and we have to be physical on the offensive line to provide protection.”
Greeneville comes into the contest with a 10-1 record and is ranked No.1 in the state in Class 4A according to the TSWA/ USA Today pollsters. The Greene Devils are scoring 49.3 points per game and holding opponents to 10.5 points per game.
The game will be broadcast on WGRV 99.5 FM. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
