On Halloween night North Greene’s offense provided fans at the Tundra with plenty of treats, but Unaka was able to land a few tricks in the second half. Nevertheless the Huskies finished out the regular season with a 49-24 win.
“I was really pleased with how we executed early on,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said. “It’s a pretty good night offensively when you are scoring on just about every play. That means guys are in the right place at the right time and playmakers are making plays. Our offensive line played great, and the defense was great with the shutout in the first half.”
With the win North Greene closes the regular season with a 6-4 record and is 5-2 in Region 1-2A. That paired with Hampton’s 54-22 with over Cloudland gives North Greene a home game in the first round of the playoffs for just the fifth time in program history.
North Greene will host Oliver Springs next week in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs. The Huskies will try to win their first ever playoff game, and win seven games in a season for the first time.
“I’ve always said in order to win in the playoffs you need to be at home,” Tilson said. “When you are traveling that far you have to change your schedule and now we are making another team go through that. You are dealing with high school kids and changing their rhythm does have an effect. We get to keep our rhythm and routine, and that’s always a plus.”
Friday’s action began with a one-yard kickoff and an encroachment call on Unaka that set up North Greene on the Ranger’s 36-yard line before it had even touched the ball.
On the first play from scrimmage Brandon Weems tripped in the backfield, but on the second play Brayden Weems made up for it by taking a handoff to the left. Once he made into the second level no one was going to catch him as Weems sprinted 38-yards for the night’s first score. Juan Soto connected on his first of seven extra points and North Greene was in front 7-0 just 38 second into the contest.
After a short punt Brandon Weems scored his first of three touchdowns, taking a tunnel screen from Thomas Darnell going to the right and maneuvering through the defense for 30-yard touchdown.
Before North Greene’s offense got the ball back the lead increased to 21-0. On a punt the Rangers snapped the ball into the endzone, and the Huskies’ Tanner Collins jumped on it for a touchdown with 6:46 still to play in the first quarter.
Set up on the 19-yard line North Greene scored its fourth touchdown of the night on its fourth offensive snap. Darnell faked a handoff and took off up the middle for 28-0 lead with 2:50 left in the first quarter.
North Greene’s total time of possession in the first quarter was 1:06.
The Rangers crossed midfield for the first time on their ensuing possession, but a sack on fourth-and-17 ended the drive.
The next Huskies’ drive took two plays and again finished with Brandon Weems taking a quick pass and running by defenders on his way to a 47-yard touchdown.
The teams then traded turnovers with North Greene’s Thomas Darnell scooping up a fumble, Unaka’s Ashton Fuller intercepting a pass and then North Greene’s Matthew Boyd picking one off.
The Huskies quick-strike offense went to work again and on North Greene’s ninth offensive snap Brandon Weems scored the game’s fifth offensive touchdown. On a counter Weems took off to the left and had to brush off a series of defenders before finishing his 52-yard run in the endzone.
The game went to halftime with North Greene leading 42-0, and that brought an end to the night for the Huskies’ starters.
Offensively the Huskies could not have been more efficient as they scored on five of nine plays, while averaging 25.22 yards per play. They possessed the ball for a total of 2:46 in the first half, and that number is skewed because the clock did not stop on the change of possession ahead of North Greene’s fourth series. The actual time of possession was closer to an even two minutes.
Brandon Weems had four touches and scored three touchdowns. He had two catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns, and two rushes for 50 yards and a touchdown. Brayden Weems had two rushes for 56 yards and a score. Leon Johnson had one carry for 25 yards. Darnell rushed once for 19 yards, and was 2-for-3 for 77 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
“We are going to need that type of execution going forward. We know Region 2-1A is tough and whoever we play next is going to be a good team. This is the type of execution you want to see going into the playoffs,” Tilson said.
On defense North Greene took advantage of three first half turnovers and held Unaka to 17 yards of total offense in the first half. The Rangers average 0.5 yards per offensive play in the first half.
Going against North Greene’s reserves Unaka’s Fuller took a screen pass 74 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the third quarter. He then ran in the two-point try to close the gap to 42-8.
North Greene answered with an eight-play drive that finished with Jared Swatzell dumping a pass to tight end Casen Massey for a 22-yard score.
Fuller continued to make plays against the Huskies’ young guys and finished the night with a 12-yard touchdown run and 19-yard touchdown pass to Asher Dunn. That closed the gap to 49-24 and made the final margin appear much closer than how the reality of the night actually played out.
Fuller finished the day with 214 all-purpose yards for Unaka.
The Huskies finished the regular season with a 49-24 win topping the Unaka Rangers on senior night. Hear what North Greene’s Head Coach Eric Tilson had to say afterwards. pic.twitter.com/i5rVqozDZl
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) November 1, 2025
North Greene is laying it on heavy so far, leading by a score of 42-0 at halftime. #FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/EXHFHlXlt9
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) November 1, 2025
On Halloween night, the Huskies gained momentum heading into the playoffs with a win over the Unaka Rangers. #FirstHorizon #football #northgreene pic.twitter.com/uEX7bAsjtS
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) November 1, 2025
