The Elizabethton Cyclones were still swirling late on Friday evening, but it was more of a case of their heads spinning while looking for answers after Greeneville’s defense wreaked havoc in the most important game of the regular season for both squads.
The Greene Devils’ defense held the Cyclones to their lowest regular-season scoring output since September of 2022 while finding a pair of game-altering scores of their own in a 41-7 throttling of their oldest rivals.
“What a freakin’ effort by our football team,” Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said after Friday’s win. “I’m really proud of how hard we played. At the end of the day how hard we play and how physical we play defines who we are. To get this win against our biggest rival, and to have a running clock at the end, says a lot about this team. But we can’t be satisfied.”
With the win Greeneville captures the Region 1-4A championship and will be the No.1 seed in the playoffs. That sets up a matchup with Knox Carter next Friday in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
“Our goal for the season is to be Region 1-4A champs and it feels so good to reach that goal,” Spradlen said. “That gives us a chance to play two games at home in the playoffs. The goal now is a state championship, that’s what everybody left has on their mind. We’re going to take it one game at a time and try to give ourself the best opportunity to keep on playing each week.”
With 2:37 left in the first half Elizabethton’s Justius Wallin picked off Greeneville’s Caden Baugh and set his team up to take all the air out of Burley Stadium. The Cyclones were 17 yards away from their goal line and a looked poised to find the go-ahead score before the halftime horn.
Greeneville cornerback Zaydyn Anderson had other plans and when Rhett Slagle sent a pass to the flats on first down the Greene Devil broke on it. Anderson hauled in the pass and took it 90 yards the other way for a Greeneville touchdown, and instead of falling behind the Devils now led 20-7.
Elizabethton tried to put together another scoring opportunity before halftime, and again the Greene Devils’ defense changed the game. First defensive tackle Brandon Iezzi sent the Cyclones backward on second down. Then on third down Jackson Nichols came off the edge and struck Slagle. The hit forced an errant pass. Safety Isaac McGill ran under it and brought it back for Greenville’s second defensive touchdown in 1:03 of game play.
Sam Gourley’s kick went through the uprights, and just four snaps after it looked like Elizabethton’s go-ahead score was imminent Greeneville held a 27-7 lead going into halftime.
“I was just in the right place at the right time. I stepped in front of the ball and then I was gone. Those two picks changed everything. We took over right there, and we had all of the momentum the rest of the game,” Anderson said.
With the lead Greeneville took the ball first in the second half and was intent on running the clock while imposing its will on the Cyclones. Using both tailback Carson Quillen and quarterback Caden Baugh the Devils marched 80 yards on 10 consecutive runs. Quillen capped the drive by powering through the line of scrimmage and sprinting 23-yards for a 34-7 lead with 6:27 left in the third quarter.
On Elizabethton’s first drive of the second half it found some of its longest gains of the day, but after the Cyclones crossed midfield Zorian Harris and C.J. Reyes came up with a pair of momentum-killing sacks that gave the ball back to Greeneville.
The Devils put together another 10-play drive to add to its lead. This time Quillen scored from 15 yards away, backing into the endzone as the clock ticked away. With 7:06 left in the game Greeneville went in front 41-7.
Quillen led Greeneville’s offense on Friday with 146 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns. Baugh ran for 70 yards and threw for 121 yards with a touchdown. His only incompletion was Wallin’s interception. Anderson had three catches for 93 yards.
The Devils’ relentless effort along the defensive front caused problems for the Cyclones all night. Iezzi Harris, Reyes, Nichols Quinton Humphrey and Noah Murray were in Slagle’s face every time he dropped to pass. And with Drew Armbrister and Maddox Bishop flying all over the field Greeneville held Elizabethton to only 64 yards on 32 rushing attempts. Through the air Slagle was 11-of-19 for 114 yards with a long completion of 17 yards.
“Those guys did a great job of getting pressure,” Spradlen said. “We sent some extra guys at times, but we got a ton of pressure with just our four linemen. We played a lot of guys on that side of the ball and I’m so proud of that effort.”
Friday’s action started much the way it finished, with Greeneville marching the length of the field and Quillen scoring a rushing touchdown. Like they did much of the night Greeneville lined up two tight ends to the same side and Quillen ran behind them, powering in for a four-yard score.
“That two tight end set is something that we’ve had in our back pocket,” Spradlen said. “I feel like it makes it hard on people, and tonight we were able to use it to just line up and smash people. When you have a running back like Carson you just want to run at people.”
After Greeneville stopped the Cyclones and Will Bowers missed a 22-yard field goal, Anderson made is first of two game-altering play.
Less than 30 seconds into the second quarter Baugh underthrew a pass to Anderson and Cyclone safety Justin Whitehead briefly intercepted it. Anderson never quit on the ball and snatched it out of the hands of the defender. Then the state-champion sprinter quickly separated himself from the secondary and raced 69 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked, but Greeneville led 13-0.
“What a big play! The game could have flipped right there, but he just takes a ball from the guy. He was not going to be denied there,” Spradlen said.
With 3:19 left in the first half a questionable pass interference flag broke up the Devils’ hopes of a shutout. On fourth and 11 Slagle sailed a pass to the back of the endzone with his closest receiver on the 10-yard line. Because of very limited contact occurring after the ball flew beyond the nearest Cyclone the drive was saved by the official.
Two plays later Zack Wallin created separation at the pylon and pulled in a 13-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to 13-7.
Elizabethton will be at home next week facing Fulton in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
