CHURCH HILL – Greeneville’s football program has seen plenty of elite quarterback-receiver tandems over the years, but on Friday night, Caden Baugh and Zaydyn Anderson took their place among the greats.
Coming off a bye week, the duo etched their names into the record books, combining for 245 passing and receiving yards (234 in the first half) and four touchdowns as the Greene Devils rolled past Volunteer, 42–7, improving to 7–1 overall and 5–0 in conference play.
The previous school record for a QB–WR tandem was held by Frankie DeBusk and Marty Story, who connected for 221 yards and three touchdowns against Unicoi County in 1985. The only other duo to surpass 200 yards before Friday night was Cody Baugh—Caden’s father—and Chase Greenway, who tallied 220 yards and two scores versus Elizabethton in 2002.
With Friday’s performance, Baugh now has 3,273 career passing yards and 1,993 career rushing yards, continuing to build one of the most impressive quarterback resumes in Greeneville history.
Greeneville finished the night with 426 yards of total offense (325 passing, 101 rushing). The Devils were slowed only by nine penalties for 110 yards and two turnovers. Meanwhile, Volunteer—who entered averaging 42 points per game—was held to just 219 total yards (147 rushing, 72 passing).
Head coach Eddie Spradlen praised his team’s effort after the win. “You could tell we were a little rusty to start after taking some time off for the bye week,” Spradlen said. “But in the end, it was good for our football team to get a little rest. I’m proud of how hard our guys played against a good, physical Volunteer team.”
After being stopped on their opening possession, Greeneville’s Taren Claridy intercepted Volunteer quarterback Lincoln Wilson, setting up the Devils’ first score. Two plays later, with 9:02 left in the first quarter, Baugh found Anderson for a 35-yard touchdown, giving Greeneville an early 7–0 lead.
Following a Volunteer punt, the Devils marched downfield again, capping an eight-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Teagen Begley at the 5:55 mark, extending the lead to 14–0.
Just minutes later, Baugh and Anderson struck again—this time on a 48-yard connection with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter. Samuel Gourley’s extra point made it 21–0.
The fireworks continued in the second quarter as Anderson added two more scores, hauling in touchdown receptions of 53 and 80 yards from Baugh. Gourley remained perfect on PATs, sending Greeneville into halftime with a commanding 35–0 lead.
With the mercy rule in effect for the second half, the Devils slowed the tempo but still added one more touchdown—a 27-yard strike from Baugh to Colton Smith late in the third quarter.
Volunteer avoided the shutout with 4:23 remaining when Raymond Landry connected with Isaiah Ward for a 23-yard touchdown.
Up next, Greeneville hosts Grainger on October 24 at 7:30 p.m., before closing out the regular season against Elizabethton on October 30.
