After shutting down Sullivan East’s air-raid attack last week the Greeneville football team will face an entirely different challenge this week when it travels to Grainger for a Thursday night contest.
The Patriots dropped to pass almost 50 times last week, but this week the Greene Devils are preparing for the ground and pound attack of the Grizzlies who will use tight ends, H-backs and unbalanced sets to try to gain the advantage at the line of scrimmage.
“They have big guys up front, a big running back and a quarterback that can run. But we have big guys up front too,” Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said. “If we want to be successful down the road we have to stop the run. So this will be a good test for us. This is a good opportunity for us to work on some stuff we need to. It will be a good test for our defense to recognize different formations. They will put a tight end and wing on the same side and run unbalanced stuff to try to outnumber you with blockers. We have to make sure we are lined up right.”
Last week in a 73-8 win over Sullivan East Greeneville held the Patriots to -28 yards on the ground, but Spradlen expects Garinger to be more committed to the ground game. That will start with quarterback Ashton Taylor who can get it done on the ground and through the air.
A week ago the Greene Devils showcased an offense that worked to near perfection, scoring on seven of it first 12 plays with four one-play drives. Running back Carson Quillen ran for 189 yards and four touchdowns on seven carries. The endzone stopped him more often than the Patriots.
Zaydyn Anderson had two catches and two touchdowns and Jeriah Griffin scored on his only catch. Quarterback Caden Baugh was a perfect 4-for-4 for 100 yards through the air, and the Devils did not even call on him to use his dangerous legs.
All of that came after a two-week layoff, and a week where the Devils had to go to Jefferson County to practice because of a lack of water in Greeneville. Spradlen was worried that his team might come out of the gate slow, but was proud they came in focused and ready to compete.
“After everything that went on last week it felt good to get a win on Friday,” Spradlen said. “I was really proud of the effort. Our worry was how are we going to handle not playing in two weeks and being out routine. But we get some great blocks from Carson Quillen and Cole Smith, and Zaydyn Anderson is able to score a 50-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. That felt good”
This week the Devils will once again be looking to make explosive plays on the perimeter as Spradlen expects the Grizzlies to load the box looking to stop the run.
Grainger enters the contest with a 3-4 record and is 1-3 in Region 1-4A play. Without a win on Thursday it will be difficult for the for the Grizzlies to make the playoffs. Greeneville is 4-2 on the year and is 2-0 in league play.
Greeneville and Grainger have played every year since 2009, and twice in 2013. In those meetings Greeneville is 16-0 with an average margin of victory of 49 points.
