JOHNSON CITY – The Greeneville football team got back on the field for the first time on Thursday evening to shake off some rust after the TSSAA’s dead period with a 7-on-7 scrimmage at Science Hill with Dobyns-Bennett, Elizabethton and the Hilltoppers.
“It was an up down day, and we were little rusty coming out of the dead period,” Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said. “But we’re doing some new things on defense that we are still trying to learn. We got a lot of young guys some opportunities, and I think we continued to improve. We saw good throws and catches, but it’s not the same as Friday night.”
The focus of Greeneville’s 7-on-7 work on Thursday was on getting reps against quality competition. Before the dead period Greeneville took on Class 6A power Maryville in a scrimmage, and then Thursday’s practice included three of the top teams in Region 1. Spradlen wanted to see how his guys defended some of the top receivers in the area and how his offense could manipulate the top secondaries around.
“We were able to work on some things that we need to get better at before the season,” Spradlen said. “It’s good to get out here against somebody else. To be able to throw against somebody other than your scout team, and to get to see new looks from other defenses is good for us. We come up here to go against good guys with good schemes that are going to make us work.”
The Greene Devils return some of their top pieces from last year’s passing game including quarterback Caden Baugh and receiver All-State receiver Zaydyn Anderson who is committed to the University of Tennessee.
On Friday the Devils also got tough catches out of Cole Franklin, Cole Smith and Taren Claridy. Those are guys who saw action last year, but Spradlen expects bigger roles from in the 2025 campaign.
“I feel like we have two quarterbacks that throw the ball well and that we can win with. Caden was the Offensive Player of the Year in the region and it’s great to have him back. Then we have some really athletic guys on the outside. I’m excited to see what those guys can do, but they have to continue to improve. We have a lot of speed at receiver and those guys are continuing to step up.” Spradlen said.
A year ago All-State running back Carson Quillen was the focal point of the Devils’ offense, but now he is headed to Vanderbilt to play baseball, and the Greene Devils will be looking at a committee to replace his production.
Maddox Bishop returns with the most experience at the position, and Jack Lister will also be in the mix for reps in the backfield. Taren Claridy, who has primarily played receiver, will also spend some time running the ball this year. Kaine Ricker will stay busy studying the play book as well, as Spradlen expects him to spend time at quarterback, receiver, and running back this season. All four of those guys are also expected to spend a lot of time on the field on defense as well.
Before the regular season kickoffs on August 22 at Morristown West the Greene Devils still have plenty to work on. That includes implementing some new schemes on defense and figuring out what a new-look linebacker corps will look like.
