Greeneville High School will celebrate homecoming at Burley Stadium on Friday night as the Sullivan East Patriots come to town for a Region 1-4A contest.
“There are a lot of distractions on homecoming week and we have to stay focused. We have to work on us and we have to continue to get better. It’s another region game and that makes it important. You have to win all of your region games,” Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said.
Sullivan East comes into the contest with a 1-3 record after spending last year as the cellar dweller in Region 1-4A with a 0-10 campaign. In 2024 they went 1-9, and the program has not beaten a team that finished the year with a winning record since September 8, 2023. They have not beaten a region foe with a winning record since October, 21 2016.
The Patriots are 0-1 in region play with a 62-39 loss to Cherokee. They have also lost to Class 3A Chuckey-Doak and Class 2A Eagleton.
While earning victories is not something Sullivan East has grown used to as of late, they have produced a lot of yards in the passing game in their losses. Through four games quarterback Grady Burke is averaging 302 yards per game through the air. He is completing 51 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions.
“Sullivan East is program that is going to throw the football, and if you are not on top of your game they can make you look silly,” Spradlen said. “We have to make sure we are dialed in with our coverages and communication. We have had a lot of success against running teams early in the year, but we have to continue to have that success against teams that are going to throw the football.”
The 4-0 Greene Devils bring their own dangerous passing attack into the contest, averaging 319 yards per game through the air. Quarterback Kaine Ricker is coming off a night where he threw for 332 yards against Seymour in a 42-7 win.
For the year he is completing 79 percent of his passes and has 12 touchdown passes with no interceptions.
His favorite target this year has been Taren Claridy who has 23 catches for 598 yards and nine touchdowns. Zy Neal and Braylen Kidwell are also both averaging over 20 yards per reception. Those numbers could grow on Friday as Spradlen expects to see a lot of man coverage from the Patriots.
“They are going to put a lot of people in the box to try to stop the run and play man on the outside. If they try that I feel like we can throw the football over the top,” Spradlen said.
Greeneville leads the all-time series with Sullivan East 19-4-1. The Patriots last won in 2004, their only win over the Devils in the last 30 years.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM and the will be live on the airwaves on WGRV 99.5 FM.
