The Greeneville Middle School football team opened its home schedule on Thursday night against Liberty Bell and gave fans a 32-minute thrill ride, holding on for a 26–22 victory.
The Greene Devils set the tone on the opening drive, methodically moving the ball behind a powerful offensive line anchored by Ryan Schofield and Malley Estepp. Running backs Justin Fezell, Ben Hansel, and Christian Myers carried the load, and quarterback Hansel connected with Weston Hawkins on a key third-and-11 conversion to keep the drive alive.
Fezell capped it off with a six-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left in the first quarter. The two-point try failed, but Greeneville had the early 6–0 lead.
“Those guys are probably the biggest middle school tackles in the state of Tennessee,” head coach Todd Pait said of Schofield and Estepp. “They, along with the rest of the line, get after it every day and have improved 100% since the beginning of the season.”
The Greeneville defense held strong after a fumble gave Liberty Bell its best chance of the half, and the Devils went into the locker room up 6–0.
The second half opened much like the first. Liberty Bell went three-and-out, and Fezell went back to work, scoring from 11 yards out with 5:14 left in the third quarter to make it 12–0. Early in the fourth, Dante Webb added to the lead with a six-yard end-around, stretching the advantage to 18–0.
Liberty Bell refused to go quietly. The Patriots struck on a 70-yard touchdown pass with 5:21 remaining, then capitalized on a Greeneville turnover with a 55-yard scoring strike, suddenly cutting the lead to 18–16.
“I’ll give credit where it’s due—Liberty Bell is a good team, and they never gave up,” Pait said.
Greeneville needed an answer, and Fezell delivered again, breaking loose for a 48-yard touchdown, his third of the night, to push the lead back to 26–16.
“Our team is resilient,” Pait said. “This is Greeneville—this is what we do. We grind.”
The Patriots weren’t finished, though. They returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards for a score and recovered the onside kick with under two minutes left, keeping fans on the edge of their seats.
The Greene Devils’ defense stood tall. A quick incompletion, a sack, and another incompletion set up fourth-and-13. On the final play, the Devils stopped the Patriot receiver well short of the marker, sealing the win.
The offense then knelt three times to run out the clock.
