In recent years Greeneville and Upperman have made it a habit of meeting in high-stakes contests across multiple sports. In the past calendar year alone that has included games in the boys basketball and baseball state tournaments.
On Friday night at Burley Stadium Greeneville and Upperman met for only the second time on the gridiron, but it proved to be an instant classic that had fans on their feet for all four quarters and added a new piece to the budding rivalry.
In the battle of top 10 teams the No. 6 Greene Devils made the right plays late to come away with a 41-33 win over the No. 4 Bees and improve to 2-0 on the young season.
“That’s about the most physical football game that we have played for four quarters in a long time,” said Greeneville head coach Eddie Spradlen
The Devils took the opening kickoff and drove down the field behind the strong running of Maddox Bishop and Caden Baugh, mixing in receptions to Zaydyn Anderson, Taren Claridy, and Cole Smith. But the drive stalled, as Upperman’s defense stood tall on fourth-and-goal to force a turnover on downs.
The Bees wasted little time capitalizing. Quarterback Bronzden Chaffin and running back Carmine Phillips led the charge before Chaffin found Tate Porath for a three-yard touchdown pass. The PAT failed, but Upperman held a 6-0 lead with 5:56 left in the first quarter.
Greeneville struck back quickly, and with a big stroke of good fortune. On the second play of the drive, Bishop broke loose around the left side, but the ball popped free.
To Upperman’s dismay, Claridy scooped it up on the bounce and sprinted 55 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was blocked, leaving the game tied 6-6 with 5:34 remaining in the quarter.
Greeneville’s defense forced a punt on Upperman’s next possession, but the Bees regained momentum when Elijah Fitts intercepted a Baugh pass. Three plays later, early in the second quarter, Chaffin powered in from eight yards out for his first rushing score of the night. Another missed PAT made it 12-6.
The Devils answered with a 60-yard drive capped by a touchdown run from Jude Dyer, who finished with 129 yards on 17 carries. The PAT gave Greeneville a 13-12 lead with 10:18 left in the half.
The teams continued to trade blows. Gunner Block finished a 52-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run to put Upperman back in front, 19-13. But Greeneville responded quickly, as Baugh scored his first of three rushing touchdowns on a five-play, 60-yard drive to give the Devils a 20-19 halftime lead.
The Bees opened the third quarter on the move, but Bishop intercepted Chaffin and returned it deep into Upperman territory. Four plays later, Baugh found the end zone again on a 5-yard run to extend Greeneville’s lead to 27-19.
Chaffin, a Georgia State commit, refused to fold. He engineered an 80-yard, nine-play drive and capped it with a 13-yard touchdown run. Adding the two-point conversion, he tied the game at 27-27 with 5:17 left in the third.
Greeneville regained control on the ensuing drive, marching 55 yards in eight plays. Baugh plunged in from a yard out—his third rushing score of the night—to make it 34-27 after the extra point.
In the fourth quarter, Upperman leaned on its powerful running game. Chaffin, who finished with 164 yards on 23 carries, and Phillips, who added 134 yards on 12 carries, kept pushing through the Greeneville defense. With 8:19 remaining, Chaffin dragged defenders into the end zone to cut the deficit to 34-33. But Claridy blocked the PAT, preserving Greeneville’s lead.
The Bees gambled with an onside kick and recovered, but Greeneville’s defense stood firm and denied them any points.
The Devils then answered with a 56-yard, 12-play march that drained the clock. On fourth-and-three, Baugh muscled forward for a first down to keep the drive alive. Moments later, he faked the run and found Anderson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 41-33 with two minutes remaining.
Upperman had one final chance, but Kaine Ricker intercepted Chaffin to seal the win, allowing Greeneville to run out the clock.
The victory added another chapter to Greeneville’s long history of physical, high-stakes rivalries—whether Jefferson County and Morristown West in the 1980s or Elizabethton and Anderson County in more recent decades.
More recently, Upperman has joined that list, with postseason battles across multiple sports often carrying state title implications. What this game means for the playoff picture remains to be seen, but the excitement is already building.
Spradlen summed it up, “If we continue to play as hard as we did tonight, we are going to have a good chance to be a really good football team.”
Greeneville ran for a total of 336 yards on Friday while averaging 7.6 yards per carry. In addition to Dyer’s 129-yard night Baugh had 122 yards and three touchdowns.
