Football season is kicking off with some real excitement on Friday night in Lower Afton as county bragging rights are line when North Greene visits Chuckey-Doak.
“This is an important one because it’s important to the community,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said. “We’re glad to get it back on the schedule. We’re excited to get football started, and we’re excited for this game. I feel like we have been preparing forever and I’m just ready to roll.”
The two teams met every year from 1975 to 2022, but the rivalry has been on hiatus for the past two years. Chuckey-Doak leads the all-time series 41-7 and has won 17 consecutive meetings between the two schools.
Both teams will be looking to snap losing streaks in their first game of the 2025 campaign. Not only have the Huskies not beaten Chuckey-Doak in their last 17 tries, they are on a 26-game losing streak against all Greene County rivals, last beating South Greene in 2014. Chuckey-Doak will be looking to end the eight-game skid it finished 2024 on.
“This is probably the best version of North Greene Chuckey-Doak has seen in a long time,” Chuckey-Doak coach Billy Kaylor said. “We are ready to get the season started. We’ve had a great summer. These guys have grown a ton over the offseason. We’ve matured a lot, the competitive maturity is a lot better. We still have work to do, but these guys want to be good.”
Chuckey-Doak went 6-4 in 2024 and had what many consider the best season in school history. With much of that starting lineup returning the Huskies hope to do bigger things in 2025, and that will start on Friday against Chuckey-Doak.
The biggest piece the Huskies return is Thomas Darnell at quarterback, and he will be joined in the backfield by Leon Johnson and Brayden Weems. All three are capable of busting a big play and the Black Knights will have to be ready for a dangerous option attack on Friday.
“We have to be sound defensively,” Kaylor said. “They like to do option stuff and run RPOs, and that can sometimes put you in limbo. We just have to play our assignments and play good defense. We have to force them to make the right read and then make the play.”
Chuckey-Doak has plenty of scoring threats of its own and that starts with seniors Dom Atchison and Dominc Hahnlen at receiver. Skylar Davis is a sophomore who has shown growth over the season and will be another threat to find the end zone anytime the ball is in his hands. Getting those guys the ball will be sophomore quarterback Kiptyn Ball who his returning after starting for much of last season.
“Chuckey-Doak has some playmakers who can take the ball to the house on any play, and they have a good quarterback who can get the ball to those playmakers. We’re going to have to tackle in space and it will be a challenge for our secondary,” Tilson said.
Friday’s contest will be a contrast of experience, with North Greene relying mostly on seniors, including offensive line veterans Blake Hurd and Owen Pierce, while many of Chuckey-Doak’s top players are sophomores.
Coaches always worry about cramps, procedure penalties and mental mistakes in week one, but Kaylor is hopeful that playing at home can help his young team through some of the jitters that come with a season opener.
“Playing at home takes away variables,” Kaylor said. “When you have young kids the more variables you can eliminate the better chance you have of being successful. It’s week one, so everybody is excited, but there’s some nervousness too.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday night at Chuckey-Doak. The contest is the Bachman Bernard Greene Sports Zone Game of the Week Presented by Tommie’s Plumbing. It will be broadcast on Greene Sports Zone’s Youtube and Facebook pages as well as the Radio Greeneville Facebook page.
