For the first time since 2011 the North Greene football team will be at home in the first round of the playoffs.
The Huskies fell to Cosby last week and came up short of winning the program’s first region championship, but plenty of goals are still in front of the boys from Baileyton. That starts with a matchup with Harriman in the round of the TSSAA Class 1A Playoffs.
“To be able to play in big games is why you get into this. There is no shame in competing in a championship game and it not going your way,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said. “Our kids competed last week, and we turn around and have another big one in front of us. The more big games you play in the more comfortable you get, and that will prove valuable for our kids down the road. Now we are in the position to play a very good Harriman team at home in the first round of the playoffs. It’s my favorite time of year. You throw the record books out the window, and it’s win or go home. It’s a new season and we’re fighting for one more week together.”
A win on Friday would be the Huskies’ first ever in the postseason. It would also mark the first time North Greene has won seven games in a season. This is the fourth straight season North Greene has made the playoffs, which ties a program record, but each of those previous three appearances has ended in a loss. Tilson is hopeful that playing at home will make a difference this time.
“I expect a good competitive game, but it’s a big advantage to be at home,” Tilson said. “The way our regions align when you go on the road in the playoffs you have to go through Knoxville during rush hour, and something always happens. You get backed up and the schedule never works out. We’ve dealt with that, and now we’re making someone else deal with it. We get the comfortability of being at our house. Their kids have never played here, and our kids have played here 10, 15, 20 times.”
Harriman comes into the game with a 7-3 record and as the No.3 seed from Region 2-1A. The Blue Devils are coming off a 51-0 win over Sunbright in its regular season finale.
The Devils’ offense will be led by running back Grayson Kreis who is nearing 1,800 rushing yards this season. In Addition to Kreis the Huskies will have to be prepared for quarterback Kam Anderson to make plays with his legs.
The Blue Devils have scored more than 34 points in four of their last five games, and are averaging 33 points per game this season.
Defensively Harriman has pitched three shutouts this year and it has held its last five opponents to less than 21 points. Tilson expects two safeties deep on most plays with the Blue Devils looking to force his offense to move meticulously down the field. At the same time Tilson does not expect as physical of a front seven as he has seen the last two weeks against Cloudland and Cosby, and that may open some run lanes for Yeshua Vaught.
Going into the contest the plan for North Greene will be to rely on the ground behind Vaught and quarterback Thomas Darnell, as well as the short passing game to Jake Duffy and Brandon Weems.
“They will play a four down defense and run a lot of quarters and cover two with two deep safeties. They will cover everything over the top and don’t give up many deep shots,” Tilson said. “We’re going to have rely on short throws and the run game. They have a really fast defense, but they don’t have the stature we have seen the past couple of weeks. I think that can be good for us, because we are fast too.”
The Blue Devils and the Huskies have only met once before, and Harriman won that meeting 47-6 in the first round of the 1997 Class 1A playoffs. Harriman has not been in the playoffs since 2019. North Greene has qualified for the postseason each of the last three years, but without much success, losing by an average margin of 52 points. Tilson feels like this year could be different, and playing on the Tundra might give the Huskies the edge they need.
“We have improved in a lot of areas this year and we are coming into this game as a good team,” Tilson said. “We have set the school record for points in a season, and that’s with nine games. There are a lot of reasons to go into this game with a lot of confidence. I expect us to respond after the loss to Cosby, and I’m looking forward to Friday.”
