A week ago the North Greene football team ended a pair of long losing streaks in a 34-0 win over West Greene, but now things will get more serious as the Huskies enter Region 1-1A play with a trip to Hancock County.
“With a seven-game region schedule and three games against the county schools every single game is important for us this year, but now we are getting to a game with playoff implications. We’re into games that matter and I think our kids are ready for it,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said.
For centuries explorers have searched for places like Atlantis, El Dorado and King Arthur’s Camelot and making your way to any of those destinations is only slightly harder than trekking to Sneedville. Because of the long and winding journey across mountains, over rivers and through hollers playing at Hancock County is always tough and Tilson expects a battle on Friday night.
“About every time we go to Sneedville something happens,” Tilson said. “It’s a hard place to play, it’s a hard place to get to, it’s a hard drive. Their fans are hostile, and that’s what high school football is about. It’s going to be a dogfight.”
A week ago the Huskies did just about everything right on offense. Thomas Darnell threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another 83 yards. Brayden Weems and Leon Johnson both had rushing touchdowns and that has North Greene feeling good going into its region opener. In total five players crossed the goal line.
“I feel like we can matchup well with a lot different types of teams,” Tilson said. “If they hang their hat on stopping the run, we can expose them through the air. Then we are starting to impose our will in the run game too.”
Tilson expects an unorthodox approach from the Indians on Friday that will include unbalanced sets, empty backfields and you may even see a guard take a handoff. That is all hard to prepare for, but Tilson believes if his team sticks to the basics and reads their keys they have a good chance at being successful.
“Hancock County presents some challenges because they are very unorthodox,” Tilson said. “They throw a lot against the wall and see what sticks. It’s hard to find a rhyme or reason for why they are lining up how they do. You have to give them credit for ingenuity, they are trying to find ways to be competitive.”
Through two weeks Hancock County’s offense has scored zero points, losing to Cumberland Gap 18-0 and Sale Creek 40-0. Going back to last year Hancock County has been shut out in its last four contests.
The Indians come into the game on a 16-game losing streak, last wining on September 22, 2023. They have won just one of their last 35 varsity contests. Hancock County has never had a winning season in its program history.
North Greene and Hancock County have met 11 times since 2007 and North Greene leads the all-time series 8-3. A year ago North Greene won 56-8 and the last the Huskies were in Sneedville they won 20-14.
