The North Greene football team used its high-powered offense on Friday night to beat Sunbright 54-14 and secure a spot int he Class 1A playoffs.
After putting up 51 points last week coach Eric Tilson and his Huskies kept their foot on the gas and improved their record to 5-4, but more importantly to 4-2 in Region 1-1A play.
“The offense played really well. They did a great job, and we kept scoring quickly,” Tilson said. “That is a credit to our front, they did a great job getting one-on-one blocks and how we were able to spring some of those guys early.”
The Huskies scored just 14 seconds into the game on the opening kickoff. They used a little trickeration, to do it. Thomas Darnell fielded the kickoff and using some deception handed the ball to Brandon Weems. Weems then did the rest going 68 yards for the score. Juan Soto added the extra point, and the Huskies were up 7-0 before either offense had taken the field.
Sunbright was forced to punt when the afore mentioned Weems came up with a big sack. That punt was blocked by his twin brother Brayden Weems to set up the Huskies deep in Tiger territory.
Leon Johnson scored from 10 yards out just two players later. Soto split the uprights for the point after touchdown to give the Huskies a 14-0 lead with 8:05 still remaining in the first quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff the Tigers mishandled the ball, and Colton Suggs came up with it to set the Huskies up in great field position at the Tiger 20-yard line. Two plays later Darnell scored on the quarterback keeper. The kick was off the mark, but the Huskies enjoyed a 20-0 lead at the 7:07 mark of the first quarter.
Sunbright put together a solid drive but eventually stalled at the Husky 29-yard line and turned the ball over on downs.
When North Greene took over Brayden Weems took a handoff from Darnell and went the distance for the score. The kick was tipped at the line and fell short, but the Huskies had a 26-0 lead, late in the first period.
Once again, the Tigers strung together a few plays but were forced to punt, the punt was a shank and didn’t make it to the line of scrimmage and big Skyler Miller fell on the ball.
Darnell completed a couple of passes for North Greene. One to Kelton Eastep for six yards and one to Brandon Weems for 13 more yards. Brayden Weems took a pitch from Darnell and broke loose in the secondary, he was tripped at around the 20 yard line but managed to keep his footing and found his way into the end zone for a 32-0 lead at the midway point of the second quarter.
On the following drive Matthew Boyd intercepted a pass around midfield and returned it to the Tiger 26-yard line. On the next play Boyd was wide open in the end zone and Darnell lofted a perfect pass for the score, Soto’s kick was good and the Huskies were now up 39-0.
The Huskies then went on their longest drive of the game, five plays, ending with a Johnson seven-yard touchdown run. Soto’s kick was good and the Huskies were up 46-0 before halftime.
With the game well in hand and a continuous running clock Coach Tilson chose to finish the game with younger players to give them game time experience. After a couple of scoring drives for the Tigers the younger Huskies got into the end zone with a Jared Swatzel to Turner Collins 22-yard touchdown pass. Levi Gray added the two-point conversion for the final score of 54-14.
Brayden Weems led the Husky ground attack with 130 yards on only five carries, and two TD’s Johnson also had two scores on only three carries. Darnell was 6-of-7 passing for 90 yards and a touchdown.
The Huskies will play at home next week, against Unaka to round out the regular season. With a win the Huskies will have a chance at the No.2 seed going into the playoffs, but they will need help. North Greene will be rooting for Hampton to beat Cloudland and for Cosby to beat Jellico. If Jellico beats Cosby or Cloudland beat Hampton the Huskies will be the No.3 seed. North Greene can not fall to the No.4 seed.
North Greene’s offensive explosion continued with a 54-14 win over Sunbright to help clinch their spot in the postseason in November. Hear what Head Coach Eric Tilson had to say after a fun night on the near-frozen tundra. pic.twitter.com/kCldHzNy36
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) October 25, 2025
