Jellico came into Friday’s game at North Greene the ranked No.7 in the state in Class 1A with a perfect 6-0 record, and the Blue Devils left with an unblemished 7-0 record after a 41-20 win, but it was not easy.
A couple of early miscues by the Huskies put the home team in a hole that they spent the rest of the game trying to dig out of.
“That’s what happens when you have 10 guys doing one thing and one guy making a mistake,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said. “We were just not playing together as a team and we were playing a team with all 11 working together and playing hard. They made their own breaks, and we did not make those breaks.”
The Huskies, all decked out in black uniforms, kicked off to Jellico and the Blue Devils’ opening drive went for 75 yards on eight plays, aided by an offside penalty on fourth down. The drive ended with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Owen Morgan to Brayden Teague. Matti Schneider tacked on the extra point and the Devils were up 7-0.
On the ensuing drive the Huskies fumbled the ball away and set up the Devils at the Huskies 30-yard line. But the Huskies were bailed out when the Devils returned the favor by fumbling the ball through the end zone for a touchback.
When North Greene got a second chance Jared Swatzell hit Kelson Eastep for 20 yards and followed that with a 14 yarder to Matthew Boyd. Swatzell went to the well one too many time and Jace Rowe picked off his pass and returned it 35 yards to the Husky nine-yard line.
It only took one play for the Devils to reach the end zone as Cayden Hamblin did the honors, the kick was blocked, but the Devils were quickly up 13-0 early in the second quarter.
North Greene’s Boyd gathered in the kickoff at the 15-yard line, pin-balled his way to about midfield then finally broke containment and beat everyone to the goal line for an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The extra point was no good but the Huskies were on the board at 13-6.
The Blue Devils added another score on a drive much like their opening drive, using up nearly six minutes of clock and covering 63 yards with Hamblin scoring his second touchdown of the game. The kick was good and the Devils had a 20-6 lead.
The Devils kicked away from Boyd this time and the Huskies started at their own 20-yard line. The Huskies moved the ball into Devils territory behind the hard running of Leon Johnson. Johnson had a big 26-yard run and followed that with a 12-yard run. The Huskies had a first down at the Devils 14-yard line, but a mishandled snap on third down put the Huskies behind the chains. On fourth and eight Johnson came up just short and the Huskies were halted without points.
The half ended with the score still at 20-6 in Jellico’s.
On its first possession of the third quarter Jellico moved inside the red zone with ease. Then on fourth and two from the Husky 12-yard line, Morgan seemed to be wrapped up in the backfield but somehow escaped and raced to the end zone for the score. The extra point was good, and the Devils held a 27-6 lead with 6:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Another mishandled snap by the Huskies gave Jellico good field position at the Husky 35-yard line. Morgan hit Rowe for a 34-yard gain down to the one-yard line. Lineman Alan Lawson lined up at running back, took the handoff and went into the end zone untouched. The kick made the score 34-6.
North Greene was able to answer quickly as Swatzel tossed up a bomb to Turner Collins. Collins was wide open and Swatzel hit him almost in stride down the near sideline for a 57-yard touchdown. Collins shook off a tackle around the 25-yard line and outran everyone to the end zone for the score. The kick was off the mark and the score remained 34-12.
Levi Gray stepped in front of a Morgan pass to give the Huskies an opportunity to cut into the lead, but the Huskies were unable to capitalize on the turnover. Heading into the fourth quarter the Huskies trailed 34-12.
The Devils added a score on defense with a pick-six by Morgan returning it 15 yards for the score.
North Greene then went on an 80-yard drive that ended with a Swatzell scamper for the touchdown. The two-point conversion was good when Swatzell found Parker Collins in the endzone to make the score 41-20.
The game ended with that same score.
The Devils record improved to 7-0 while the Huskies fell to 2-4 on the season.
Johnson carried the ball 18 times for 113 yards to lead the Huskies on offense while Boyd had five catches for the Huskies on offense and the big kickoff return for a touchdown. The defense was led by Eastep with a pass breakup and two tackles for loss and Gray had an interception.
