A new but old foe will be making the trip to North Greene on Friday night as Sunbright visits the Tundra for a Region 1-1A contest.
“We have not played Sunbright in recent years, but they are an opponent some of our alumni are familiar with. They are still looking to find their footing in Region 1 this year, but we have to be ready to play a good football game,” North Greene coach Eric Tilson said.
North Greene has not played the Tigers since 2010, but the two teams have met 10 times since 1979. Sunbright leads the all-time series 7-3, and North Greene has not beaten the Tigers since a 16-12 win in 1996.
This year the Tigers are 2-6 and they have not beaten a team with a win. Last week they fell to Cosby 30-0.
Sunbright will rely on running back Eric Demarco to carry the load while Ehren Northrup will line up behind center.
“They have a couple of playmakers who can hurt you,” Tilson said. “If we continue to tackle the way we have been they are going to hurt us. They are very trendy in that if they hit a big play they will go right back to it.
“Offensively they are very similar to Cosby. They will run a spread with a tight end and a running back. They will run some inside zone and some zone read stuff. Interestingly this will be the first left-handed quarterback we have faced since I have been at North Greene.”
North Greene is 4-4 and 3-2 in Region 1-1A play. The Huskies looked brilliant on offense a week ago, but they could not slow down Cloudland in a 58-51 loss. Thomas Darnell threw the ball all over the field and hit Brandon Weems and Kelson Eastep in the end zone. On the ground Leon Johnson ran for over 100 yards. Tilson is hopeful his offense can continue that high level of play this week, while also expecting his defense to be better tacklers.
A win on Friday would clinch a playoff berth for North Greene. If North Greene beats Sunbright and 0-8 Unaka over the final two weeks of the regular season, and region leader Hampton finishes the regular season with wins over Cloudland and Cosby the Huskies would earn the No.2 seed in the region. If Hampton loses either of its final two games North Greene will not have the chance to host a playoff game.
“We have beaten some good teams in our league, but we have not clinched a playoff spot yet,” Tilson said. “We need to win these last two to be able to solidify our spot. We have played pretty well at home, and we get these last two games at home, so you have to feel good about that.”
