On Saturday North Greene senior Thomas Darnell was recognized at the National Football Foundation’s Mountain Empire Chapter Awards Banquet in Johnson City as the chapter’s top scholar athlete and was named to the NFF Team of Distinction.
The NFF’s Mountain Empire Chapter includes schools from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
The Team of Distinction award goes to the best and brightest high school football players in the nation. Darnell is one of 80 players across the country to receive the award. Darnell will now be represented permanently at the College Football Hall of Fame along with other Team of Distinction Award Recipients.
He is the second North Greene player to receive the award after Colton Robbins was selected in 2024.
On the gridiron this fall Darnell was named the Region 1-1A Offensive Player of the Year. He threw for 1,001 yards and 14 touchdowns and rand for 722 yards and five more touchdowns.
On defense he made 17 tackles and had two interceptions, and he averaged 41.7 yards per punt.
In the classroom Darnell is the valedictorian of North Greene’s class of 2026.
