MARYVILLE – South Greene made a trip to Maryville on Friday night and visited the Eagleton Royals and left Blount County with a 34-10 loss.
It was South Greene and Eagleton’s fourth meeting in the all-time series. South Greene held a 3-0 advantage over Eagleton going into Friday night. The Royals put the first mark in the loss column for South Greene and achieved their first win over the Rebels in the program’s short history.
Friday night was Senior Night for Eagleton as the Royals recognized all seniors from the first ever freshman class at the school. The seniors left their home turf happy with a win and sent South Greene away for the Rebels’ 4th-straight loss.
South Greene falls to 3-6 with the loss.
The Rebels were super productive on the opening drive of the game. Trent Haynes found a seam along the sideline and ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage, but a block in the back by a Rebel blocker negated the play. The drive didn’t stall out as Simon Burns converted a 4th-&-8 play with an 11-yard catch and a 10-yard run by Haynes set South Greene up in the red zone.
Noah Shelton helped South Greene land the first punch with an eight-yard touchdown reception to lift the Rebels ahead 7-0 with 8:21 left in the first.
The Royals received the ball at the 39-yard line after the kickoff rolled out of bounds. Although Eagleton was set up with decent field position, the Royals still took over four minutes off the clock before ending the drive with a game-tying touchdown.
Kingston Burns-Jenkins finished the 61-yard drive with an 11-yard rushing touchdown to tie it 7-7 with 4:07 left in the quarter.
The Rebels went back to work and used the clock to their advantage also and wasted over seven minutes off the clock. Angel Sanchez and Trent Haynes moved the sticks on shotgun pass plays. The Rebels faced 4th down from the 9-yard line and ultimately decided to kick it and add more points to the away side.
Freshman Sammy Jones nailed a 27-yard field goal and lifted the Rebels back ahead, 10-7, with 8:40 left in the half.
Jones wasn’t done making plays yet.
The Rebels elected to go for an onside kick after scoring and successfully recovered to heavily swing the momentum to their sideline. That momentum didn’t last long. South Greene fumbled on the first play on the ensuing drive and Eagleton received the ball at their own 45-yard line after the turnover.
Eagleton’s Ethan Anderson hauled in a catch between the numbers and raced down the middle before finding the end zone for a 38-yard receiving touchdown. The Royals claimed their first lead of the game with a 14-10 advantage with 6:33 left until the break.
South Greene stalled out and were forced to punt on their next drive.
Eagleton went three-for-three on their first three possessions and found the end zone once again. Kingston Burns-Jenkins rushed 13 yards to the right pylon for another touchdown. The PAT missed and Eagleton led 20-10 with 1:29 remaining.
The Rebels attempted to pull a trick play out and catch Eagleton off guard with a double pass. The Royals were ready and Easton Britton intercepted the pass. Luckily, the interception didn’t hurt in the long run as Noel Meza-Flores missed a 41-yard field goal attempt as time expired going into the half.
South Greene trailed 20-10 at the intermission.
Both teams traded turnovers to start the second half. Sammy Jones jumped a pass and came away with an interception for South Greene. Noel Meza-Flores intercepted one of Dawson Ripley’s passes on the next drive and everything was back to square one.
Eagleton extended the lead to 27-10 when Kingston Burns-Jenkins shrugged off multiple defenders on his way to scoring a 39-yard receiving touchdown with 7:10 left in the third quarter.
Simon Burns had the best kickoff return of the contest and returned it to the 33-yard line, but the drive stalled and South Greene turned it over on downs again.
Kingston Burns-Jenkins scored his fourth and final touchdown of the evening with a 1-yard rushing touchdown. Eagleton led 34-10 with 1:09 left in the third.
Neither team would find the end zone for the remainder of the game. Eagleton coasted to the finish line and ended Senior Night with a 34-10 win over South Greene.
South Greene falls to 3-6 with the loss and travels to Happy Valley next Friday to end the regular season.
