Chuckey-Doak opened its conference schedule Friday night by hosting the Unicoi County Blue Devils in the “Black Hole.” Both teams entered looking to make an early statement in the Region 1-3A standings, but it was the Blue Devils who set the tone early and rolled to a 49-28 victory.
With the win, Unicoi County improved to 1-1 in the region, while the Black Knights fell to 0-1.
The Black Knights took the opening kickoff but were quickly forced to punt as Unicoi’s defensive front stood tall. The Blue Devils then went to work, with quarterback Kolby Jones spreading the ball around before Blaze Rice broke tackles to move into scoring range. Jones capped the drive with a nine-yard strike to Alex Laningham at the 9:16 mark. The extra point gave Unicoi an early 7-0 lead.
After another Chuckey-Doak punt, the Blue Devils mounted an 82-yard drive, finished off by a seven-yard touchdown run from Daven Thompson. The PAT stretched the lead to 14-0 with 2:15 left in the first quarter.
The Black Knights found life early in the second quarter when quarterback Kyptyn Ball connected with Dominic Hahnlen for a 13-yard touchdown. The PAT was blocked, leaving the score 14-6 with 11:39 before halftime.
From there, Unicoi seized control. Jones punched in a one-yard keeper with 7:49 left in the half, then the Blue Devils executed a successful onside kick.
Two minutes later, Rice powered in from three yards out to push the lead to 27-6. Jones and Laningham linked up again before halftime, making it 34-6 as the Blue Devils racked up 261 yards of offense to Chuckey-Doak’s 92 in the first half.
Unicoi opened the second half the same way it closed the first—marching downfield for another score. Jones connected on a 34-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 41-6.
The Black Knights, however, refused to quit. Behind Brayden Greene and Marcus Britt, they pieced together a grinding drive that drained the third-quarter clock.
“We really weren’t happy with our execution in the first half,” said head coach Billy Kaylor. “But I was proud of how we came out in the second half and played really hard, showing a lot of heart.”
With 11:46 remaining, Ball hit Dom Atchison in the corner of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion trimmed the deficit to 41-14.
Moments later, Greene intercepted a Jones pass and returned it to the Unicoi 13-yard line. On the very next play, Britt rumbled in for a 13-yard score, cutting the lead to 41-21 with 9:39 left.
Jones quickly responded, capping his 12-for-17, 150-yard night with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jack Swinehart, pushing the margin to 49-21 with 5:24 to play.
Chuckey-Doak ended on a high note when Ball found Skylar Davis in the flat. Davis made defenders miss and sprinted 43 yards down the sideline for the game’s final touchdown, bringing the score to 49-28.
Unicoi finished with 396 yards of total offense, while Chuckey-Doak managed 201. The Black Knights (3-1) will look to bounce back next Friday when they travel to Rebel Hill to face cross-town rival South Greene at 7 p.m.
After coming up short to Unicoi County, hear from Chuckey-Doak Head Coach Billy Kaylor after Friday’s loss. pic.twitter.com/qDmGWFJW8i
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) September 13, 2025
