Buffs, Rebels Set For Battle Of The Milk Can

The West Greene and South Greene football teams meet on Friday at South Greene for the Battle of the Milk Can. Not only for the Milk Can, though. This game also has major playoff implications for both teams.

South Greene coach Shawn Jones and West Greene coach Evan Monroe want the milk can and bragging rights, but both are more interested in what a win would mean for them in the Region 1-2A standings.

South Greene is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the region, while West Greene is 2-3, 0-1.

“We’re just going about business as usual,” Jones said. “It’s a regional game. It’s a big game for the community, but we need to win a regional game. We need to go 2-0 in the region, and so we’re just preparing like we do every week.”

Said Monroe, “Not only is it a county game, but it’s a region game with playoff implications. County rivalry aside, this is the game that both teams really want to get.”

West Greene has been dealing with the injury bug lately. The Buffaloes were without seven players, including starting quarterback Austin Brown, in a 47-18 home loss to Unicoi County last week.

Monroe says the majority of those players, Brown included, will play on Friday.

“Having (Brown) back allows us to put our playmakers in space,” Monroe said. “He gives us a little more versatility. Even though he’s a freshman, he’s a huge component for us and we’re glad to see him healthy.”

One of those playmakers is Austin Franklin, who started the first two games of the season at quarterback and stepped in for Brown last week. With Brown returning, Franklin will be back to his Swiss Army Knife role.

Last week, Franklin scored on a 34-yard run and the week before, in a 37-15 loss to Eagleton, he scored on a 58-yard punt return and a 75-yard run.

Defensively, Monroe’s goal is to limit the amount of big plays South Greene is known to make.

“The big thing is to not let the running back get out in space,” he said. “Keep him contained, and don’t get beat deep by the quarterback.”

South Greene’s goal is to keep doing what they’ve been doing. And that’s scoring. During the Rebels’ current three-game winning streak, they’ve scored 42, 58 and 42 points, led by both the ground game and the passing game.

“We feel like we got a great offense, but it means something special if we get 40 points this week on West Greene because they have a good defense, a good front seven,” Jones said. “They are going to be a pretty good test for us.”

In South Greene’s 42-6 win over Union County last week, senior quarterback Jacob Susong completed 10 of 12 passes for 184 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Junior running back Nash Rader ran for 166 yards and two TDs on 17 carries.

Defensively, Jones is adamant of the need to lock down Franklin, a player who can take over the game.

“Well, let’s just put it this way,” Jones said of his defensive game plan. “We’re gonna know where he’s at every play. If he goes to the bathroom, we might have to go escort him. So we’ll just make sure we know where he’s at every time he’s on and off the field.”

Last year when these two teams met, West Greene’s offense outgained South Greene’s 233-208, but the Rebels made the most of their yards in a 29-14 win.

South Greene has won the milk can 35 times, while West Greene has won it 15 times.

Volunteer At Greeneville

The Greeneville Greene Devils will host Region 1-4A foe Volunteer for homecoming at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Burley Stadium.

It’s the first of five straight region games to close the regular season for Greeneville.

The Greene Devils (3-2 overall, 1-0 in the region) are coming off a 42-6 win last week at Class 5A Morristown West.

The Falcons (0-4, 0-2) had their open week last week after losing 46-38 to region foe Northview Academy on Sept. 13 at home.

Greeneville defeated Volunteer 56-0 last season at Volunteer.

In Greeneville’s win at Morristown West, senior running back Carson Quillen ran for 169 yards and four touchdowns, and junior quarterback Caden Baugh threw for a TD and ran for another.

Quillen’s 169 yards came on 16 carries. He had 156 yards and three TDs on 13 carries in the first half, and his fourth TD came late in the third quarter.

Quillen also caught two passes for 51 yards.

Baugh completed six of 10 passes for 102 yards with an interception, and he ran for 45 yards on seven carries.

Defensively, senior linebacker Drew Armbrister had nine tackles and four assists; senior CJ Reyes had seven tackles, an assist and a tackle for loss; Maddox Bishop had six tackles and two assists; senior Jhervius Moore and sophomore Cole Smith each had four tackles and two assists; and senior Jaxson Nichols had a tackle, four assists and an interception.

Volunteer quarterback Jameson Mowell, a 5-foot-10, 150-pound sophomore, has completed 25 of 68 passes for 559 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions.

Mowell hasn’t run much, picking up just 25 yards with two TDs on 16 carries.

Running back Keelin Releford, a 5-8, 175-pound junior, has run for 528 yards and eight TDs on 72 carries for an average of 7.3 yards per carry.

Releford has also caught eight passes for 128 yards and a TD.

Williamsburg, Ky. At North Greene

Coming off a 56-8 win over Hancock County last week at home, the North Greene Huskies host the 2-1 Williamsburg, Ky., Yellow Jackets.

North Greene (4-1) has won four straight games for the first time since 2005 and just the second time in program history. The Huskies have never won five in a row.

The Huskies, normally reliant on their run game led by senior running back Yeshua Vaught, were carried by quarterback Thomas Darnell’s arm in last week’s win.

Darnell completed seven of nine passes for 221 yards and five touchdowns, which is likely a school record for most passing touchdowns in a game.

North Greene finished with 410 yards offense, 189 on the ground.

Leon Johnson had 108 yards and two TDs on just two carries, Vaught tallied 48 yards on five carries and Jared Swatzell added 20 yards on four carries.

Williamsburg is coming off an open week after defeating Louisville Waggener 56-20.

Quarterback Nate Gooding has thrown for 329 yards and three TDs this season. He’s also run for 529 yards and two TDs.

Eli Meadors has rushed for 187 yards and two TDs. Chase Meddles has been the top receiving threat with 12 catches for 171 yards and two scores.

On defense, the Yellow Jackets are allowing 22.3 points per game and have forced three fumbles and intercepted three passes.

Cocke County At Chuckey-Doak

Class 3A Chuckey-Doak (1-4) will host Class 5A Cocke County (0-5) on Thursday.

Chuckey-Doak has been outscored 114-17 in their last two games, including a 56-3 loss to Pigeon Forge last week. The Black Knights scored the first points in that game on a 30-yard field goal by Billy Hahnlan, but it was all Pigeon Forge after that.

Injuries have played a major role all season for the Black Knights. They have been without their top two running backs and their starting quarterback the past two weeks and will also play without them this week.

Freshman quarterback Kipton Ball will be making his third straight start for the Knights. In his first start in a 58-14 loss on Sept. 13 at South Greene, he threw two touchdowns – 23 yards to Dominic Hahnlan and 25 yards to James Seidl.

Cocke County is coming off a 41-38 loss to David Crockett last week.

Chuckey-Doak won 26-21 at Cocke County last season. The Knights got two rushing TDs from Brasen Murvin and two passing TDs from Nick Palazzo, both of whom graduated in the spring.

Cocke County returns quarterback Spencer Moore Jr., now a sophomore. In last year’s loss to Chuckey-Doak, Moore scored on runs of 1 and 6 yards and threw a 15-yard TD pass.