Four teams competed in the Greene County Middle School Jamboree on Thursday evening. South Greene, West Greene, North Greene, and Cocke County all clashed at Camp Creek Elementary with each team playing two quarters each.
The skills competitions kicked off the evening with West Greene’s Isaiah Roberts racing to the finish as the fastest lineman above 175 lbs.
South Greene Middle claimed four out of six competitions with Cortez Perez taking the first one for the Rebels as the fastest lineman below 175 lbs. Jude Dyer dominated by winning three of six competitions as the fastest back and boasting the strongest leg winning both longest punt and longest kick.
Cocke County’s Spencer Moore launched the furthest throw of the evening and took home the quarterback crown.
North Greene and West Greene took the gridiron in the opening 15 minutes.
The Huskies put two solid plays together on defense to hold the Buffs without a yard until Austin Brown and Hunter Franklin both broke off big runs to put them inside the red zone.
Leon Johnson broke a run to the outside to gain a first down with Austin Brown making a huge play on defense to stop the run. On a fourth down attempt, Johnson took an outside run to the right with daylight ahead but Brenden Thomet cut in front to make a perfect tackle and turn the ball over on downs.
West Greene took a shot downfield with time expiring and Brooks Chapman came up with an interception to end the first quarter as neither team could put up a scoring drive.
South Greene’s white team and Cocke County marched onto the field for the 2nd quarter of competition.
Kaleb Sisk pounded the rock on Cocke County’s first offensive play for six yards, but a great defensive effort from South Greene’s line halted their efforts and forced a turnover.
Cocke County would strip the Rebels on the very next play and Sisk would climb out of the dog pile with the football. Spencer Moore then dropped back in the pocket and took a few reps but couldn’t find any open receivers for any completions for another turnover on downs.
Shawn Ownby scrambled around and found Colton Fillers open on an out route for South Greene. Ownby then threw a ball in the air for Noah Wright to grab over a defender and pull down with a clutch catch.
With under a minute left in the quarter, Ownby tried to make something happen with his feet and found the right running lane to weave in-and-out of the defense to score the first touchdown of the evening. Tripp Neas picked off a last chance effort as time expired and South Greene’s white squad would prevail 6-0 over Cocke County.
“Shawn was able to take a high snap, it was a pass play and nothing really opened up, and he kind of scrambled around cause he’s pretty shifty. That was a good effort play by Shawn Ownby to find the end zone. I was pretty proud of them and pretty pumped and it was a good positive note for those guys,” Rebels Coach Alex Arwood mentioned.
South Greene’s maroon team and North Greene battled in the third quarter in a competitive matchup throughout all 15 minutes.
Leon Johnson and Shawn Russell broke through the line and forced a huge sack on fourth down to give the Huskies the ball. Matt Boyd received a pass in the backfield and laid a huge stiff arm to put a defender in the dirt and keep going.
Josh Hightower dropped back and slung the rock to a wide-open Kelson Eastep downfield for a huge gain through the air. Hightower would take another shot down the field but South Greene's Wyatt Fender took the ball away with an interception in the red zone.
Trenton Haynes gave the Rebels a first down with time winding down and one more shot to score. Haynes would sprint downfield on the final play but watch the ball slip through his finger tips as both teams would end the quarter tied.
“This is his first year in the program. He’s still trying to learn a lot of our system and things and it’s starting to click a little bit,” Arwood said. “Each time he has the ball in his hands he has an opportunity to find the end zone and he’s just got to fine tune the knowledge of the game right now.”
Cocke County found their offensive edge in the final quarter and final matchup of the evening against West Greene.
Talon Leas pounded the ball outside and racked up yards and put his team in a position to score. Donovan Campos pulled down a pass on the left side of the field and sprinted into the end zone for a touchdown. Leas ran the ball in on a 2-point conversion to make the score 8-0.
West Greene put up an empty possession on offense but made up for it on defense with Austin Brown picking off a pass. The offensive possession wouldn’t last long after a fumble on the field was picked up by Jackson Baily.
Campos hauled in one more touchdown on another route in the end zone and Leas put two more on the board to win 16-0 over West Greene in the final quarter.
