Coalfield-Hancock County Playoff Game Preview
By Greg Addington
The Yellow Jackets begin the second season with a first round road trip to Sneedville to play Hancock County on Friday night. Coalfield will be entering the TSSAA playoffs for the 16th consecutive year and the 32nd time in school history. The Indians are making their 5th straight playoff appearance and are hosting the first round game for the second year in a row.
Last Thursday night, Coalfield defeated Oneida 22-14 in a televised thriller. The Yellow Jackets flipped the script from the Oliver Springs game the week before and took the ball away from Oneida twice in their first two possessions in order to build a 16-0 first quarter lead. Oneida would cut the lead to two on a pair of Bryson Buttram 2-yard touchdown runs, however the Jackets would get a pick six from Jacob Bunch and Isaac Vanwitzenburg would recover an Oneida fumble on the Coalfield one yard line as time expired to clinch the victory. Coach Jared Henry’s defense gave short fields to the offense which led to the Jackets only reaching 120 yards total offense, however the defense had five fumble recoveries and two interceptions and was led by Senior Daniel Schaar with 21 tackles, two solo and a fumble recovery.
Hancock County had a bye during the last week of the regular season, but lost their week ten game against West Greene by a final score of 35-18. The Indians had to play musical chairs at the quarterback position due to injuries during the game. Ethan Short started and led the Indians to the scoreboard, reaching the endzone on a short run. After an injury sidelined Short, both Darran Collins and Treybeon Cooper took turns at quarterback, however the Buffaloes rallied in the 3rd quarter and took a lead they would not relinquish. Jadon Royston led HCHS with 161 yards on 24 carries. Offensively, the Indians line up in the spread, but will also line up in a conventional I-formation at times also. On defense, Hancock County will line up in a base 4-3. Short and Collins are both athletic, Short is quick for his size (about 6’2 and 225) and Royston, built similarly to Oneida’s Buttram, provides the change of pace for the Indian offense.
Coalfield makes their first trek to Sneedville in school history on Friday night to face the Hancock County Indians. Kickoff at Hancock County High School is set for 7pm.