Who: Harriman Blue Devils (5-5) vs. Cloudland Highlanders (7-3)Where: Cloudland is looking for the home crowd advantage as the contest is being played at Orr Field.
Weather: Partly Cloudy around 46 degrees with a feel like temp of 41 degrees. Winds from the west around 6 mph. (weather.com)
What’s at Stake: A trip to the second round of the TSSAA playoffs to face the winner of Grace Christian and Midway
What to watch: Both teams love to run the ball. The battle of the lines in the trenches could be the difference. Also with both teams running, turnovers could be magnified.
The Highlanders will host the Harriman Blue Devils on Friday night for the first round of TSSAA playoffs. The ‘Landers enter the playoffs as the #2 seed from Region 1, while the Blue Devils enter the contest as the #3 seed from Region 2. The Blue Devils are 5-5 and are coming off a 35-13 win over Oakdale, who went 0-10 this season. The Highlanders did not make the playoffs last season and Harriman’s road to Murfreesboro ended with a second round loss to Hampton 42-7. The two teams have met once before in the playoffs. In 1999 when both teams were in 2-A, the Blue Devils got the best of the ‘Landers winning 28-14 before losing in the state semifinals 35-8 to eventual state champion Goodpasture. Harriman has notable victories over Coalfield 28-20 and at Greenback 31-14. The Highlanders were 7-1 in the state of Tennessee including the last second victories over Grace Christian, Jellico, and rival Unaka. Kickoff is 7:00 at Orr Field. (The regular season games had been at 7:30)
Keep Checking the Avery Journal Times for updates on the playoffs.
