What's riding on Thursday night's high school football games

It's the final games of the regular season for Oneida and Scott High, with plenty at stake

Oneida and Scott High will head across S.R. 63 and down Interstate 75 Thursday afternoon for the regular season finales — the Indians at Eagleton and the Highlanders at Sweetwater — and there is plenty at stake.

Thursday’s regular season finale is more important for Scott High than Oneida — only because the Indians already know they’re going to be playing football in November. Oneida actually knew that at the very beginning of the season; its region has only four teams. But by taking care of their business to this point, the Indians have also already secured a first round playoff game at Jim May Stadium. For both Scott and Sweetwater, this week’s game is effectively a first round playoff game. With one playoff spot up for grabs in Region 2-3A, it’s “win or go home” for both the Highlanders and the Wildcats.

Oneida appears to be sitting in a good place, fresh off a 21-0 win over a Polk County team that jumped out to a 23-0 lead over Eagleton en route to a 23-13 upset win just a couple of weeks ago. But any hard-core fan of high school sports knows that comparing scores against common opponents is an exercise in futility. Eagleton, which had won six consecutive games before dropping that 23-13 decision to Polk County on Oct. 17, is on its home turf, with plenty to play for in its own right.

The Indians are gunning for their first region championship in 11 years. The Royals are looking for their first region championship ever, in just their third season of varsity football. They can have that if they defeat Oneida.

With a win, Oneida would be the Region 2-2A champion outright, finishing the season with a 6-4 record that includes a perfect 3-0 mark in region play.

Eagleton can create a three-way tie atop the region standings if it beats Oneida and Polk County defeats Tellico Plains. That would make all three teams 2-1 in region play, and would render the head-to-head tiebreaker useless (since Oneida defeated Polk County, Polk County defeated Eagleton, and Eagleton would have defeated Oneida). In such a scenario, the next tiebreaker – total number of wins — would be used, and that tiebreaker would go to Eagleton, which would have seven wins to just five for both Oneida and Polk County. That would leave the Indians and Polk County tied for second, with Oneida earning the No. 2 seed and home playoff game by virtue of their win last week.

Although home field advantage is usually considered to be worth a few points, Oneida has played well on the road this season. The Indians are 3-1 away from home, including “upset wins,” as they were considered at the time, at both Tellico Plains and against an Oliver Springs team that handed Eagleton a loss in the season opener. Oneida’s only road loss was at Sweetwater, and the Indians led that game 12-0 going into the fourth quarter, losing only after a series of unfortunate events in the final period.

Oneida has not lost to Eagleton, winning 13-0 last year at Jim May Stadium, and winning 14-3 at Eagleton in 2023.

For Scott High and Sweetwater, the stakes are higher because this week’s game is effectively an elimination game. Three of the four playoff berths in Region 2-3A have already been decided. The winner of the Highlanders and the Wildcats will claim the last one.

It’s been an excellent season for Scott High already. The Highlanders will enter this week’s game with a mark of 6-3, and nearly upset state-ranked Meigs County in Huntsville two weeks ago.

However, the Highlanders have struggled in two other region games, falling 41-14 at McMinn Central and 28-3 against Kingston. That is what has made this week’s game a must-win for the Highlanders.

Sweetwater defeated Kingston 21-19 in a major upset earlier this season. But the Wildcats fell to McMinn Central 20-13 on Saturday (after leading 13-6 at halftime), and that’s what has left them in a must-win predicament.

That useless common opponent score differential may look good for the Wildcats, but it’s also double-sided. Against league-leading Meigs County, which Scott High took to the wire before losing by a touchdown, Sweetwater lost by 30, 44-14. And against Austin-East, a region opponent the Highlanders routed early in the season (42-6), Sweetwater needed the fourth quarter to pull out a two-score win, 47-33.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Sweetwater, which started the season 2-3 before three straight wins, a streak that ended with Saturday’s loss to McMinn Central. Against Oneida, the Wildcats stormed back from a 12-0 fourth quarter deficit to score a 22-19 win. But a couple of unfortunate turnovers for the Indians late in that game aided Sweetwater’s comeback, and earlier losses to both Tellico Plains and Polk County — two teams Oneida defeated — suggest that the Indians’ fourth quarter lead was not a fluke.

So, for the 25 seniors that play starting roles on these two football teams, the stakes are clear.

For Oneida, it’s an opportunity to win a region championship — the school’s first since Grady Keeton, Ben Gilbert, Brock Ryon, Jesse Zachary, Maddox Hutcherson, Evan Cotton, Colton Sircy, Reece Lamb, Brady Burke and Jaxson Cross were in first grade.

For Scott High, it’s an opportunity to make the playoffs for the first time since its 15 seniors — Caleb Bell, Micah Boles, Michael Bond, Desmond Bowling, Keegan Bowling, Braden Burchfield, Brett Hall, Eli Kidd, Gus King, Mason Lewallen, Wyatt Lloyd, Justyn Lynch, Hayden Mason, Jaigen Morgan and Lucas Newport — were in third grade … which is especially incredible considering that the four-year seniors had won just three games in three years coming into this season.

The Highlanders’ playoff drought is the second-longest in school history, trailing 2000-2009 by just one year. Oneida’s region championship drought is not the longest in school history, but is the longest in well over a generation.

Streaks were made to be broken, and Thursday night will be an opportunity for each team to do just that.

Kickoffs at both locations are at 7 p.m. The IH Sports Network’s broadcast will begin with the Rogers Group Pregame Show at 6 p.m.