Ryan Callahan

A crushing 20-18 loss at District 3-A opponent Harriman might have cost the Greenback High School football team a shot at reaching the Class 1A playoffs this season.

Still, it was hard not to be impressed by the Cherokees on Thursday night.

Greenback (2-3, 0-2) reeled off 18 consecutive points to erase a two-touchdown, second-half deficit against the Blue Devils (3-1, 2-0) and take an 18-14 lead on Shawn Petty’s 67-yard touchdown run with 8:59 remaining.

The Cherokees’ fumble on a direct snap to Petty in the closing minutes allowed Harriman to pull out the victory on Dimitrique Inman’s touchdown run.

But as recently as two weeks ago, it would have been difficult to envision Greenback climbing out of a 14-point hole in any game, particularly against a likely playoff team like the Blue Devils.

The Cherokees opened the season with an ugly 26-6 loss at Class AA Meigs County. Then, after rebounding with a 24-13 win over Pigeon Forge in their home opener, they were on the short end of a 32-0 shutout in their district opener at Rockwood.

First-year Greenback coach Justin Ridge’s revamped offense, which has included a few pistol formations, struggled to move the ball. The Cherokees’ defense at times seemed almost incapable of making stops.

To his credit, Ridge believed his relatively inexperienced team was better than it looked at the time.

“That’s not us,” Ridge said after the Sept. 4 loss to Rockwood.

He apparently was right.

The Cherokees bounced back last week with a 48-14 rout of winless Sweetwater before pushing Harriman to the brink of an upset last night.

Against the Blue Devils, Greenback consistently moved the ball throughout the second half. Petty finished with 160 rushing yards, and fellow running back Ernie Stinnett added two touchdowns.

The defensive front also proved capable of slowing down Harriman’s productive running game and talented skill-position players.

Greenback now faces an uphill battle to make the playoffs coming off an 11-2 season last year under former coach Brent Kilpatrick. Two of the four Class 1A teams in the six-team District 3-A will qualify for the postseason, but Harriman and Grace Christian Academy appear to be the early favorites for those spots.

A wild-card berth also seems unlikely, unless the Cherokees manage to win four of their last five games and finish the regular season with a 6-4 record.

If nothing else, though, Greenback on Thursday looked like one of the area’s most improved teams since Week One.

That’s a good start.