Football Recap: Unicoi County Gets the Win

Blaze Rice

Rushing Yards

09/26/25 @ Pigeon Forge	176
09/19/25 @ Happy Valley	100
09/12/25 @ Chuckey-Doak	102
09/05/25 vs Gatlinburg-Pittman	57
08/28/25 @ Northview Academy	38
+ 1 more games

Unicoi County won the last time they faced Pigeon Forge and Blaze Rice did his part to make sure it happened again. The Blue Devils blew past the Tigers 42-21 on Friday with plenty of help from Rice, who rushed for 176 yards and three TDs while picking up 11.0 yards per carry. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 102.8 rushing yards per game.

The team also got some help courtesy of Kolby Jones, who threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns while completing 78.3% of his passes. His passing game has become a key predictor of Unicoi County's success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 110 or higher, but only 1-2 otherwise.

Despite the defeat, Pigeon Forge saw an underclassman step up: sophomore McCoy Smith threw for 185 yards and three TDs.

Unicoi County's victory bumped their record up to 4-2. As for Pigeon Forge, they dropped their record down to 0-5 with the loss, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season.

Unicoi County will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Grainger at 7:00 p.m. on the 10th. The Blue Devils will be up against the Grizzlies' rather soft defense (which has allowed 28.8 points per matchup), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance. As for Pigeon Forge, they wasted no time getting back out on the field and have already played their next contest, a 21-18 defeat against Polk County on the 3rd.