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Spencer Riley had a good idea before the season started that he would know where his football team stood when they entered their week six bye week.

Now, just one week away from that bye week, Riley and the Patriots have a chance to put a firm grasp on the Region 1-6A Title when they take on Morristown East at Burke-Toney Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Patriots are coming off a win over Dobyns-Bennett that moved them to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 in region play.

“It’s huge,” Riley said about sustaining the momentum into the bye week. “You get through the first five ballgames and have the opportunity to be 4-1, a spot that nobody had you at anyways. Everybody picks against us and we have a bunch of naysayers in social media land. So it’s nice to be sitting here with a chance to be 4-1 heading into the bye week.”

In Friday’s 25-14 win over Dobyns-Bennett, the Patriots went to the ground game again as they ran for 217 yards.

More importantly, the Patriots held D-B to just 64 yards on the ground on 26 attempts. Jefferson County has not allowed over 100 rushing yards in a game this season, despite not having Dallas Williamson for the past two weeks.

“Our linebackers and defensive line have been really solid,” Riley said. “Emmitt Newman, Bradon Griffin and Hayden Churchwell have all played their guts out. We’re missing Dallas (Williamson) which is a big piece for us. But seeing Waylon Holt and Skylar Thomas fill his role, I’m super proud of them.”

The quarterback play has continued to improve for Jefferson County each week, with Friday night being the best start of Mason Henderson’s short career so far. In the game, Henderson was 12-16 for 169 yards and two touchdowns.

For Riley, he wants to see his quarterback continue improving each and every week as the season goes on.

“He just has to continue to grow and get better each week,” Riley said. “He’s gotten better, let’s just see if we can take more steps moving forward. He needs to get the ball out quicker on screens and give us some more space to work with.”

Henderson’s main target in Friday’s game was Bryson Letterman as Letterman had 137 receiving yards and a touchdown.

The Patriots have had success at wide receiver over the years with guys like Kade Parker and Zac McGaw. Now, Letterman appears to be finding that same role with 13 catches for 285 yards and two touchdowns on the season.

“We knew Bryson was going to be a guy we counted on,” Riley said. “He has really good hands. If you get him some confidence early, it will continue to build as the game goes on. It’s just nice to see him competing on both sides of the ball.”

Heading into Friday’s game, Morristown East is 0-3 and 0-1 in region play. The ‘Canes are coming off a 45-35 loss to William Blount in a game where they got better on the offensive side of the ball.

“They do some really good things,” Riley said. “Sometimes it’s just a guy here and there missing but that comes with a new system. I think (coach Dallas Kuykendall) is going to do a good job at Morristown East. He’s done some good things getting more kids out, and they have improved each week.”

The East offense is led by first-year quarterback Caleb Billings. Against W-B, Billings was 15-25 for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s a really, really good athlete,” Riley said. “He does some good things moving around and extending plays. He can give you problems if you don’t get him on the ground quick.”

Defensively, the ‘Canes struggle to stop the run as they average giving up 245 yards per game on the ground. On the opposite side, the Patriots have already run for over 1,000 yards as a team, with Omarian Mills totaling 594 yards and five scores through four games.

“We just need to continue being us and being physical at the point of attack,” Riley said about his run game. “We just need to get better at our execution in the offensive line. We had too many misses so we need to correct that.”

Jefferson County and Morristown East kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday at Burke-Toney Stadium.

“This is a big one,” Riley said. “We’ll know where we sit at the bye week in the region standings and know what we have to do. If we can be 3-0, it will be a great opportunity for us at Jefferson County.”