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Adversity has hit Morristown West in just about every way possible so far during the young football season, and this week is no different.

After dispatching Daniel Boone 30-0 on Thursday evening, a resumption of last Friday’s game that was postponed in the first quarter, the Trojans hit the field again on Tuesday as they travel to take on 4A powerhouse Greeneville.

For West coach Alvin Sanders, he understands it’s a difficult task to put his football team through but knows they’ll be better for it in the long run.

“The first thing that we are going to focus on is having a gameplan that is effective but simple enough that our kids can lock in and go execute it at a high level,” Sanders said. “We don’t want to put too much on their plate. We want to play fast and confident. We still need to have meat on the plate though so we have a chance. If we can take care of the mental side, we like our chances.”

In Thursday’s win over Daniel Boone, the defense led the way as they held Daniel Boone to just 89 total yards of offense. Ian Carr had an interception, while the Trojans also snuffed out a fake field goal attempt.

“I’m really excited for our defense,” Sanders said. “We’re a lot closer to being that team we want to be defensively than we are offensively right now. Not to say that offense is far off, but the defense is just playing really good football right now. We continue to get multiple guys around the football. We’re getting stops, and the guys are running around and holding each other accountable.”

Offensively, it wasn’t the cleanest game for Morristown West but they did enough to put 30 points on the board. Malakhi Isom led the way at quarterback, going 11-16 for 203 yards, throwing one touchdown while running another in.

“He’s out there just playing ball again and playing with a lot of confidence,” Sanders said. “The next step for him now is just staying in the system a little bit more. His athletic ability is going to get him out of problems, but we need to think out the game a little more. He’s gotten better with that each week.”

Isom’s favorite target against the Trailblazers was John Michael Rosen. Rosen had three catches for 63 yards and a nice touchdown reception, bouncing off tacklers and into the end zone.

“We’re making sure we’re balanced and getting guys that can score the ball,” Sanders said. “John fits in that mold where defenses don’t know if they should treat him like a tight end or receiver. That throws a wrinkle in people’s plans because we still have all those guys at receiver too.”

Greeneville enters the game with a 2-0 record. The Greene Devils have had two games called as a no contest due to weather delays and haven’t played since last Thursday. That game against Alcoa was called in the second quarter due to lightning.

Greeneville is led by hybrid player Carson Quillen. Quillen has nine touchdowns on the season through 11 quarters as the Greene Devils use him in the backfield as well as out wide.

“First of all, we have to know where he (Quillen) is at,” Sanders said. “They do a great job of moving him around. He’s a heck of a ball player. He’s a 10 catch for 200 yard guy but also a guy that can run for 150. He even has had snaps at quarterback. He’s going to make plays, but we have to limit his explosive plays. If we can do that and tackle well and make them one dimensional, I like our chances defensively.”

The challenge for Morristown West is obvious, playing back-to-back games in a six-day span. However, Sanders just wants his kids to treat this as a learning lesson and wants to see how they will respond in yet another adverse situation.

“I just want our guys to always be prepared,” Sanders said. “At a moment’s notice things can change, and we have to be ready to respond. These last two weeks have been no exception to that. Our focus right now is getting better but also to win this game.”

Kickoff for Tuesday’s game is set for 7 p.m. at Greeneville High School.

Following the game, the Trojans will be off on Friday night before they start the second half of their season.