SEVIERVILLE —The Sevier County High School Smoky Bears football team knows where it’s at, and it knows what’s at stake this Friday night against visiting IMAC Conference rival Morristown East Hurricanes.

But in the face of history in the making with a chance for the first perfect 10-0 regular season in school history, the Smoky Bears (9-0 overall, 6-0 in District 2-AAA) are not losing sight of a couple of important things.

First, they still have to defeat a dangerous East (5-4 overall, 4-2 in District 2-AAA) squad coached by SCHS graduate Dwayne Hatcher this Friday night in Sevierville.

Secondly, the Bears don’t intend on just settling for a 10-win season only to finish one-and-done in the postseason, which is just around the corner.

“We’re looking at this game (against East), and we’ve got to have a playoff intensity,” said 18th-year SCHS coach Steve Brewer. “We need to play with that playoff intensity and just get used to it.

“A bad quarter can mean it’s your last game, once we get into the playoffs. So, we’ve got to be sharp Friday night, and we’ve got to play with a lot of passion.”

For the Bears, the chance to make school history by going 10-0 is more of a motivation than a potential distraction.

“But I know these guys are aware of the fact that we’re going for an undefeated season,” said Brewer. “That to me, in itself, is pressure enough. But so far this year, this team has handled things pretty well.

“I just want us to come out and play our best football and play with a lot of passion. If we show up to play that way, it’s going to be a great ball game.”

The Smoky Bears team knows what it will take to achieve the perfect season. They’ve been reminding themselves of it at the end of practices and games all year.

“If you want to go somewhere you’ve never gone,” the team says in its dismissal huddles. “You’ve got to do something you’ve never done.”