Hale powers Pirates

The members of South Pittsburg football team that play solely on offense might have to log a few sprints this week to make sure their conditioning is on par with their defensive mates.

In a Class 1A playoff game that Pirates coach Vic Grider called "weird," visiting Moore County ran 79 plays to triple South Pittsburg's 26. Grider's team was much more efficient, though, producing 49 points in its 26 plays in a 49-14 home win over Moore County.

Raquis Hale was the most efficient player for a Pirates offensive unit that averaged 1.88 points per snap. The senior earned Times Free Press player of the week honors after he rushed for 235 yards and three scores in South Pittsburg's ninth win of the season.

"This game was frustrating because it seemed like we hardly ever had the ball," Hale said Friday after averaging 19.6 yards per carry.

The win advanced the second-ranked Pirates to the quarterfinals and they'll remain at home to play against fourth-ranked Gordonsville (9-2) on Friday.

As usual, Hale played both ways and contributed an interception -- his fourth of the season -- to the defensive effort, but he may have felt like the Pirates defense was tired at times.

"We have to do a better job of getting off the field," he said. "We knew we were the better team. We just have to play like it, and there were times we didn't do that on defense."

Hale has been a model of consistency for the Pirates this season.

Through 10 games he had averaged 138.4 yards per game while scoring 23 touchdowns. He also had a TD and a handful of catches. Defensively he had two interceptions and had caused a fumble.

"He's playing about as well as we could hope for anybody to play," Grider said. "He really opens up our offense because people have to focus so much on him. He's just the total package, a guy with speed and power who runs hard on every carry. And he's a senior who really wants to carry us."