South Pittsburg defenders rush Signal Mountain High School quarterback Hogan Whitmire (14) during the 2010 game at South Pittsburg, Tenn. The two teams renew the series this Friday night at Signal Mountain.It's as close as high school football gets to an Xbox game. While the outcome no longer affects district standings, Friday's matchup of South Pittsburg at Signal Mountain remains fueled not only by the success of two proud programs, but by a pair of offenses that are constant highlight reels.
Since the start of the 2009 season -- Signal Mountain's first as a varsity program -- the two are the highest-scoring teams in Tennessee, regardless of classification, with South Pittsburg averaging 45.5 points and the Eagles 45.4. The teams split the district championship in the two years they played in the same league and each won state titles last season. Both teams are favorites to do so again this year with Signal Mountain rising to No. 1 in Class 4A before losing at state-ranked 6A foe Blackman, and South Pittsburg has been the unanimous top-ranked team in 1A all season.
"This game has become big so quick because it's two teams that win a lot of games," Pirates coach Vic Grider said. "Our program has been good for a while and they were good as soon as they started theirs, so that creates a lot of interest. They became the team that everybody in Chattanooga was talking about, so there's just an excitement and an atmosphere around this game that you don't get every week.
"There's nothing easy about what we're going into Friday."
While every opponent views Signal Mountain as a rival and a chance to make a statement, the fact is few local teams can challenge the Eagles. Aside from South Pittsburg, the Eagles have had just one win over an area foe by less than double digits. The Eagles are 28-3 since the program began, scoring 33 points or more in all but three of those games and never scoring fewer than 20 points.
The Eagles have lost just once at home, two years ago to the Pirates, but gained a measure of revenge last year by winning at South Pittsburg.
"Even though it's not a district game anymore, it's two teams and two communities that respect each other a whole lot and just want to go out and prove themselves against each other," Eagles coach Bill Price said. "You go in knowing you need to score just about every time you have the ball, because we both have good football teams.
"This is a game that our kids and our fans really look forward to. I'd advise everybody to get there early because we expect a packed house and a great environment. We've both been accused of dodging Alcoa, but by playing each other, that's proof neither team has to travel 100 miles to play a quality opponent."
The teams share one common opponent in Grundy County, with South Pittsburg opening its season with a 43-7 win and Signal Mountain beating the Yellow Jackets 38-6 last week. Grundy County is off this week, which would normally mean its coaches would scout a future opponent. Instead, Yellow Jackets coach Nick Bryant said he and his staff as well as most of the players will be at Signal Mountain.
"There's a whole lot of similarities from how strong they are up front to the number of playmakers they put on the field and how well-coached they both are," Bryant said. "We took a poll of our kids and coaches and it was split down the middle 50/50 on who everybody thought would win. We've talked about that game quite a bit, and it should be a real battle with a lot of highlight plays on both sides."