It's often said that the biggest improvement made by many football teams takes place the week following their first game. If that's the case with South Pittsburg, then future Pirates foes will have their hands full.
South Pittsburg dominated injury-riddled Boyd-Buchanan on Friday night at David L. Boyd Field, scoring touchdowns on six of seven first-half possessions on the way to a 49-7 victory.
South Pittsburg (2-0) amassed 459 yards of total offense - 320 in the first half - and limited the Buccaneers to minus-17 yards of offense with not a single first down.
"Last week we didn't feel like we played our best game, especially in the offensive line. I don't know how many yards we had tonight, but it was a bunch, and I don't think we ever punted," South Pittsburg coach Vic Grider. "I think we might have gotten a little bit better after that first game."
The Pirates averaged 8 yards a carry in the first half, gaining 226 of their final total of 365 that was limited by a running clock in the second half with reserves getting most of the action.
Garrett Raulston led the Pirates with 101 yards on 15 tries and two touchdown runs. Sawyer Kelley added 67 yards on nine runs with a touchdown and scored also on a 42-yard screen pass from sophomore quarterback Jaylyn Hubbard.
Hubbard was steady at the helm, splitting time with freshman Brayden Sanders, and his performance impressed his veteran coach.
"I thought 5 (Hubbard) played a pretty good football game. He's good with that football under his arm, and he threw it well when we asked him to tonight," Grider said. "Our young guy (Sanders) struggled a little bit, but he's 14 years old and in the ninth grade. I've got a lot of confidence in him, and we're going to keep sending him out there. He's just going to get better."
Standout receiver Cade Kennemore made the most of his limited first-half touches, rushing twice for 40 yards and hauling in two passes for 35 yards with one of those being a 19-yard scoring toss from Hubbard.
"We're trying every way we can to give Cade his opportunities, and every time he got one tonight he made a big play," Grider said. "We've got to continue to create ways to get that guy the football, because he's a special player."
With injuries sidelining five of Boyd-Buchanan's key performers, second-year head coach Carter Caldwell still found some positives to take away from the loss.
"I told our guys at halftime we were looking to seeing who's going to finish, who's going to show us they can battle, playing like it's 0-0. Then you can look your teammates in the eye tomorrow and say, 'I played all the way in,'" Caldwell said. "And we found some. From a coaching standpoint I couldn't be prouder."
Contact Paul Payne at sports@timesfreepress.com