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.