SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — To a man, they made no bones about it. South Pittsburg coaches and players have entered the Class 1A playoffs ticked off.
The Pirates opened the postseason Friday by unloading their frustration against Grace Academy, scoring 50 first-half points on their way to a 56-13 victory.
The defending 1A state champions felt slighted by the playoff brackets, and according to coach Vic Grider, the first two playoff opponents had a lot to do with the Pirates’ bad mood. Next on the list is Greenback (9-1), which will host South Pittsburg (9-2) in next week’s second round.
“I’ll just be real honest. Grace Academy was one of the teams that’s our size that we tried to schedule during the regular season and they wouldn’t play us,” Grider said. “Greenback is another one that I called repeatedly trying to schedule a game, and they wouldn’t even return my calls.
“There are so many teams that are more our size that just flat-out dodge us, and because of that we had to play the toughest schedule in the state. We got pretty banged up this year playing some bigger schools, and losing two games to two state-ranked teams that are in a larger classification cost us the chance to have a first-round bye and host throughout the playoffs.
“We have to go on the road starting next week, and now that we’re getting healthy again, I think people are going to continue to find out we’ve got reason to keep taking out a lot of aggression.”
The Pirates’ offense scored seven first-half touchdowns and their defense added an eighth TD and a safety for a 50-6 halftime lead. Grace managed just 35 rushing yards and were outgained 354-80 in the first half.
Junior running back Demetric “Little Man” Johnson rushed for 162 yards and three TDs in the first half and didn’t carry again.
“It was important for us to jump on them early and let them know what kind of night they were in for,” Johnson said. “We’re pretty [ticked] off and focused right now, and we plan on going to take over anybody’s house that we play in from here on. We’re going to continue being intense, make it our own house and remind them who we are.”
The Pirates averaged nearly 14 yards per rushing attempt, with sophomore Jajuan Lankford adding 73 yards and two TDs in the first half. Freshman linebacker McKenna Blevins caused a fumble on a quarterback sack, and Corbin Hale returned it 18 yards for the Pirates’ final TD of the first half.