Here are five surprise outcomes that stand out following last week’s prep football games across Georgia and Tennessee:
› Pirates patchwork defense dominates: In what many expected to be a down-to-the-wire battle between two prideful programs facing off for the first time in 66 years, South Pittsburg breezed its way to victory in the fourth quarter over Red Bank.
The 31-7 home victory for Class 1A’s second-ranked Pirates was highlighted by a stout defensive effort that led the way to the largest margin of defeat for Red Bank in a regular-season game since August of last season.
South Pitt recovered six Lions fumbles over a span of 15 minutes, 31 seconds of game action, while Braden Meeks and Xavier Reviere made life hard on the opposing offensive line and quarterback all night. The Pirates’ banged-up defense — which had injuries to three key starters, including Clemson commit J.R. Hardrick — only allowed one passing first down and 46 total yards through the air to go along with three sacks. Meeks provided a back-breaking blow with his strip sack that Jordan McClendon recovered before lateraling to Kaden Baker, who took it the rest of the way for an 80-yard touchdown that turned what could have been a one-score game into a 17-0 lead early in the third quarter.
Outside of a dominant home region win over East Ridge, Red Bank’s offense has only averaged 11 points per game in four losses. While the 1-4 record is the Lions’ worst start to a season in a decade, they are still the favorite to win the Region 3-4A crown. Senior JaColbi Salley accounted for 106 of his team’s 186 rushing yards in a loss, where the ball was simply not secured well enough to have a chance to win against a Pirate program chasing their eighth TSSAA state title.