PIRATE BUZZSAW; Tigers’ playoff hunt ends at top-ranked South Pittsburg
By Shea Haile
Courier Sports
SOUTH PITTSBURG — The Gordonsville High Tigers football team found themselves in familiar territory last Friday night — traveling to Class 1A high school football juggernaut South Pittsburg with their playoff lives on the line.
Big Blue saw their 2023 journey come to an end in “The Pitt” with a 48-7 loss to the Associated Press poll’s top-ranked Class 1A team.
“Obviously, it did not go the way we wanted it to,” said Gordonsville High head football coach Stephen Jackson. “It is a game that we talked about all week — you have to play the next play. It is all about how you respond to these guys. They have a really good football team at South Pittsburg. They are really fast on defense and offensively they have weapons everywhere. They are going to put points on the board and they are going to put together drives.”
The Pirates had Gordonsville out-gunned in every phase — racking up 448 yards of total offense while restricting the visiting Tigers to 63 total yards.
The hosts would build a 35-0 first half lead and was able to activate the mercy rule along with a running clock in the second half.
South Pittsburg held a 48-0 lead before Gordonsville tacked on the game’s final touchdown.
With 8:07 remaining in the contest, sophomore quarterback J Foster located junior receiver Dalton Hancock for a six yard touchdown pass. Gavin Kemp added the PAT for Big Blue’s only points.
“We talked about it at halftime — just how we were going to come out for the second half while being down,” said Jackson. “It is all about pride. At Gordonsville, we are not going to quit. We are going to keep on fighting and that is what our kids did. They came out in the second half and kept fighting — they were able to put a score on the board.”
“I am proud of our kids. All year, they have been guys that play hard — whether down or up. They always play as hard as they can.”
READ MORE IN COURIER SPORTS
