SAILING ON
Pirates cruise past Coalfield to return to state title game
SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — All gas, no brakes.
Top-ranked South Pittsburg hit the accelerator from the opening snap and throttled previously unbeaten and second-ranked Coalfield 42-0 in Friday’s TSSAA Class 1A semifinal at Beene Stadium.
After six years of being locked out of returning to the state championship game, the Pirates were tired of simply knocking. South Pittsburg, which was playing in its fourth semifinal in a fiveyear stretch — having narrowly lost the previous three — kicked the door off the hinges with a dominant performance on both sides of the ball.
“This means a lot to finally get over the hump,” said senior linebacker J.J. Beene, who recovered a fumble on Coalfield’s opening snap, allowing the Pirates to score five plays later and take control of the game quickly. “This is what the seniors have been working toward for years, and it’s just such a great feeling.
“We had a lot that happened this year, and we didn’t even know if we’d have a season at one point, but now we’re going to get to play for a state championship and that’s been our dream since childhood.”
South Pittsburg ( 13- 1) will face Fayetteville ( 12- 2) in next Friday’s
BlueCross Bowl state championship game at Tennessee Tech University at 4 p.m. Eastern. Fayetteville defeated last year’s state champion, Lake County, 38-24 in the other semifinal.
The win extends the Pirates’ streak as the only program in the state — regardless of classification — to have played for a title in every decade since the playoff format began in 1969. It also gave South Pittsburg’s 15 seniors a 33-0 record at home during their four-year career.
After the turnover by Coalfield ( 12-1) to begin the game, junior running back De’Andre Kelly put South Pittsburg ahead with a 3-yard touchdown run. Senior Hunter Frame, South Pittsburg’s Tennessee Titans Mr. Football finalist, followed with scoring runs of 36, 69 and 19 yards, and Gio Davis added a 25-yard fumble return for the Pirates’ fifth defensive score of the season as they built a 35- 0 halftime lead.
“It’s always a big deal for us to go out and set the tone early, and we jumped on them pretty good right away,” said Frame, who ran for 174 yards on 10 carries, all in the first half. “I don’t think they wanted to be in a game with the type pace we were setting.”
The Pirates — who have eight mercy-rule wins this season — outgained the Yellow Jackets 366-54 in total yards, with 300 of South Pittsburg’s total coming on the ground. Coalfield was held to minus-11 rushing yards in the second half.
“I’m happy for our players and our community,” Pirates coach Vic Grider said. “This is the goal for our program every year. We’ve been so close here lately, so I’m just really glad we were finally able to get it done.
“We needed to make some big things happen fast and then just do what we do. There weren’t any new formations or trick plays, we’ve just got some really good players who’ve fought through a very tough year, and now we’ve got a chance to bring another gold ball back home.”