UncleDave

Yep, Gordonsville had some very good teams in the 80s. My brother played from 84-87 and they ran into them in 86 when they were #1 in the state. The Pirates won that game, but his senior year they took a beating at Gordonsville. I think the best team the Tigers have had since then was the 2007 team. The Pirates just had a few more ball players that year or they may have won it that year. Making the playoffs back in the day was a reward for winning the district….and like it was mentioned above, for years only the district champion made the playoffs. Anybody that knows football can see that with all of these classifications, the competition is watered down where the really good teams only meet around the semis….sometimes the quarterfinals.

Thanks for the info from you and the other folks. All teams have some down years no matter how good a program they have. Heck, it can even be affected with a coaching change. I have to pick on my Jasper neighbors here because since Ken Colquette left there, the purple and white have not been much of a force at all. They had a good playoff run in 2008 but really nothing else since 1995 when Eric Westmoreland graduated. I expect Trousdale to win it this year because they have the coaching and tradition advantage. Throw in some good football players and you have a good mixture for success.

I would not bet against TC….they definitely have a fine coaching staff and always have good players to boot. They will always be a force in the playoffs no matter what classification. This may be a little off subject, but I wanted to get some insight/info on Trousdale Co football in the 80s. Not trying to make anyone mad, but just wanted to see if the Yellow Jackets moved up in classification during that time or maybe just had a low influx of talent. I know being from SP, we all have down years. I just wanted to piece together the gap from 1975 to 1990.

Leadership and experience do account for alot. If this senior class leads the Pirates to the championship game this year, it will be their third straight appearance which I don't think has ever been done before at SP. Twice the Pirates have made it two years in a row...1985/1986 and 2009/2010. They have been close several times to back to back appearances (1993/1994/1995, 1998/1999), 2007/2008). Seems like a team from Hartsville has messed those runs up...plus a good BGA team in 1995. These boys definitly know what it is to play in big games, I just hope they stay healthy thru Friday night and the playoffs so everyone will get their best effort.

UncleDave is not one to come on here and brag about the Pirates. I know there are other good teams across the state, but saying that UC beat us like a mule is rediculous! Yes, they did run the ball down our throats, but they never stopped the Pirates that day....the Pirates stopped themselves...and UC took advantage of those mistakes to win. If you want to see a couple teams get beat like that, watch the films on the 2007 state game with McKenzie or the 2010 state game with Jo Byrns. They were both good teams that SP beat as you stated above "like a government mule." Sorry fams of Jo Byrns and McKenzie...but I had to give this guy a better understanding of a whooping. SP has taken them before...an example from last year would be the Polk Co game. The Pirates got that monkey off their back after 3 years and hopefully will give GCA a good game this week.

UncleDave is hoping he can make this game, but I am not sure I can get off work and that I am up for the ride to Knoxville by myself. The Rams will come out fired up and ready to play since this will be their last game due to the post season probation. It also does not help that the last time the Pirates came to town, they put a whooping on them Rams. GCA has two things going for them here...revenge and wanting to make a statement that they are a legitimate 2A team that could have competed for the State title this year. With this said, the Pirates are a very solid team that is coming together at the right time. Injuries have kept this team from being as dominant as they could have been all year....but they still have played well. If the Pirates can weather the first half storm of emotion that the Rams will be fueled by, then they will have a good chance of winning this game. I think this is a game with two solid, well coached teams...but I think the Pirates have too much speed and too many weapons for GCA to stop.

Great game last night by the Pirates!! They finally got the Polk monkey off their back and played well. In UncleDave's opinion, the defense is really playing well right now which will help us going into the playoffs. The offensive game plan was great and was carried out very well by Stone who is getting better each week. Line play on both sides of the ball was the difference in the game. The last two years, Polk won in the trenches, but this year it was the Pirates. Practice hard this week and get ready to play a good, revenge minded GCA team! Polk Co fans, good luck the rest of the season and in the playoffs.

And Croz, most SP folks understand that we won't be in Cookeville if we don't beat Gordonsville who is being underestimated in my opinion. Not discrediting any of the other teams that will be in the east quad, but the representative will be one of these two teams. I have not seen any film, but the only two losses were to quality opponents...one that will probably win 2A this year and the other who is a good program as well.

I guess what UncleDave meant was that we won't be giving up 40 points to Polk this year...does that sound better?? The days of games being 7-6 or 14-7 are over. Most teams today are more geared for offensive fire power, so the defense goes out the window. Most teams back in the 80s and early 90s still played smash mouth football, but that all changed when the spread offense took over high school football.

UncleDave has been quiet most of the week and just reading all the posts. Polk Co has figured themselves out and played really good ball since early in the season. Pirate fans should know better than to take them lightly because they hammered the Pirates last year and beat them after a big 2nd half rally in 2009. I don’t think Polk has dropped off much, but I also think the Pirates are a solid team when they show up to play. The Defense has showed up well the last two weeks and the Pirates will lean heavily on them tonight. The Pirates won’t be busting as many big plays tonight against a good defense, so they will have to take advantage of any miscues by the Wildcats. I doubt they will be fumbling against the Pirates, so I see this being a defensive game with the Pirates winning 30-21.

Had Polk been in the playoffs the year or two before 2009? If not, you can chalk that one up to experience. I am sure you know like us Pirate fans that the playoffs are a whole new ballgame. Teams come to play each week because you have seniors that don't want to play their last high school game....along with the tradition of winning programs. Ya'll have a good program rolling up there at Polk again and I expect you to make some noise come playoff time. The Wildcats will be all we can handle and more....not sure how we will stack up this year.

What funny farm did you get out of today?? Or better yet, what juice have you been sipping on??? Most Pirate fans will tell you that the teams the last few years have been good but not our best. 1985, 1986, 1994, 1999, 2007 would all give teams in any classification a run for their money in their prime. If I am not mistaken, CAK...a private school...has beaten Polk Co the last couple of years in the playoffs so I don't see your argument. Even if they got past them, Alcoa...one of the best programs in the state was waiting on them. One thing you can't say is that the Pirates are not afraid to play up in classification....and they are most of the time always competitive.

I am going to bring up something nobody else has concerning the Polk game last year. I heard several folks say the Pirates quit...I don't know if it was that or if they were just wore down from the constant pounding of the ground game. We are injured, but to win this game we will have to be more physical and play hardnosed football. I have to agree with Ambassador and say until the Pirates prove something against Polk, they are the favorite to win this game. The Wildcats have a very good program that has been built back up in the last few years. I have been very impressed with their toughness the last two years....reminds me of those Pirate teams in the 80s.

I don't put much stock in polls and rankings....heck I would rather not be ranked so that target is not on my back. The only #1 ranking that matters in my book is when you hold up that trophy in December!!

It was a great second half comeback. Probably the best was at Greenback in 1994. The Cherokees postponed the game on Friday night because of rain. Some folks thought it was because they relied so heavily on the pass and it would hurt them throwing in the rain. Anyway, the Pirates were down 14-0 at the half if I am not mistaken….it has been a few years though. Anyway, they got a blistering halftime speech from Coach Wilson that the whole attendance heard well. Macho Green took the ensuing kickoff for 7 and the Pirates never looked back. I believe the score ended up 42-14….that is a lot of points in one half!! And I believe Greenback was #1 in the state when SP won that game.

TT, you are right. That pass to Chubb was play action….heck, it fooled the crap out of me! The coaches know best, but they definitely need to incorporate some of that into the offense. I know that Polk does it a lot due to their great ground game. To have a chance Friday night, SP will have to be effective running the ball. If not, it will be a long game. Don’t know who all went to the game in Benton last year, but several big plays were made by the Wildcats using play action. The Pirate’s style of defense probably dictated a little more of that since they like to blitz a couple of linebackers about every play. If they can play defensively like they have the last two games, the Pirates can maybe stay in the game this year.

This will be the best team we will play all year, bar none. Anyone who has seen the last two games against SP and Polk knows that the Wildcats are well coached on both sides of the ball. Their defense kept Hale in check last year and made it hard on Millard to throw any passes being under constant pressure. This will be a very hard game for the Pirates to win. Even if we play 4 men on the defensive line....which we did last year....Polk still drove it down our throats all night long. Just like several others have mentioned, Polk will stack the box and make us throw to beat them...and I agree with Train Tracks, we very seldom win when we have to pass alot. To win this game, the Pirates will have to play agressive defense and Jake will have to be completely on with his throws. We have the players to win, just hope they put forth the effort this week in the 1st half or the game will be over early.

UncleDave was not able to log on CoachT most of the week due to work. I have to say that the Pirates came out flat last night and without playing good defense, would have been down by a couple more scores. The Hale kid at Boyd is a heck of a player...and the Boyd defense played well most of the night. The Pirates came out of their funk after halftime and started playing Pirate football. This team is coming together but we can't have many more injuries or we will be limping into the playoffs. Polk Co and GCA are big challenges to end the season....just hope we come out fired up the next two weeks or we won't be able to get back in the ballgame.

I know it is hard for some of you folks to believe, but South Pittsburg has had a winning football tradition that dates back earlier than the first state championship in 1969. The “Wall of Champions†in the SP Gym shows off teams that could have possibly won a state championship if they could have played for one back then. In those days it was all about bowl games….and the records show that SP won their share of them against higher classification teams. We don’t have to prove to anyone that the kids that play at SP have gone to school there since pre-k. SP is like any other school….kids come and go from K-12. Our kids just have a PRIDE for SP football that a lot of teenage kids today would never understand unless they put on that orange and black jersey. Small town football is big here and always will be.

Against 1A competition, the 3-4 will work against 99% of the teams....but what happens when we run into the small 1%? We get traintracked!! I had to use that statement...LOL. I know it is just high school football, but I think you should adjust to your opponent. The 3-4 works good against spread teams....and teams with lesser ability. I just don't think it will be very effective at all against any team that plays smash mouth football....like the Pirate teams of old. Any of you old Pirates, do you think this defense would fair well against some of the good single wing teams?? I for one say no...they would get earholed so much that they would be running from the pulling guard and the fullback by halftime. Not doubting the toughness of this bunch, just that football today is much more finesse. If no adjustments on defense are made, the Pirates will have to rely on the offense heavily in the next 4 games....and with some key injuries it will put alot of pressure on them. We will see what this team is made of after 4 weeks of tough football.

Ambassador, I am not saying we don't have good linebackers, and I am not knocking the lineman....just that against big, physical lineman that defense is useless. If we had some size in there, it would give the linebackers more of a chance to make plays. Now I don't know if Franklin Co is a tough physical team....but I know they have some big lineman and are a grind it out team on offense. If we can stop them and get a couple of scores up on them, then they will have issues playing with SP....but in the last few years we have not been able to stop run pounding offenses. SP relies more on offensive firepower instead of defense which works most of the time. But anybody that knows football understands that defense is the key to winning championships. We played well enough on defense in 2007 and 2010 to win the gold ball....but as offensively tough as we were in 2009, defense cost us the ballgame plain and simple.

UncleDave hopes we do something different on defense Friday night. I know I have harped on it, but 3 lineman will not stop a power running team. Heck, we may put 4 in there and not be able to stop them, but at least make an effort. The next 4 weeks will define this team. If they step up the challenge, they could easily win all 4.....but if they don't, they could lose all 4 and limp into the playoffs. I have to agree with TT, the defense has to start dominating. They have against lesser opponents, but I want to seem them play well against a good one.

UncleDave did not make it to the game last night....expected the normal Whitwell beatdown and that is what happened. Yes, we gave up 36 points but think about it Pirate fans...#1 It was Whitwell and it is hard to get fired up for a team that has been pitiful competition for almost 10 years. #2 We are playing alot of young players which will make mistakes. We should show up to play next week with something to prove. My only wish is that we would put some beef on the line against these big teams. The small guys on the line won't stop a power running team and that is pretty much what we will be facing the next 4 weeks. I predict if we continue to play the smaller guys on the line, we will be lucky to win any of these games.

I honestly don't know much about Huntingdon, so fill me in on them. Also what all teams are on your schedule this season? I know over here in middle/eastern TN, it is hard to find 1A teams that will play my Pirates so we have to play up in classification.

I think they could go 4-0 if everybody stays healthy and they play to their potential. I seriously doubt we see as talented an offense as Signal had last week the rest of the season. The defense has played well, but if we don't put some beef on the line against power running teams, it will be a long night for the defense. I agree once Chubb is back and everyone heals up, this could be as good a team if not better than last year.