Pirates played admirably. It should be obvious to most that they were outmanned, but they never quit.
I felt both teams made some good personnel adjustments going into this game that helped each team.
The Pirates sold out to stop the run after the first couple possessions, and I feel like the pass plays we hit at the end of the game were there most of the night, but we chose to grind it out.
I don't think the game was as close as the score indicates, however, the effort from the Pirates helped that.
Both teams missed chances. SP had a few drops, and Gville dropped a pick 6 and another interception.
As far as the refs, they let the boys play, maybe a little too much. I think there were only two holding penalties called all night, a defensive holding against SP that was declined and an offensive holding on Gville that negated a 50 yard run. There were probably only about 5 flags the whole game, and there were some that should've been called and we're obvious, but weren't. For example SP should've been called for a delay of game on one of their pints as the clock was on 0, but it wasn't.
As far as our boys, they played hard and physical, and that's what I wanted to see, and we had several underclassmen making plays, so we may have some good matchups down the road. The opening kickoff was returned by a freshman, and another freshman started on the line, several sophomores and juniors played.
It was a long post, but the Pirates can be proud of their effort, and the Tigers can be proud they advanced to avenge an earlier loss.