From: South Pittsburg @ Grace Academy

[The Drunken Sailor]

Congratulations to both teams on getting 1st and 2nd in the region and getting to host a first round game.

 

First, for the 2 big name players in the game:

Josh Blake was good as usual even while under a lot of pressure. I do personally think that Grace might should have tried running the ball a little more with Cross though to take some of the pressure off of Blake. But that is my opinion.

 

David Jones looked great when he came in. Offensively and defensively he seemed to add a spark to the team. He ran like a beast and showed on the sidelines and on the field that he was willing to make up for whatever reason he didn't play in the first half.

 

I don't see a reason anyone should run down either of these 2 players.

 

Second, for the game itself:

This was a much closer game that many (myself included) thought it would be for the first 3 quarters. Grace played well and made some big plays defensively that stopped a couple of South Pittsburg drives deep in Grace territory. If not for that then the score may have been worse. But then you know the many sayings about ifs and buts. South Pittsburg did seem to spring to life in the 2nd half but for those who think that the Pirates are a one man show, you can put that thought to rest now. South Pittsburg as a whole gained 503 yards of offense. David accounted for 193 yards of it. That means the rest of the team accounted for 310 yards which shows me there is more than one player for the Pirates.

 

Third, the officiating:

There were bad calls and bad no calls going both ways. But what got to me was the time that it was taking for them to talk things out. You would have thought that those guys were getting paid by the hour or something.

 

And fouth, the crowd:

Someone mentioned earlier that they were shocked by what they said they heard from the South Pittsburg crowd. I don't know what they heard and I don't question what they may have heard either. But I do want to ask Grace fans why so many of them were on Blake so much during the game. I heard a lot of complaints from fans voicing their displeasure with him. Not all fans by any means and it was probably the vocal minority that was displeased while the silent majority realizes what a gem they have in Josh. I was just wondering because I didn't see the reason that some were getting loud towards him.

 

Good luck to both teams. I fully expect South Pittsburg and Grace to advance past their first round foes.