South Pittsburg awakens in second half, defeats Sequatchie County

SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - After a first half of shooting itself in the foot, South Pittsburg's football team spent the second half making sure the cannon in the north end zone was getting plenty of shots.

The Pirates stumbled out of the starting gate in Saturday's season opener, a lethargic first half that included five fumbles - they lost two - seven penalties and a turnover on downs inside the Sequatchie County 5-yard line just before halftime.

The second half was a different story as the Pirates scored on their first three possessions - reason for the guys in charge of the cannon that sits atop the stadium's Pirate ship to get a workout - and stifled the Indians offense in a 21-7 nonregion win.

"We made some adjustments at halftime, cleaned some things up and played a lot better, especially at the line of scrimmage, in the second half," Pirates coach Vic Grider said. "It being the first game would be a good excuse for how we came out, but we've been practicing for too long to be doing some of the things we did in the first half.

"We're a better team than we showed, but the biggest thing is we came back and showed some guts to win it."

After recovering a South Pittsburg fumble at the Pirates' 36 late in the first quarter, Sequatchie County covered the distance in five plays, with Harley Meeks scoring on a 2-yard run.

The lead stood until the Pirates capitalized on an Indians turnover on the opening possession of the third quarter, needing just four plays to cover 29 yards, with fullback Cameron Trussell scoring on an 8-yard run.

The defense and special teams set the tone throughout the second half as the Indians started their first three possessions of the third quarter inside their 25 and were held to negative total yards in the half until their final possession of the game.

On South Pittsburg's second series of the third, junior Hunter Frame capped a six-play, 56-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run that put the hosts up for good. Sophomore speedster DeAndre Kelly put the game away with a 26-yard touchdown run early in the fourth period.

"We came out mad, angry after that first half," said Frame, who finished with 10 carries for 56 yards. "We knew we had to come out and pick it up or we would be walking off the field 0-1, and we didn't want that."

South Pittsburg - without two starting running backs, including all-state senior Ronto Tipton, who sat out with a minor injury - used seven ball carriers to gain 184 rushing yards. The Pirates held Sequatchie to 22 total yards in the second half and outgained the Indians 281-80 for the game.

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.

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