Christian County got off to a shaky start and the host South Pittsburg, Tenn., Pirates made the Colonels walk the plank in a 69-8 high school football game Friday night at The Pit.
The Colonels’ offense had six penalties on their first 10 snaps and had a punt partially blocked as the Pirates grabbed a 14-0 lead in the first 5:00 of play.
South Pittsburg, which is ranked No. 2 in Class 1-A in Tennessee, scored on all eight of its first-half possessions as it rolled up a 55-0 advantage at halftime.
Quarterback Caden Jones tossed scoring passes to Brandon Goldsmith, Martavius Smith, Anthony Dickerson in the first half. The Pirates also had a pair of scoring runs from Zech Green and JaMychal Buckner as well as a touchdown run from Dayon Cooper in the first two quarters.
Meanwhile, the Colonels’ offense managed only 87 total yards in the first half. In addition to two short punts, the Colonels also fumbled on back-to-back possessions, tossed an interception, and turned the ball over on downs four times as South Pittsburg started nearly all of its possessions deep in Colonels’ territory.
The running clock was implemented to begin the second half. On their opening drive of the third quarter, the Pirates marched 69 yards on 13 plays as back-up quarterback Tristin Nunley scored on a 14-yard run to push the lead to 62-0.
Christian County (1-5) finally got on the board against the Pirates’ JV defense. Quarterback Tom Johnson capped a 10-play, 86-yard drive with a 1-yard run. Johnson’s conversion pass to James Farley cut the lead to 62-8 with 4:10 to play.
South Pittsburgh (5-1) finished off the scoring with an 81-yard kickoff return on the ensuing kick.
The Colonels finished the game with 70 yards in penalties. Offensively, they had 153 total yards with Johnson going 10-for-26 for 103 yards. Johnson also led the Colonels in rushing with 21 yards on 12 carries.
The Colonels open up Class 6-A, District 1 play next Friday night on the road at Henderson County. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with airtime set for 6:30 p.m. on 95.3 The Farm and 953thefarm.com.
Danny Vowell File Photo