KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Knoxville Grace Christian Academy rolled to a 13-0 lead here Friday night against powerful South Pittsburg.
That was about it for Grace.
Even though Grace led, 13-0, after four minutes, South Pittsburg roared back for a 57-13 victory in a Class 1A state football semifinal.
South Pittsburg quarterback Terrell Robinson, a Mr. Football finalist and a commitment to UT-Chattanooga, scored on touchdowns runs of 4, 4, 4 and 95 yards and finished with 219 yards on 20 carries.
Pirate running back Raquis Hale tallied on runs of 41, 52 and 3 yards and finished with 209 yards on 14 carries as the Pirates (11-2) finished with 450 yards on the ground.
South Pittsburg advanced to the state championship game Friday against Union City, a 31-21 winner over Wayne County on Friday night.
Grace Christian finished at 11-2.
"We couldn't have scripted a worse start," Pirates coach Vic Grider told the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
"That's as bad as it gets. I thought our character and senior leadership continued to show up. I'm pretty proud of our guys for not hitting the panic button.
"I thought we started to wear on them in the second quarter and both (Robinson and Hale) are really special players. They just put so much pressure on you to defend the whole field."
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)