The unbeaten Central Purple Pounders got a big dose of reality Friday night when the South Pittsburg Pirates came to town.
Both teams had perfect records after their first four games. Many Central followers were upbeat and excited over such a positive start.
That excitement continued through the first possession when Central forced a South Pittsburg punt, but it was all downhill from that point as the top-ranked Pirates rolled to a 47-12 victory at Central Memorial Stadium.
“We just got our butts whipped by a very good football team,” Central coach David Barger said as he headed to meet with his team when it finally ended.
“They out-hit us. They out-executed us and just generally out-played us. They were the better football team tonight, no ifs, ands or buts about it.
“We can’t afford to make the kind of mistakes against a team like that and expect to win. But we have no time to relax as we have another top-ranked team next Friday,” Barger said, suggesting that his team would play at Red Bank next week.
The Pirates have a roster full of talented football players, but it would be hard to top the positive contribution that quarterback Terrell Robinson makes.
The slender senior is the key to South Pittsburg’s success and a threat to score from any spot on the field at any given moment.
He was the leading rusher for the game with 114 yards on 16 carries, which included 96 yards on seven trips in the second half.
He let his arm do the damage in the first half as he connected on nine of 12 passes for 185 yards as the Pirates rolled to a 34-6 lead at the break.
With the game's outcome pretty much decided by intermission, South Pittsburg didn't even attempt a pass in the final two stanzas.
While Central’s defense stopped Robinson and the Pirates on that first possession, South Pittsburg scored on their next five tries to turn what many had hoped to be a close game into a blowout.
The mercy rule was in effect most of the second half, so the final two quarters went by pretty quickly and without much more scoring.
South Pittsburg coach Vic Grider had nothing but good things to say about his team when the final horn sounded.
“When we play our game and do what we’re supposed to do, we have the ability to be a pretty good football team.
"We knew that Central was feeling good about their team coming in, but we wanted to make a quick statement. My guys answered the call,” Grider said afterward.
“You know, we only have about 240 kids in our school and we came here tonight and played a team six-times our size. This is a big win for our football team.
"I’m real pleased with how we got started as we came to play. I had an idea we were ready on the bus ride over here.
“It’s hard to find much to complain about. Four of our first five games have been on the road, so it will be nice playing at home next week.
"We have to turn around the next week and come back here to play Boyd-Buchanan, so it doesn’t get any easier,” the veteran coach concluded.
Robinson scored South Pittsburg’s first touchdown midway through the first quarter when he scampered into the end zone from the 8.
The Pirates marched 57 yards in six plays with the big play being a 26-yard pass from Robinson to Malcolm Jones on the play before the TD.
Jones added a 37-yard catch on the next drive as the Pirates needed just three plays to cover 63 yards.
Jonathan Sellers had runs of 17 and 9 yards with the second one giving the visitors a 13-0 lead.
Sellers, Jones and Robinson all scored TDs in the second quarter as the lead swelled to 34-0 before Central scored.
DeMarcus Rogers gave the Purple Pounders great field position with a 47-yard kickoff return following South Pittsburg's fifth touchdown.
A 15-yard penalty gave Central a first down on the Pirates 28 with less than a minute remaining in the half.
Daniel White hooked up with DeHart Hubbard on a 23-yard pass play before Hubbard scored on a keeper to the left from the 5 on the next play.
Robinson had runs of 37 and 27 yards to get the Pirates off and running in the second half, the second one for his third touchdown of the night.
He got his fourth on the third play of the fourth quarter from 10 yards out after Hubbard scored Central’s final TD on a 20-yard pass from White with 2:27 to play in the third.
The Pirates finished with 424 total yards with Robinson being responsible for 299.
Raquis Hale gained 59 yards rushing on 11 attempts while Sellers finished with 55 yards on 14 carries.
Jones was the leading receiver for the Pirates with three catches for 99 yards.
Jiajuan Fennell also had three grabs for another 46 yards.
The Pirates finished the evening with 19 first downs.
Central finished with 175 total yards, which included 113 through the air and 62 on the ground.
Much of that came in the second half after the Pounder offense was limited to just 35 total yards in the first 24 minutes.
Hubbard was the leading receiver with 76 yards on four catches while White was Central’s leading rusher with 41 yards on two trips, including 39 on the big one two plays before finding teammate Hubbard on the 20-yard pass play.
Central finished with seven first downs after being limited to just one in the first half, that coming in the final minute of the second quarter.
South Pittsburg is now 5-0 and will host Whitwell next Friday while Central is now 4-1 and must get ready for Red Bank next week.
South Pittsburg 13 21 7 6 – 47
Central 0 6 6 0 -- 12
SP – Terrell Robinson 8 run (Jacob Howard kick), 6:17 left in first;
SP – Jonathan Sellers 9 run (run failed), 4:44 left in first;
SP – Sellers 7 run (Malcolm Jones pass from Robinson), 10:43 left in second;
SP – Jones 36 pass from Robinson (Howard kick), 7:05 left in second;
SP – Robinson 9 run (kick failed), 0:49 left in second;
CEN – DeHart Hubbard 5 run (pass failed), 0:29 left in second;
SP – Robinson 27 run (Howard kick), 8:34 left in third;
CEN – Hubbard 20 pass from Daniel White (pass failed), 2:27 left in third;
SP – Robinson 10 run (kick failed), 11:04 left in fourth.
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)