The senior banners arrived just in time for the Pirates first official football game of the season. Each senior athlete hung their banner on the fencing at the end of the field for display before heading to the locker room to suit up for the game.
The September 1 game against the Arnold Marlins was canceled due to stormy weather conditions making last week’s game with Graceville the first of the season.
The stands were packed with Pirate fans dressed in beach attire for the Hawaiian theme of the night. They watched and cheered in excitement as Sneads Jason Patterson (#5) rushed in for the first score of the night. The first quarter ended with a score of 19-0. With just a 1:74 into the second quarter the Pirates had already run the score up to 26-0 and by halftime they had 32-0. The Pirates held the lead score of 32 through the third and fourth quarters. Determined not to go home completely shutout, the Tigers managed to make a touchdown in the last 2:31 minutes of the game. In the end the Pirates sent the Tigers home with a loss. It was just like frying up an egg… the final score was an over easy 34-6.
It will be several weeks and games into the season before the Pirates play another home game. They are scheduled to travel to Holmes County this week to face off with those mighty Blue Devils. The Blue Devils lost 14-28 against the Marianna Bulldogs back in August and won their game against NBHA from Panama City 44-14. It may be a challenging game for the Pirates to get through, but they are ready to face another good competitive team. The next home game will be October 13.
Patricia Smith – Gadsden County News Service
