WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsSouth Pittsburg denied in bid for back-to-back titles

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WRCB/AP) - Coltin Blevins was speechless after being named the Class 1A. Mr. Football Back of the Year on Monday.

On Friday, the South Pittsburg senior linebacker was without words for a much different reason.

Quarterback Austin Rice ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, lifting Wayne County to a 27-14 victory over the five-time and defending state champion Pirates for the TSSAA Class 1A title at Tucker Stadium.

"Frustration, disappointment. It's terrible," Blevins said afterwards.

Wayne County (14-0) was playing on the state's biggest stage for the first time, but looked far more polished than the seasoned Pirates.

South Pittsburg's high-octane offense was slow to start, then stalled out with penalties and miscues deep in Wildcat territory in the final quarter.

"We couldn't get enough stops when we needed to, and when we got them, we kept shooting ourselves in the foot offensively," said head coach Vic Grider. "I guess that's a credit to them, and I didn't do a good job of play-calling. We did a lot of bad things.

"It's frustrating because you only get one shot at this, and we didn't get it done."

Down 20-14 in the fourth quarter, South Pittsburg had the ball first-and-goal at the Wayne County three-yard-line, but come away with no points. A false start penalty pushed them back outside the five, then quarterback Jake Stone fumbled a bad shotgun snap on third down to set up a fourth-and-goal from the 16.

The Wildcat defense held with Stone's toss to Demetric Johnson falling incomplete in the end zone. The Pirates never got the ball back.

"That pretty much sealed the deal," said Grider. "Even after that penalty I still thought we could get it in the end zone, but after the bad snap it really shrinks the field. Your play-calling ability becomes pretty minimal."

A few plays later Rice busted loose for a 55-yard run down to the South Pittsburg eleven-yard-line. He punched it a few plays later for the game's final score. The dual-threat quarterback Rice ran for 214 yards and passed for 66 more on a 4-for-7 effort to earn the game's offensive MVP honors.

South Pittsburg (12-3) did break one record as quarterback Jake Stone threw a 98-yard TD pass to Antonio Chubb, the longest TD pass in TSSAA BlueCross Bowl history.

"I felt like that play got us going. We got the momentum then, but we couldn't do anything with it," Chubb said.

He had a hand in that, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the ensuing kickoff for his antics on the play. Wayne County took the short kick into Pirate territory and eventually scored on Rice's 34-yard touchdown pass to Payton Mathis.

"Every time we had a chance to seize the game we would go and do something dumb," Grider said.

Wayne County's Clint Butler was named the game's defensive MVP, after collecting nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and recording a pass breakup. Butler also rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown.

Stone threw for 166 yards and a touchdown on a 9-for-16 performance, while Demetric "Little Man" Johnson led South Pittsburg in rushing with 107 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

"I feel bad for our seniors for this to be their last game," Johnson said. "We didn't come out and accomplish what we were supposed to accomplish. "They played harder than we did and executed better than we did, and it cost us."

South Pittsburg, who was playing in its third straight state final and fourth in the last five years, was chasing the program's first-ever back-to-back titles. That feat will remain an elusive achievement for at least another two years.

"It hurts because these kids wanted to accomplish something special," Grider said. "To do the things necessary to get back to this point with a bulls-eye on your chest every week in the schedule we played, and then add in the injuries we had, it says a lot about the character of our seniors.

"I'm just really disappointed it didn't work out for us today."