By William Petitt, Sports Editor
Once again, as the school year begins the Pirates look forward to another great football season. Three games into the season Page remains undefeated, tallying up victories against the Davie War Eagles, Northern Guilford Nighthawks, and the number one ranked Dudley Panthers. Keep reading for a more in-depth analysis.
In their season-opener on August 17th, Page Football looked strong in the end as they pulled out the victory 35-28. However, nerves were shaky in the first half as the Pirates entered the locker room down 21-12, scoring two touchdowns(one off of a punt return) but failing to convert the extra point. After the first half, the Pirates emerged on the field determined as the defense shutout Davie and the offense put up 13 points on the board. After this, the tide turned in Page’s favor as they went on to win 35-28.
The Friday after the victory against Davie on August 24th, the Pirates played their first away game and it was nothing short of absolute carnage. The opponent, the Northern Guilford Nighthawks, failed to put any points on the board as the Pirates won 48-0. In the first half, the Pirates only scored six points, but came out of the locker room ready to score many more. The breakaway happened in the third quarter for the Pirates, scoring four touchdowns and putting 28 points on the board. All together, the Pirates won to advance to 2-0, displaying a balanced offense in the win. This includes both three passing and rushing touchdowns, including 267 yards passing and 203 rushing yards. The defense also went hard, allowing no points and keeping the pressure on the quarterback with four sacks and fifteen hurries. On top of that, a touchdown was scored off of a fumble recovery.
In their most recent victory, the Pirates dethroned the top-ranked Dudley Panthers on August 31st to win 28-7. After the first quarter, the game was tied at seven apiece, with each team finding the end zone once. The second quarter went scoreless in a show of good defense, but the Pirates went up in the third quarter 14-7 after scoring a touchdown. The fourth quarter was even better, as the Pirates scored two touchdowns to win 28-7. Quarterback Javondre Page had a solid game himself, completing 10/18 passes and throwing for two touchdowns and 133 yards. Once again, the defense proved dominant with six sacks and an interception by DB Antonio Herbin which was ran back 48 yards for a touchdown.
Tonight, the Pirates face off against the Eastern Guilford Wildcats at 7:30PM in Marion Kirby Stadium. The Wildcats boast a 2-0 record coming into the game, which includes a 30-14 win against Grimsley. Collectively, both teams look strong coming into the tonight’s game, the Pirates in particular with their high-scoring offense(averaging 37 points a game) and turnover-hungry defense. Left tackle Branyon Spigner asserts, “We just need to focus on our assignments and treat it as just another game and not get caught up in the win against Dudley, not being overconfident after the win against Dudley.” Hopefully, the rest of the Pirates can channel this mindset as they escape the ever-common post victory syndrome as they face off against the undefeated Wildcats tonight.
