This game was a prime example of small town football. Every business in the 3,500 person town had an allegiance to one of the teams and displayed it proudly. This game hosted the “oldest rivalry in the state of Tennessee”. It was as if no one at Marion County High School owned any orange clothing. They were even more serious at South Pittsburg High school when it came to having anything purple.

MVP

Josh Henderson

Marion County

SCHOLAR ATHLETES

Bryce Messengale

Marion County

Bryce is a 4 year letterman in football and baseball. 2x all district baseball and 1x all district football. Bryce is a member of Grace Baptist Church and wants to peruse a career in nursing or dentistry. Bryce is an outstanding young man with tremendous character and heart.

Chase Blevins

South Pittsburg

Chase is a 4 year letterman on both the football and basketball teams at South Pittsburg high school. He was an all district selection in football in 2014. After graduation, Chase plans to attend Chattanooga State.

HALL OF FAME

Dale Soloman

Marion County

Dale participated in the Marion County / South Pittsburg rivalry from 1981 – 1984 and started 3 out of the four years as Linebacker / Tight End. He was voted Hardees player of the game in 1982 and 1984. In the 1984 game with the score tied and South Pittsburg driving down to the 4 yard line for a go ahead score with little time left. Dale intercepted a Halfback pass in the end zone. That interception set up Marion County up for the winning score. Marion County won 17-10 and went on to undefeated regular season and State Runner-up. Dale never lost a game to South Pittsburg in the 4 years of playing in this rivalry series.

Jimmy Wigfall

South Pittsburg

In the regular season finale, the senior tailback accounted for 346 total yards to outduel Marion County’s Eddie Brown and help the Pirates rally from 14 points down for the win. Wigfall rushed for 192 of his teams 224 yards with a scoring run of 95 yards. Three weeks later, Wigfall led the Pirates to their first state championship.

GAME SUMMARY

Points poured out like the heavy rains that delayed the game by more than an hour Friday night. Marion County used a big-play offense, led by senior quarterback Logan Walters, to whip cross-county rival South Pittsburg 62-21 at Bill Baxter Stadium. Marion (4-0) scored on its first seven possessions and rolled up 521 total yards, gaining a balanced 261 in the first half and 260 in the final two quarters. Neither offense was slowed much in the first half. Marion needed just eight plays to score its first three touchdowns of the second half and held the Pirates to just 93 total yards in the final two quarters to claim its second straight mercy-rule win over the Pirates.