The #32 seeded Southern Guilford Storm traveled to face the #1 seeded Canton Pisgah Bears, back on Friday night, and the Storm gave a very impressive account of themselves, as they were a LONG way from home, facing the top-seeded team in the 3-A West bracket…Round One of the NCHSAA Football Playoffs, and the SG Strom returned home with a loss, but Southern Guilford gave the Pisgah Bears all they wanted and then some, back on Friday night, at the home field of Tuscola…
from www.themountaineer.com:
Pisgah football is moving on to the second round of the state playoffs after a tough 29-20 win over Southern Guilford in the first round.
While Pisgah looked sloppy at times and had plenty of questionable calls go against the team, the top-seeded Bears were able to adjust to overcome the latest batch of adversity.
“Survive and advance,” head coach Brett Chappell said. “With this season, you don’t take anything for granted.”
Along with playing a few guys the Pisgah coaching staff hadn’t seen on film, the Storm loaded the box on defense, often bringing five or six players to the line of scrimmage. Chappell admitted he was a bit nervous at times, considering how tough of a conference the Storm plays in and how many unknowns there were.
“They gave themselves a chance to stay in the game, and they caught some breaks, but that’s part of the deal,” he said. “Good thing for us is the scoreboard tells the truth.”
“We had to adjust a little bit,” he added. “When they do that on defense, they give up some seams too, so we just had to make sure our blocking was good.”
While the Southern Guilford offense never quite found consistency, quarterback Jamias Ferere managed to connect on a few long passes, including a 27-yard score to receiver Jerron Cooper. In addition, the Storm’s special teams made a mark as Cooper was able to take a Bears kickoff 91 yards to the house for a touchdown. Eventually, Pisgah started using pooch kicks to avoid giving the ball to South Guilford’s talented returners.
“I was disappointed in the kickoff team there,” Chappell said. “We’d done great with coverage and didn’t give one up all year, then we gave one up tonight and another long one too. We had to change our strategy.”
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