Appling County continued its strong run on the gridiron, downing Statesboro 21-14 on Homecoming. During halftime, Briana Hayes was crowned 2016 Appling County High School Homecoming Queen, and then the Pirates outlasted the Blue Devils for the win. Coach J.T. Pollock’s team was listed as No. 10 in the AJC’s state rankings going into the game.
Things took a strange turn at the beginning of October when Hurricane Matthew caused the cancellation of several games in Southeast Georgia. Appling’s region opener against Long County was delayed by four days to a Tuesday night in Ludowici, and even then it wasn’t certain that the power would be working at the stadium, which suffered a power outage just before game time. Even so, Appling was led by the throwing arm of quarterback Keelan Crosby, who racked up big passing yardage as the Pirates downed the Blue Tide 59-29. That led to the big Region 2-AAA showdown against state-ranked Liberty County just four days later on a Saturday night. Despite jumping out to an early lead, the Pirates fell behind and were unable to catch up to the Panthers, falling 26-7. Appling still has games remaining against Brantley County, Pierce County, and Tattnall County.
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Pirates Ranked in State’s Top 10
Written by Rob Asbell
Photo by Rob Asbell
