SHANE SHOEMAKER
Writer
The formula for the 2025 South Pittsburg Pirates all season was simple: domination. It didn’t change in the TSSAA Class 1A BlueCross Bowl, where the Pirates manhandled McKenzie 42-14 to capture their eighth state championship.
But to those who remember — or tried to forget — the season didn’t start that way. It opened with a 10-0 shutout loss at home to Silverdale. It ended with another gold ball.
“Like I told my kids all year — it was one loss,” Pirates coach Wes Stone said. “They don’t write the record on that trophy. That loss helped us. It helped ground us.”
Coming into the game, the Pirates (14-1) were averaging 49.9 points per game, while the Rebels (13-2) were allowing just eight. By halftime, South Pittsburg had already built a 35-0 lead behind a barrage of explosive plays.
BlueCross Bowl MVP Ja’Mychal Buckner, who was snubbed as a finalist for the Mr. Football award, broke free on the first play of the second drive for 56 yards to the goal line. One snap later, he dove in to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead. The senior finished with three touchdowns — including a 63-yarder with two minutes left in the half — and 204 rushing yards, averaging 13.6 yards per carry.
“It motivated me to try to be the greatest,” Buckner said of not being named a finalist. “Those guys (voters) are probably sitting back now saying, ‘Man…’”
Dayon Cooper made his own case for Mr. Football over McKenzie’s Cole Brown by picking off the fellow finalist and returning it 21 yards. Buckner scored again soon after, with runs of 31 and 6 yards extending the lead.
Brown, who threw for nearly 3,000 yards and rushed for 1,000 this season, was held to just 57 passing yards and 42 rushing with no scores. Meanwhile, Cooper added a 48-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter and finished with four catches for 82 yards.
The Rebels didn’t cross into South Pittsburg territory until the second quarter, when a 12-play, 61-yard drive ended with the Pirates stopping a fourth-and-goal at the 13. By then, the Pirates already led 21-0 after Brandon Goldsmith returned a punt 67 yards.
Still, credit goes to the Rebels for scoring the most points on South Pittsburg since MASAE did in last year’s 36-14 state title game loss.
Stone said the play that put the game out of reach was one he had been saving. Quarterback Caden Jones — who finished 5-for-8 for 157 yards and two touchdowns — found Martavious Smith deep for a 75-yard strike to make it 35-0 going into halftime. McKenzie managed only 14 points over the final two quarters, and the Pirates outgained the Rebels 368-224.
“I thought that was the dagger, because their team — they score 40-plus points a game… so it was huge to get that huge lead early,” Stone said.
The win not only added another championship to the Pirates’ trophy case, it extended their record-setting playoff success. South Pittsburg now has 105 postseason victories — the most of any Chattanooga-area team. It also marks their third state title in six years, with championships in 2021 and 2023 and runner-up finishes in 2020 and 2024.
Photos by Cindy Desrosier