Football Recap: Brayden O'connell Key Part of Team Effort in Pirates Win

Pike County had won three straight at home, but on Friday they bumped up to 3-2 to make it four. Everything went their way against the Mt. Zion Eagles as they made off with a 35-14 victory. That result was just more of the same for these two, as the Pirates also won the last time the pair played back in September of 2024.

Pike County's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Brayden O'Connell, who rushed for 73 yards and one touchdown, and also threw for 143 yards and a pair of TDs. Semaj Smith was in the mix too, providing the Pirates with two scores.

Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Pike County proved: they limited Mt. Zion to a paltry two yards per carry. The team can thank Maddox Storm for the heroic effort on defense: he. Pike County didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged six.

Jayln Hudson

Total Tackles

09/19/25 vs Mt. Zion	10
09/05/25 vs Greenville	9
08/29/25 @ Sumter County	3
08/22/25 @ Haralson County	4
08/15/25 vs Crawford County	3

Pike County's defense didn't let Knox Israel., get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for four sacks. Mt. Zion's QB won't forget Jayln Hudson anytime soon given he sacked him 2.5 times. With that strong performance, Hudson is now averaging an impressive 5.8 total tackles per game. Pike County got some further help from Storm: he made 13 total tackles (4.0 for loss).

Having lost for the first time this season, Mt. Zion fell to 5-1. The game marked their lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Mt. Zion lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Israel, who threw for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 44 yards. Mt. Zion's leading receiver Xavier Buckner was Israel's top target yet again, picking up 87 receiving yards and one TD.

Pike County didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next contest, a 42-0 loss against Callaway on the 26th. As for Mt. Zion, they have also already played their next matchup, a 24-0 win against Greenville on the 26th.