Football Preview: Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders vs. Pigeon Forge Tigers
Gatlinburg-Pittman has won three straight games at home, while Pigeon Forge has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders will welcome the Pigeon Forge Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Gatlinburg-Pittman is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 29.7 points per game this season.
Gatlinburg-Pittman is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 56 points last Friday, they were much more limited against Johnson County on Friday. They fell 14-7 to the Longhorns. The contest was a 0-0 toss-up at halftime, but the Highlanders couldn't quite close it out.
Gatlinburg-Pittman didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Elijah Spence and Nathan Allen. Allen also made 11 total tackles, which is notable because Gatlinburg-Pittman is undefeated when he posts at least three total tackles, but 2-3 otherwise. Gatlinburg-Pittman got some further help from Elijah Brimmer: he made 13 total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Pigeon Forge and Austin-East were almost perfectly matched up on Thursday, but Pigeon Forge suffered a 14-13 defeat. The matchup marked the Tigers' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Although Pigeon Forge took the loss, they still got scores from Andrew Lewis and Wyatt Howard.
Gatlinburg-Pittman's loss dropped their record down to 5-3. As for Pigeon Forge, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 5-3.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Gatlinburg-Pittman has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 206.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Pigeon Forge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 248.2. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Gatlinburg-Pittman against Pigeon Forge when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 49-0 victory. Will Gatlinburg-Pittman repeat their success, or does Pigeon Forge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
