Big comebacks aren’t foreign to the 2023 Tanner football team, so a late first-half deficit Friday versus Pisgah didn’t seem like doom.
And while the Rattlers characteristically rallied, that rally didn’t go far enough.
Despite 18 straight points in one stretch, Tanner fell 66-38 to the No. 5 Eagles in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.
Down 20-0 within ten minutes and trailing 34-6 midway late in the second quarter, the Rattlers (8-4) scored twice in the final 90 seconds of the half and then added another touchdown midway through the third to cut the deficit to 34-24.
But that was as close as they got. A pair of Pisgah scores followed by a Tanner touchdown meant the Red Devils were up by 20 going into the fourth quarter, and Tanner could not find another big comeback.
Pisgah will carry an 11-1 record into the third round of the playoffs next week against Tuscaloosa Academy. It’s the Red Devils’ second straight 11-win season – the first time they can say that in 20 years, according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society. They never won more than eight games in a season from 2004 through 2021.
Tanner nearly matched the 41.3 points per game it was averaging entering Friday night, but Pisgah’s offense has been special this year. The Red Devils have not scored fewer than 40 points in a game this season and are averaging 50.2 per game.
Coach Oscar Bonds’ Rattlers opened the playoffs last week with their own offensive show, outlasting Lamar County 64-55. It was an impressive display following a regular season campaign that saw Tanner go unbeaten in region play for the first time since 2016. The eight wins overall also matched 2021 for the most in Bonds’ six years rebuilding the program.
Friday’s loss, however, means the Rattlers will have to wait to reach their first quarterfinal since that 2016 season.