Tigers get back to earth after emotional win

Pigeon Forge will attempt to pick up its second region win of the season tonight at undefeated Carter chris@theheraldnewspapers.com Coming back down to earth after a monumental win can be difficult for a high school football team. Pigeon Forge coach David Ryan has seen that movie before and is hoping for a better ending when his 3-1 Tigers, who slugged out a 20-6 win last week over archrival Gatlinburg-Pittman, face undefeated Carter tonight. Ryan’s proposed plot change won’t be an easy one to make. The Hornets, a first-year team to Region 1-3A, look to be one of the most improved teams in the area, having outscored their first three opponents by an average count of 49-7. The Tigers were in a similar predicament a year ago after shocking then state-ranked Lenoir City. They came out flat the following week and lost a region contest to then-region rival Sullivan North. Ryan’s job this week has been to guide his young team back down to earth softly, as opposed to seeing them hit the ground with a thud when they travel to Strawberry Plains to tangle with the talented Hornets. “We’re still young program,” Ryan said explaining the task of coaching his team to take the season one week at a time and not get too distracted with the highs and lows. “We were 4-1 last year going into Sullivan North but we just couldn’t get back down to earth after getting such an emotional win the week before.” Pigeon Forge, in just its fifth season of playing varsity football, upset county foe and tradition-rich Gatlinburg-Pittman last week in what could arguably be labeled the most important win in the program’s brief history. But as far as making the playoffs and moving to that proverbial next level in the region, the win meant nothing. A victory over Carter, however, would be a plot twist that would put the Tigers on a course to secure not only a playoff future, but possibly home field advantage. “We need to get this one,” Ryan stated. “If we win this one, I think it does put us in the driver’s seat (in Region 1-3A). It would give us two region wins.” A win would in fact put the Tigers at the top of the pack in their region. But judging from the past, and the present, actually winning at Carter will be a different story altogether. In 2003 Pigeon Forge led the Hornets 19-16 with a minute left in the game. Carter drove 75 yards to score the winning touchdown in the waning seconds of the game. Last year’s game was a see-saw battle, going back and forth until a series of fourth quarter turnovers doomed the Tigers chances of victory. Ryan prefers to remind his squad of the disappointment they experienced after last year’s let down at Sullivan North and how they let the Hornets slip away with narrow wins for consecutive years. He reminds them to enjoy the win over GP and take it for what it’s worth, then move on. He thinks his group has responded well to the approach. “I think our guys have settled in and we’ll be ready to play tonight,” he said. “The win last week has given us confidence. I hope its confidence and not over confidence.”