ALLEN – Jaylon Jimmerson had a hand on both sides of the ball as the Pirates of Pittsburg avenged a playoff loss from a year ago with a wild 36-21 win over Rusk on Friday night at Allen ISD’s Eagle Stadium.
Jimmerson tallied four touchdowns and picked off a late pass defensively for the Pirates in the 4A, Division II, Region II area-round showdown.
The Eagles played spoiler to Pittsburg’s season in the first round in 2017.
The senior signal caller and defensive back had 148 rushing yards and threw for 119 more in the win, that was capped with an interception late in the fourth quarter.
Running back Desmond Allen had 163 yards on 32 totes and a score. Keithlen Griffin was Jimmerson’s top target with nine catches for 81 yards. Promous Morrison had the scoring haul from 12 yards away.
Rusk, who fell to the Pirates earlier this season as well, got a big second half from the 2021 duo of quarterback Jaylond Hall and Jeremy Johnson, who had scoring hookups of 70 and 55 yards. The latter score tied things up 21-21 after the Pirates went up, 21-6, in the waning moments of the third quarter.
Jimmerson’s 44-yard run, his third on the ground and fourth overall, put the Pirates back up, 29-21, after a two-point pass. He capped the win with an interception and Allen put the final touches with a three-yard burst.
Pittsburg moved on to the regional semifinals, where it will face Lorena at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Royse City.

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