Austin-East football, Isaiah Ligon run past Gatlinburg-Pittman
Vision is a big part of what makes Isaiah Ligon an effective component of the Austin-East football team.
He saw plenty of open spaces — 154 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries — Friday night in the Roadrunners’ 54-6 win over Gatlinburg-Pittman in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Austin-East (9-3) will travel to Alcoa next Friday.
Ligon, a 5-foot-9, 190-pound junior running back, has spent this season looking at the game from a different perspective: First from the sidelines, then the offensive backfield.
Roadrunners coach Jeff Phillips said it was predetermined that Ligon, a receiver and all-state defensive back his first two seasons, would be a running back this season. Rushing for more than 200 yards in an emergency role during last year’s second-round playoff game sealed that deal.
“We knew we were going to make the move,” Phillips said. “Problem was, he got hurt early.”
A left ankle injury in the first game put Ligon on the sidelines for most of the first four games.
“After working (at running back in the preseason), it was tough to have to sit out for a while,” Ligon said. “The game looks different from back there. My vision’s getting better. I’m able to see the holes better now.”
“(Ligon) has come a long way (since the start of the season),” Phillips said. “Any time he touches the ball, something dynamic can happen. Big-time players make big-time plays, and he made a bunch of them today.”
Ligon made four of those dynamic plays in the first 24 minutes. He scored on runs of 59 and 21 yards and had four PAT conversion runs as the Roadrunners blitzed to a 46-0 lead by halftime.
“Our offensive line did a great job tonight,” Phillips said. “This was a statement game for us tonight.”
The statement was a message to Alcoa to be ready for a running attack that gained 387 yards by intermission. Then the clock ran the rest of the game.
This was a reversal from Austin-East’s 32-21 escape from the Highlanders (7-5) about a month ago.
“We made so many mistakes in that first game,” Phillips said. “We lost over 100 yards in bad snaps. It was nice to get things worked out and show what we’re capable of doing.”
Ja’zine Pelcher rushed six times for 138 yards and a 70-yard touchdown and quarterback Trey Foster carried four times for 104 yards and a 77-yard TD.
The Roadrunners scored three touchdowns on their first five offensive snaps to begin the onslaught.