Pirates Boast Deep Roster as 2025 Season Kicks Off

By: Shelia Mader

The Sneads Pirates opened their first live action of the season last Friday night, squaring off in a preseason matchup against Liberty County.

Veteran head coach Bill Thomas didn’t sugarcoat his initial impression. “Oh, we were sloppy, which is to be expected when you’ve got 60 kids and only four or five coaches,” Thomas said with a wry smile. “You can’t get there that fast. You just don’t have enough time or enough bodies to cover everybody.”

This year’s roster is one of the largest in Thomas’ coaching career. “It’s one of my biggest,” he said. “We’ve broken 54 a few times, but this is probably one of the most I’ve ever had.”

The Pirates will lean on a balanced offensive attack led by Pious Reed, Trillion Thomas, Janoah Williams, and Justin Street, who will see time at both corner and quarterback. The offensive line, made up of all juniors and one senior, has the potential to be a major strength.

“I think we’ll be pretty good up front,” Thomas said. “Right now, we have good days and bad days, but before the year’s out, I believe that’s going to be a very strong suit for us.”

Looking back on last Friday’s scrimmage, Thomas said there were plenty of takeaways, and all of them fixable.

“There are always problems you can fix and problems you can’t,” he explained. “I didn’t really see anything we can’t fix. We’ve got some athletes. We just need to get them coached up, and that takes time. A positive was we were able to sit a few guys and give others a chance to step in, which helps build depth. In football, you move one or two people around, and it changes everything. I think we’ll get a little better each week.”

The Pirates will be back in action this Friday night when they host cross-county rival Marianna. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.