Paintsville’s Brody Howell falls forward for extra yardage against Pikeville. The Tigers fell to the Panthers 38-0 in Class A District 8 action.
Paintsville Herald photo by Adam Mahan
Pikeville came out of the gates full throttle with some early fireworks to rattle rival the Paintsville.
Once rattled, the Tigers couldn’t get on track as the Panthers’ cruised to a 38-0 shutout win in a huge Class A District 8 clash last Friday night at Hillard Howard Field.
Pikeville got the ball to open the game and wasted little time getting the battle started as Jayden Justice broke loose and scampered 40 yards for the TD to give the Panthers an early 7-0 lead after a good PAT kick from Steven Gonzalez-Santes with 9:09 remaining in the first quarter.
After taking an early punch from the Panthers, Paintsville looked to respond with a scoring drive of their own, but the Tigers’ drive stalled out at the Pikeville 43-yard line. Pikeville took over as the Tigers turned it over on downs giving the ball back to the Panthers with 3:53 remaining in the first quarter.
Pikeville scored again when Harrison Fields hauled in a 30-yard TD catch to increase the Panthers’ lead to 14-0 after the extra-point by Gonzalez-Santes.
If Pikeville didn’t already have all of the momentum, they got some more. Pikeville’s Gonzalez-Santes went for an onside-kick instead of kicking the ball deep. Gonzalez-Santes recovered the his own kick giving the Panthers the the ball on the Paintsville 47 yard line with 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Pikeville was unable to score a TD after the onside kick recovery. The Panthers had it first and goal on the Paintsville eight-yard line, but a bad snap on the first down and penalties that hampered the Panthers’ drive.
Gonzalez-Santes finished the drive off with a 34-yard field goal to push the Panthers’ lead to 17-0 with 7:00 left to play in the first half.
On their next drive, the Tigers’ offense were unable to get going on the next drive , punting the ball back to Pikeville with 4:45 remaining in the second quarter.
The Panthers got the ball back looking to score again. The Panthers scored quickly when Justice broke loose for a 30-yard TD run. Pikeville’s lead jumped to 24-0 after the good PAT kick by Gonzalez-Santes with 4:20 remaining in the second quarter.
Paintsville was looking to change the momentum going into halftime.
Disaster struck the dTigers on the next drive when Pikeville’s Cole Slone intercepted a Paintsville’s pass giving Pikeville the ball back with a first and 10 from Paintsville’s 32 yard-line with 3:09 left to play in the second quarter.
Just a couple of plays later, the Panthers made the Tigers pay when Mikey Hager scored on a 34-yard TD catch to push Pikeville’s lead to 31-0 after the good PAT kick by Gonzalez-Santes with 2:11 left in the second quarter.
Paintsville was unable to get a drive going again, stalling out, giving the ball back to Pikeville with 1:20 left in the second quarter.
The Panthers added salt to the wounds of the wounded when Hager scored on a 67-yard TD catch to push the lead to 38-0 with 1:13 left in the second quarter.
Pikeville was able to take that 38-0 into the half.
With the Tigers reeling looking for answers anywhere to try and make the comeback of a lifetime against Pikeville in the second half.
Paintsville was unable to do so as Pikeville’s defense was stellar in the second half with neither team able to find the endzone in the second half letting Pikeville cruise away with the big Class 1ADistrict 38-0 win over rival Paintsville.
Pikeville’s JJ Reynolds led the Panther’s passing attack going 10 of 15 passing for 189 yards and three TDs. Reynolds also had three carries for two yards.
Hager led the Panthers’ receivers with four receptions for 119 yards and two TDs. Harrison Fields was next with five catches for 66 yards and one TD. Gage Burgett was next with one catch for four yards.
Pikeville’s rushing attack was led by Justice who had eight carries for 117 yards and two TDs. Andrew Caranney had one carry for two yards.
Jeremiah Anderson led the Panthers’ defense with 10 tackles (two tackles for loss). Andrew Cranney followed him with seven tackles, and two sacks.
With the win, Pikeville improved to 5-3 overall on the season and 1-0 in district play.
Next up for Pikeville is Class A District 8rival Hazard. The game is on the road at the Dawg Pound also known as Hazard against the Bulldogs with the district title on the line this Friday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Paintsville only mustered 144 yards of total offense in the game, with 92 yards passing and 52 yards rushing.
The Tigers’ run game was led by Brody Howell who had 11 rushes for 53 yards. Howell also had one catch for 5 yards. He was followed by Andrew Meeks who had three carries for 12 yards.
Paintsville’s passing attack was led by Parker Helton who was 10/ 26 passing for 92 yards with one interception. Helton also had four carries for -13 yards rushing.
Anderson Lauffer led the Tigers’ receivers with 61 yards receiving on five catches. Colton Short followed him with two catches for 25 yards. Charlie Harris had one catch for four yards.
With the loss Paintsville fell to 5-4 overall on the season, and 0-2 in district play.
The Tigers have their OPEN date this Friday, and return to Action at home on Halloween night at home in the season finale against the Martin County Cardinals.