Pikeville Coach Chris McNamee – Photo by Brendon Miller
Bluegrass Sports Nation – Football Columnist- Casey Allen – Pikeville, Ky – 11-17-2018
What many people believed was “the game of the week,” turned out to be one of the biggest blow out of the week! Williamsburg came in hot off a 2nd round thrashing of 1A power house Hazard. Williamsburg, riding a 9-2 record was looking to continue their magical season as they made the trip to Pikeville, Ky. The trip was a long one due to their bus breaking down with flat tire, this would be an indicator of how things would go for the yellow jackets.
Pikeville received the opening kickoff and on the first offensive play from scrimmage, Zach Roberts sprinted 54 yards for a touchdown. From that point the Pikeville Panthers never looked back. At the end of the first quarter the Panthers led 28-0. Pikeville placed Williamsburg under a running clock for the first time of the season with 10 minutes left in the half by scoring and converting a 2-point conversion. 36-0.
Williamsburg refused to give up returning the ensuing kickoff deep into Pikeville’s territory. Three plays later, dual threat quarter back Dalton Ponder found pay dirt and cut the deficit to 36-8. Pikeville was unphased by the quick score answering with their own score before the half. Pikeville took a 44-8 lead into the half.
From that point forward it remained Pikeville’s night. Finishing the game scoring two more times and allowing only one more score 57-16 Panthers. Pikeville emphatically made a statement tonight. Dominating a solid Williamsburg team on both sides of the ball. Player of the game could have went to several different people but the stars of the night was undoubtedly the Pikeville Offensive Line. The offensive line put on a clinic in all types of blocking assignments. Whether it was running the zone blocking scheme, pass blocking, or trap blocking the offensive line showed they are disciplined in all aspects. As a former offensive lineman, I was in awe of their performance. Pikeville never punted and scored on every possession they had. Even when their junior varsity took the field, the offensive line opened holes that I could have ran through.
A wise coach once told me, “if you are going to run the spread offense, you gotta have the Jimmys and Joes to do it.” Pikeville definitely has both. Playing their best football at the right time, the Pikeville Panthers are looking for a trip back to the Class 1A State Championship. To do so, the Raceland Rams stand in their way.
Raceland beat Paintsville 14-7 in a thriller in Paintsville. If they want to represent the East for the second consecutive year, they will have to duplicate what they did last year by beating Pikeville in the semi-finals. However, this time they will have to do it in Pikeville. Pikeville lost a heart breaker to Raceland last year by a score of 17-14. There is no doubt that Pikeville still has a bad taste in their mouth from a year ago. One thing is for sure, next Friday night will be a special night at Hambley Field. Bluegrass Sports Nation will be there to bring you all of the action. If you can’t make it to the game you can stay connected by liking our facebook page, and by visiting our web site at www.bluegrasssportsnation.com
