Pikeville punched its ticket to the Class 1A state championship game for the second straight season with a dominating performance at Hillard Howard Field on Friday night.
Quarterback Isaac McNamee passed for 270 yards and four touchdowns and Pikeville’s defense limited Louisville Holy Cross to a mere 33 yards until late the game in a 36-7 victory.
McNamee tossed TD passes of 21, 27, 40 and 20 yards as the Panthers moved to 13-0 with the win. Running back Cody Raines had 58 rushing yards and one score and hauled in a 21-yard pass for another.
Receiver Seth Pugh had a big night with 111 yards and one touchdown on four receptions. Wide receiver Jackson Hensley added 74 yards on five catches and one touchdown.
Pikeville advances to face Paintsville (11-3) next Friday afternoon at Kroger Field. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. The Panthers edged the Tigers, 9-8, in the regular season matchup in Paintsville.
At Pikeville
(Class 1A state semifinals)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
HC (11-3)…..0 0 0 7 – 7
PK (13-0)…..7 21 8 0 – 36
Scoring:
First Quarter
PK – Cody Raines, 5-yard run (Tanner Hamilton kick), 4:37
Second Quarter
PK – Cody Raines, 21-yard pass from Isaac McNamee (Tanner Hamilton kick), 5:44
PK – Jackson Hensley, 27-yard pass from Isaac McNamee (Tanner Hamilton kick), 1:41
PK – Seth Pugh, 40-yard touchdown pass (Tanner Hamilton kick), :43
Third Quarter
PK – Zac Lockhart, 20-yard pass from Isaac McNamee (Jon Collum run), 10:33
Fourth Quarter
HC – Lex Thomas, 14-yard run (Larry Key kick), :10
Next up: Pikeville (13-0) vs. Paintsville (11-3), Class 1A state championship, Kroger Field, 2 p.m., Dec. 6.