Photo credit: Dusty Layne
Pikeville waited nearly a year to erase the memory of last year’s stunning upset loss to bitter-district rival Hazard in the playoffs.
The Panthers played lights out defensively and mustered enough offense to beat the Bulldogs, 17-0, in the district championship matchup played at Daniel Field on Friday night.
Pikeville moved to 8-2 overall and wrapped up the top seed in the upcoming Class 1A playoff field. Hazard dropped to 6-4.
Blake Birchfield had TD runs of 8 and 33 yards and placekicker Aaron Chang added a 30-yard field goal. Birchfield carried 30 times for 187 yards.
Pikeville’s defense picked off three passes, including two by Sam Wright to preserve the shutout. Zack Lockhart also had a pick.
At Hazard
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PK (8-2)….7 3 0 7 – 17
HZ (6-4)….0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring:
First Quarter
PK – Blake Birchfield, 8-yard run (Aaron Chang kick), 8:52
Second Quarter
PK – Aaron Change, 30-yard field goal, 1:07
Third Quarter
No scoring
Fourth Quarter
PK – Blake Birchfield, 33-yard run (Aaron Chang kick), 7:44
Next up: Pikeville (8-2) vs. Castlewood, Va. (2-6), 7:30 p.m., Oct. 29.