Pikeville continued its dominance on the gridiron as the Panthers cruised past Paintsville, 43-7, in the regional championship game played at Hillard Howard Field on Friday night.
The Panthers, now 10-2, captured the school’s 26th title while advancing to the state semifinals against Newport Central Catholic (11-2) this Friday night at home. Kickoff is 7 pm.
Running back and Mr. Football candidate Blake Birchfield rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries. He scored on runs of 6, 1, 51 and 7 yards.
Quarterback Isaac Duty passed for a pair of touchdowns – one each to Brenden Anthony and Westin Bevins.
Paintsville’s lone points came on a 26-yard pass from quarterback AJ James to Connor Fugate. James passed for 83 yards.
At Pikeville
(Class 1A regional championship)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PV (6-6)….0 7. 0 0 – 7
PK (10-2)…8 20 15 0 – 43
Scoring:
First Quarter
PK – Blake Birchfield, 6-yard run (Blake Birchfield run), 4:01
Second Quarter
PK – Blake Birchfield, 1-yard run (Jacob Rogers kick), 8:44
PK – Blake Birchfield, 51-yard run (kick failed), 6:26
PV – Connor Fugate, 26-yard pass from AJ James (Carson Holbrook kick), 4:37
PK – Brenden Anthony, 10-yard pass from Isaac Duty (Jacob Rogers kick), 2:27
Third Quarter
PK – Blake Birchfield, 7-yard run (Jacob Rogers kick), 9:09
PK – Westin Bevins, 12-yard pass from Isaac Duty (Westin Bevins run), 3:38
Fourth Quarter
No scoring
Next up: Pikeville (10-2) vs. Newport Central Catholic (11-2), 7 pm, Nov. 25.