Pikeville quarterback Isaac McNamee passed for 144 yards and one touchdown while running back Blake Birchfield ran for 146 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns as the defending Class 1A champion Panthers beat Raceland, 28-7 on Saturday night.
The game took three hours and 40 minutes to play because of lightning strikes in the area. The entire second half was played in a steady downpour of rain.
The victory was Pikeville’s 15th straight, including a perfect 14-0-mark one year ago. It also marked the first win for the Panthers at Raceland in 64 years.
Birchfield’s 47-yard run with three minutes, 12 seconds left in the opening period put the Panthers ahead for good. McNamee’s two-point conversion run made it 8-0.
The Panthers extended their lead to 15-0 at halftime on running back Nate Collins’ three-yard run with 2 minutes, 6 seconds left in the second quarter.
McNamee tossed a 72-yard pass to Zac Lockhart with 4 minutes, 25 seconds left in the third quarter to push the lead to 22-0.
Birchfield’s 41-yard run with 3:39 left to play extended the lead to 28-0.
Raceland added a late touchdown to avoid the shutout.
Pikeville will host Belfry next Friday night at Hillard Howard field.
At Raceland
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PK (1-0)….8 7 7 6 – 28
RC (0-1)….0 0 0 7 – 7
Scoring:
First Quarter
PK – Blake Birchfield, 47-yard run (Isaac McNamee run), 3:12
Second Quarter
PK – Nate Collins, 3-yard run (Trey Hancock kick), 2:06
Third Quarter
PK – Zac Lockhart, 72-yard pass from Isaac McNamee (Trey Hancock kick), 4:25
Fourth Quarter
PK – Blake Birchfield, 41-yard run (run failed), 3:39
RC – Connor Hughes, 55-yard pass from Jake Heighton (Peyton Ison kick), 2:44
Next up: Pikeville (1-0) vs. Belfry, (1-0), 7:30 p.m., Sept. 18.