A rare full moon was hovering over Hillard Howard Field on Friday the 13th as Pikeville and Raceland battled in a showdown of Class A football powers.
The last time the same scenario played out was Oct. 13, 2000, when the Panthers went on the road and beat Fleming-Neon, 31-21.
Fast forward 19 years and Pikeville treated its Hall of Fame crowd to nail-biting 12-6 victory over the Rams on a night the scoreboard was not operational, lightening could be seen flashing in the far distance and placekicker Tanner Hamilton missed a 31-yard field, just one week after kicking the game-winner against Paintsville.
Pikeville, now 4-0, managed just a single offensive touchdown for the second straight week. It turned out to be the difference. Wide receiver Zac Lockhart hauled in an 85-yard pass from quarterback Isaac McNamee on the first play of the fourth period to give the Panthers a 12-0 lead.
The Panthers’ only points of the opening half came on Cody Raines’ 60-yard punt return.
Pikeville’s defense was rock solid, picking off three passes (Seth Pugh, Jackson Hensley and Lockhart) and forcing recovering a fumble forced by Landon Hammock and pounced on by Nate Collins.
Raceland scored on a 57-yard pass from Caleb Rowsey to Gunnur Lewis with less than seven minutes left.
Pikeville will now turn its attention to next Friday’s big showdown at CAM Stadium with the Belfry Pirates (2-1). Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
At Pikeville
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
RL (2-2)…0 0 0 6 – 6
PK (4-0)…0 6 0 6 – 12
Scoring:
First Quarter
No scoring
Second Quarter
PK – Cody Raines, 60-yard punt return (conversion failed), 7:25
Third Quarter
No scoring
Fourth Quarter
PK – Zac Lockhart, 85-yard pass from Isaac McNamee (conversion failed), 11:53
RL – Gunnur Lewis, 57-yard pass from Caleb Rowsey (conversion failed), 6:34
Next up: Pikeville (4-0) at Belfry (2-1), 7:30 p.m., Sept. 20.