Pike County Bowl

Member FDIC

PUBLISHER Jeff Vanderbeck EDITOR Russ Cassady ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Danny Coleman PRODUCTION MANAGER Bobby Gilliam PUBLICATION DESIGN & LAYOUT Cory Vance

GRAPHIC DESIGN Jamie Beckett Karri Gibson

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Randy White Josh Blankenship PHOTO CONTRIBUTORS Randy White Cory Vance Wes Wilson Lilly Grace Bolton ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Peggy Bailey Austin Barnett Rita Brock

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Gina Ferguson Lynn Massey Barbara Skeens

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2019 Legends Award Winner

The Legends award recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on the community and football in the state of Kentucky. We are honored to announce that the 35th Annual Community Trust Bank/ WY MTTV Pike County Bowl Legends Award Recipient is Delano Thomas.

Delano Thomas is a 1963 graduate of Whitesburg High School and a 1967 graduate of Morehead State U niversity. He also obtained his Master’ s Degree in 1971 from Morehead State U niversity.

In the course of his high school career, Thomas was a four-sport standout in football, baseball, track and basketball. Thomas played football for Jack Hall at Fleming Neon and for Gordon Bates at Whitesburg High School.

In 1962 and 1963, Thomas was named All Eastern Kentucky Mountain Conference. He was named 1963 Courier Journal All-State.

Thomas was recruited to play football by many schools. These schools include: U niversity of Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Indiana U niversity, and Morehead State U niversity.

U pon graduating from Morehead

State U niversity in 1967, Thomas began teaching and coaching football at Whitesburg High School. In 1968, Thomas joined the U nited States Army. At the end of his duty in 1970, he began teaching and coaching at Elkhorn City High School.

Throughout his time at Elkhorn City High School, he was named Eastern Kentucky Mountain Conference Coach of the Y ear (1973, 1974, 1975), Williamson Daily News Regional Coach of the Y ear (1973, 1974) and Third Place Kentucky Coach of the Y ear (1973). Thomas was able to lead his team to 21 regular season victories in a row, the 1973 Class A State Finals, Regional Champions (1973, 1975), and District Champions (1973, 1974, 1975).

In 1975, Thomas left his coaching career to work for Standard Laboratories – where he eventually became vice president. He retired in 2010.

Delano Thomas and his wife, Susan, currently reside in Whitesburg, Kentucky. They have three sons: Delano Troy Thomas, Paul Lance Thomas, and Dr. Byron S. Thomas. They have 10 grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

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History of the Pike County Bowl

The matchups of the 35th Annual Community Trust/WYMT Pike County Bowl will have a couple of new matchups.

Only one new team will play in the bowl this season, but the last game Friday night and Saturday night will be different.

Friday night, East Ridge and Phelps will open the bowl at 6:30 p.m. at Belfry to open the 35th Annual Pike County Bowl. The last game Friday night will feature Lexington Christian Academy take on Belfry at 8:30 p.m.

On Saturday evening, Pike Central and Shelby Valley will open the final day of play. The final game will see Mingo Central make its Pike County Bowl debut against Pikeville in the final matchup of the bowl.

2018 Pike County Bowl XXXIV Phelps 44, East Ridge 0 Phelps cruised to a 44-0 win over East Ridge in the opening game of the 34th Annual Pike County Bowl.

The Hornets got on the score-

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board first with 8:44 left in the first quarter. Dominic Francis scored on an eight-yard touchdown run. After the two-point conversion, Phelps held an 8-0 lead.

Quarterback Garrett Clevenger found Francis for a 32-yard TD pass for the second score with 4:23 left in the first. The two-point conversion was no good and the Hornets lead grew to 14-0.

Francis scored his third TD with 51 seconds left in the first quarter. After the two-point conversion, the Hornets led 22-0.

For East Ridge running back and current Hornet, Luke Ramey scored the next Phelps TD from three yards out with 10:08 left in the first half. The two-point conversion was no good.

Brandon Turmire scored with 2:29 left in the half on an eight-yard TD run. Ramey punched in the twopoint conversion and the Hornets got the running clock.

Ramey added a TD in the third quarter to set the game’s final score and give the Hornets their second straight Pike County Bowl win over East Ridge.

Huntington High 17, Belfry 9 The Pirates rushed for 198 yards against Huntington High.

Isaac Dixon led the way for the Pirate rushing attack with 77 yards and a TD on seven carries. Peyton Hensley led the way at the fullback spot with 48 yards on 12 carries.

The Pirates allowed Huntington High 72 passing yards last week.

Belfry couldn’t get its offense going against Huntington High.

Shelby Valley 43, Pike Central 35 (Double-overtime) t was a perfect call in the perfect situation.

Facing third and 10 in the second overtime, Shelby Valley did the unthinkable — the Wildcats threw the ball.

It was the Wildcats’ only pass of the game.

And it paid off as Lincoln Billiter hauled in a 10-yard touchdown catch and Shelby Valley picked up a 43-35 win in double-overtime against Pike Central in the 34th Annual Community Trust Bank/

WYMT Pike County Bowl.

Pike Central had one final possession after Billiter’s TD catch, but the Hawks were stopped short of the end zone.

Johnson had a huge game as he rushed for 220 yards and two TDS on 25 carries.

Pikeville 50 LCA 7 Pikeville was off to the races, while Lexington Christian was left in the dust Saturday night in the finale of the 34th Annual Pike County Bowl as the Panthers cruised to a 50-7 win over the Eagles.

Panther quarterback Connor Roberts found Jackson Hensley for the game’s first touchdown on a 15yard pass with 7:01 left in the first quarter. The Panthers added the two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead.

On their first defensive series, Pikeville forced a turnover. Kyle Watkins came up with an interception to give the Panthers the ball back.

Connor Roberts’s did the rest as he scored on a 48-yard TD run

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HISTORY Continued From Page 12 with 5:02 left in the first quarter. After the extra-point, Pikeville held a 15-0 lead.

Pikeville struck with another big play as Christian Billiter hauled in a 54-yard TD catch with 9:09 left to push the Panther lead to 23-0.

Seth Pugh came up with an interception to give Pikeville the ball back.

Hensley came up with a 32yard TD catch as the Panthers lead grew to 30-0 with 6:53 left in the half. Hensley hauled in a 52yard TD catch with 4:21 to give the Panthers a 36-0 lead and a running clock.

Hensley finished with four TD catches.

2017 Pike County Bowl XXXIII Phelps 32, East Ridge 8 Phelps did it.

The Hornets picked up their first-ever win in the Pike County Bowl with a 32-8 win over East Ridge.

Brandon Turmire was the story for Phelps. Turmire came up with four interceptions for the Hornets. He nearly returned one for 99 yards and a touchdown, but stepped out of bounds.

Phelps got on the scoreboard first as Garrett Clevenger found Seth Mayhorn for an 11-yard TD with 6:04 left in the first.

Peyton Rife pushed the lead to 12-0 on a three-yard TD run with 6:13 left in the first half.

The Hornets got on the scoreboard again with just 29 seconds left in the first half as Clevenger rushed for a seven-yard TD. The Hornets held a 19-0 halftime lead.

Dylan New pushed the lead to 25-0 with 8:39 left in the third as he found the end zone for the Hornets.

Rife added the Hornets’ final score with 11:07 left in the game.

That pushed the lead to 32-0.

Kane Taylor scored the Warriors’ lone TD with 3:40 left in the game.

Huntington High 45, Belfry 34 Belfry jumped out to a 27-7 lead with 4:25 left in the first half.

Huntington High fired back with two quick scores before the

end of the first half to cut the lead to 27-21 at the break.

Derek Wellman scored for Belfry to open the third quarter and give the Pirates a 34-21 lead.

The second half was all Huntington High as the Highlanders scored the game’s final 24 points.

Pike Central 36, Shelby Valley 6 Seth Conn was the story.

The Hawk offensive and defensive line were good, but Conn was the playmaker.

Conn led the Hawks to a 36-6 win over Shelby Valley Saturday night in the 33rd Annual Pike County Bowl. The Hawks now have backto-back wins over the Wildcats in the bowl.

On Pike Central’s first offensive play, Conn broke a 72-yard touchdown run to give the Hawks a 6-0 lead. The score came with 9:35 left in the first quarter.

Pike Central added to the lead in the second quarter. Conn scored on a 10-yard TD scamper with 9:22 left in the half to push the lead to 12-0.

Shelby Valley got on the scoreboard before the first half ended.

Dalton Meade scored on an one-

yard dive to cut the lead to 12-6 with 4:26 left in the first half.

Pike Central took that lead into halftime.

It didn’t take long for Conn to add to the Hawks’ lead, though.

On the opening kickoff of the third quarter, Conn returned the kick 71-yards for the score. Pike Central scored on the two-point conversion to push the lead to 20-6.

After that, Isiah Hess scored on an 11-yard TD run with 5:49 left in the third; the two-point conversion pushed the lead to 28-6.

Conn put the finishing touches on the win with an interception that he returned for a TD with 9:30 left in the game.

Conn finished the game as Pike Central’s MVP. Shelby Valley running back Seth Johnson finished the game with 109 rushing yards and was named the Wildcats’ Pike County Bowl MVP. LCA 49, Pikeville 21 Dillon Wheatley didn’t start the game, but he made a huge impact as Lexington Christian Acad-

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HISTORY Continued From Page 13 emy picked up a big 49-21 win over Pikeville in the final game of the 33rd Annual Pike County Bowl Saturday night.

Eagle quarterback Logan Nieves got the Eagles on the scoreboard first. He scored on a two-yard TD run with 5:35 left in the first to give LCA an early 6-0 lead.

Pikeville answered with a big play. Peyton Boyd-Blair found Jackson Hensley wide open in the middle of the field. Hensley took the catch 76 yards to the end zone to tie the game up at 6-6 with 2:46 left in the first.

Wheatley rushed for his first TD of the game with 4:49 left in the second to give LCA a 13-6 lead.

LCA recovered a Boyd-Blair fumble late in the first half. The Eagles took advantage as Nieves scored on an one-yard TD run to push the lead to 20-6 with 3:42 left in the first half.

Wheatley scored from 17 yards out with 1:36 left in the first to give the Eagles a 27-6 lead; LCA took that lead into halftime.

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Wheatley rushed for 171 yards and three TDs in the game. Nieves threw for 212 yards and two TDs, while adding 144 yards rushing and two TDs. Pikeville’s Kyle Watkins intercepted a pass and returned it 35-yards for the TD with 9:08 left in the third.

2016 Pike County Bowl XXXII East Ridge 38, Phelps 18 Brodey Johnson was the story for the Warriors. The senior running back rushed 393 yards and five touchdowns in East Ridge’s 3818 win.

East Ridge jumped out to a 24-0 lead. Phelps fought back to cut the lead to 24-6 at halftime.

Phelps quarterback Garrett Clevinger scored to open the second half on a 63-yard TD to cut the lead to 24-12. East Ridge answered with two quick scores to push the lead to 38-12, before Peyton Rife scored late to set the game’s final scoreboard.

Belfry 48, Tates Creek 12 Belfry dominated from the

opening whistle to the final whistle against Class 6A Tates Creek in the 48-12 win.

The Pirates had a running clock during the game.

Belfry rushed for 386 yards on the night and added 47 more through the air. The Pirates only gave up 51 rushing yards and 125 passing yards against Tates Creek.

Noah Corbett and Derek Well scored two TDs each against Tates Creek.

Pike Central 35, Shelby Valley 10 Pike Central’s Dylan Coleman got stronger as the game continued.

Shelby Valley had injuries and cramps the longer the game played.

Pike Central knocked off Shelby Valley 35-10 in the 32nd Annual Pike County Bowl.

Dylan Coleman had four touchdown runs for the Hawks.

Coleman busted TD runs of 39 yards, 55 yards, 72 yards, 60 yards and 60 yards.

Coleman’s first score came with 6:01 left in the first quarter.

That score tied the game up at 7-7.

Pike Central’s second TD came when quarterback Seth Conn

found Stone Harris for a 54 yard gain down to the Shelby Valley one-yard line. Conn carried the ball into the end zone on the next play to give Pike Central a 14-7 lead with no time left on the first quarter clock.

Shelby Valley kicker Dimitri Mataxis made a 37-yard field goal with just 4 seconds left in the first half to cut the lead to 14-10 at the break.

Shelby Valley’s Jordan Hampton scored the game’s first TD on a 58-yard TD run with 7:28 left in the first quarter. Hampton finished the game with 147 yards rushing and Shelby Valley’s lone TD. Hampton also had nine tackles on the defensive side of the ball for the Wildcats.

But in the second half, Hampton along with a slew of other Wildcats started cramping up from the temperature. Hampton sat out the Wildcats’ opening game of the season against Franklin County due to injury.

That’s when Coleman took over for the Hawks.Coleman scored his second TD of the game from 55 yards out with just 44 seconds left in the third quarter. That pushed

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HISTORY Continued From Page 14 Pike Central’s lead to 20-10.

Coleman scored again with 9:46 left in the game to push Pike Central’s lead to 28-10; the score came on a 72 yard TD run.

Coleman put the game on ice with 5:54 scoring his fourth TD of the game after he broke a 60-yard TD run.

Coleman and Hampton were named Pike County Bowl MVPs for their respective teams.

Pikeville 30, Letcher Central 6 A late kickoff.

An R.C. drone.

Lots of of talking by a Letcher Central player.

And a football game.

Those were all characteristics of the 32nd Annual Pike County Bowl finale between Pikeville and Letcher Central.

Pikeville picked up a 30-6 win in the game.

In the nightcap of an eventful hot muggy night, the Panthers knocked off the Cougars in the

game that didn’t kickoff until after 10:00 p.m. The first game was delayed over an hour due to the heat.

But shortly after the kickoff of the second game, a drone flew over the field, delaying the game for over 10 minutes.

Once the game got going, Pikeville’s Clay Slone scored the first touchdown with 3:39 left in the first quarter. Evan Rhodes ran in the two-point conversion to give the Panthers an 8-0 lead.

Pikeville’s second score didn’t come until late in the first half as Slone scored his second TD of the game from 18 yards out to push the lead to 14-0 with 2:10 left in the first half. Pikeville kicker Campbell Dawahare ran in the two-point conversion to push the lead to 16-0 at the half.

Slone finished the game with 26 rushing yards and two TDs to lead the Pikeville running attack.

Rhodes added 65 rushing yards.

Quarterback Wyatt Battaile found Andrew McNamee for a 40yard TD pass with 7:29 left in the third quarter. Dawahare made the extra-point kick to push the Panther lead to 23-0.

Battaile finished the game with 150 yards passing and a TD on

14 of 29 passing.

Letcher Central ruined the Panthers shot at a shutout by scoring with just 36 seconds left in the game. Jayson Buttery on a five yard run to end the shutout bid.

2015 Pike County Bowl XXXI East Ridge 36, Phelps 0 East Ridge running back Brodey Johnson was the story for the Warriors.

Johnson rushed for 226 yards and four touchdowns as the Warriors rolled to a big shutout victory over the Hornets.

Dalton Swindall scored East Ridge’s only other TD besides Johnson’s four.

Johnson was named MVP for East Ridge, while Phelps quarterback Bailey Hurley earned MVP honors for the Hornets.

Belfry 55, Tates Creek 38 The Pirates won a shootout over Tates Creek in the final game of the first night of the 2015 Pike County Bowl.

Belfry scored all of its touchdowns on the ground, while Tates

Creek scored all of its TDs through the air.

Senior running back Xondre Willis scored three TDs for Belfry.

Fullback Derek Wellman added three more rushing TDs for the Pirates and junior fullback Andrew Fletcher scored the Pirates’ other two TDs on the game.

Tates Creek quarterback Peyton Burke threw six TDs to lead the Commodore attack. Two of those TDs went to wide receiver Jackson Beerman.

Shelby Valley 34, Pike Central 32 In the most exciting game of the Pike County Bowl, the Wildcats edged out the Hawks for a twopoint win.

Senior running back Chandler Rowe rushed for 176 yards and four TDs to lead the Wildcats past county-rival Pike Central.

Junior running back Jordan Hampton also stepped up with a big game for the Wildcats rushing for 143 yards and a TD. Quarterback Seth Conn led the way for the Hawks. Conn threw for 253 passing yards and three

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HISTORY Continued From Page 15 TDs on 14 of 29 passing.

Austin Mullins also scored for the Hawks on a 65-yard kick return for a TD. Rowe and Conn were named MVP for their respective teams.

Pikeville 49, Letcher Central 12 It was all Daric Pugh in the 2015 Pike County Bowl finale.

Pugh rushed for 175 yards and four TDs to help the Panthers pick up a big win over Lecther Central.

Quarterback Cody Dials threw for two TDs for Pikeville as well.

Chatlin Jarrell and Andrew McNamee each had TD catches for the Panthers; Jarrell also scored on an interception return for a TD. Running back Jaylyn Williams rushed for 166 yards and scored the Cougars’ only two TDs of the game.

2014 Pike County Bowl XXX Shelby Valley 32, Paris 12 After an hour delay due to

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lightning, Shelby Valley’s Chandler Rowe led the Wildcats to the win.

Rowe scored three touchdowns for the Wildcats and he was named the Wildcats’ MVP. Rowe scored the game’s first three TDs to give Shelby Valley a 20-0 halftime lead.

The Wildcats added another TD to go up 26-0.

Paris added two late scores, but Shelby Valley’s lead was never in doubt.

Pike Central 45, Somerset 34 Pike Central coach Shawn Thacker picked up a win in his debut on the Hawks’ sideline. Quarterback Mac Justice led the way for the Hawks. Justice found his favorite target Brad Elkins for the game’s first two touchdowns; the first from 60 yards out and the second from 82 yards out. Pike Central held a 14-0 lead after the first quarter of play. Justice threw for four TDs, while running for another.

Somerset cut Pike Central’s lead to 21-20 with 9:25 left in the third, but Justice threw for two quick scores to give the Hawks the momentum back and secure the win.

Betsy Layne 52, Phelps 6 Lightning just delayed the inevitable as Betsy Layne rolled to a big win over Phelps in the nightcap of the Pike County Bowl at Shelby Valley.

It was all Betsy Layne as the Bobcats held a 26-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Phelps got on the scoreboard in the closing seconds of the game to prevent the shutout.

Belfry 29, Henry Clay 7 Belfry just did what Belfry does — run all over its opponent.

The Pirates rushing attack was led by senior fullback Austin Hatfield. Hatfield rushed for 128 yards on 21 carries.

Pirate quarterback Keaton Taylor scored the game’s first two touchdowns to give the Pirates a 14-0 lead after the opening quarter of play.

Austin Woolum added a field goal to give the Pirates a 17-0 lead.

Henry Clay scored on a fumble recovery for a TD by Joquise Buford.

Hatfield put the game away scoring the game’s final two TDs.

Hurley 36, East Ridge 15 Turnovers plagued East Ridge as Hurley scored the game’s first two touchdowns after East Ridge fumbles. Hurley scored again to jump out to a 20-0 lead with 5:38 left in the first half.

Brodey Johnson found Trey Little for an eight-yard TD pass to put East Ridge on the board.

The Rebels answered with a TD to push the lead to 28-7.

East Ridge got one more late score as Johnson scored on a QB keeper.

Pikeville 49, Hazard 36 Daric Pugh.

That was the story for the Panthers.

The junior running back rushed for a whopping 326 yards and seven TDs as Pikeville knocked off Hazard in the finale of the 30th Annual Pike County Bowl.

As most of the players on the field started to wear down in the second half, Pugh was getting stronger. He scored on three straight runs at one point at the end

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HISTORY Continued From Page 16 of the third quarter and start of the fourth. He scored on a 47-yard TD run, followed by a 70 yard TD run and capped it off with a 57-yard TD on three straight rushes. His seventh and final TD of the game came with just over 2:00 left in the game.

2013 Pike County Bowl XXIX Shelby Valley 22, Paris 19 Shelby Valley’s Chandler Rowe scored two touchdowns on his way to being named MVP and Nick Wallace added the other score for the Wildcats.

Wallace’s TD came on an 81 yard punt return for a touchdown.

Rowe scored his first TD with just over six minutes left in the first half to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead.

Paris’ Kobe Garrard scored with 3:46 left in the first half to cut the Wildcat lead to 14-7. The Greyhounds cut the lead to 14-13 in the third quarter as James Clark scored with 1:02 left in the third quarter.

Rowe scored his second TD to

push Valley’s lead to 22-13.

Garrard scored late for Paris, but coming up short on two extra points left the Greyhounds three points shy of the Wildcats. Garrard was named Paris’ MVP. Betsy Layne 62, Phelps 6 It was all Bobcats in the 29th Annual Pike County Bowl.

Betsy Layne scored 28 first quarter points on way to a big win over Phelps.

Phelps’ Da’Von Smith scored the Hornets’ only touchdown late in the game.

The Betsy Layne’s high octane offense and aggressive defense was too much for the Hornets to overcome.

Henry Clay 52, Pike Central 14 Class 6A powerhouse Henry Clay was just too much for Pike Central.

Standout Blue Devil running back Elijah Bell took just 20 seconds to find the end zone as he scored on a 67-yard touchdown pass from Samuel Carter.

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 27-0 lead midway through the sec-

ond quarter.

Pike Central quarterback Mac Justice connected with Chris Wesley to get the Hawks on the board and cut the lead to 27-7.

Bell answered on the next drive on a 42-yard TD scamper to push the Blue Devils’ lead to 33-7.

Pike Central added another score late in the game, but it was too little as Henry Clay rolled to the big win.

Belfry 37, Somerset 12 The first half was a nail biter, but in the second half it was all Belfry as the Pirates knocked off the Briar Jumpers in the primetime game Friday night at C.A.M. Stadium.

Trenity Carr scored two touchdowns for the Pirates and ran for 35 rushing yards. Justin Johnson ran for a team-high 110 yards and a score, while fullback Austin Hatfield also rushed for 101 yards in the game.

Jordan Doan scored both TDs for Somerset. He rushed for one TD and had a receiving TD as well.

Hurley 36, East Ridge 14

Nick Gibson threw for two touchdowns and ran for one more in the Rebels’ 36-14 win over East Ridge in the 29th Annual Pike County Bowl.

Devin Tester got things going for Hurley with a score from oneyard out with 9:15 left in the first half.

East Ridge answered as Caleb Skeens found the end zone from two-yards out to tie the game at 6-6.

From that point, it was all Hurley as the Rebels scored 22 straight points to push the lead to 28-6 and put the game on ice.

Pikeville 62, Hazard 50 Offense, offense, offense.

That was the name of the game between Pikeville and Hazard in the 29th Annual Pike County Bowl finale.

Chase Hall ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns for Pikeville.

Cody Estep had 142 yards receiving and and a TD and also scored on a 98-yard fumble recovery for a TD; he was named MVP for Pikeville.

Austin Black added three scores for the Panthers as well, while Daric

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HISTORY Continued From Page 17 Pugh added 58 yards rushing and a TD. Pikeville built up a 56-28 lead in the third quarter, but Hazard rallied to cut the lead to 56-50 in the fourth quarter before the Panthers scored one final time to put the game away.

2012 Pike County Bowl XXIII Pike Central 62, Phelps 6 The Hawks dominated the game as Mac Justice threw three first half touchdowns to Wes Pugh as Pike Central led 21-0 at the break. Justice ran for two more scores in the second half.

Phelps’ lone score came with just 14 seconds left as Davon Smith scored on an 80-yard kick return TD. Belfry 46, Harrison County 14 Belfry dominated from the start as Justin Johnson broke a 56yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage for Belfry.

The Pirates pushed the lead to 21-0 in the first quarter. Belfry’s lead grew all the way to 46-0 before Harrison County scored two late TDs. Shelby Valley 54, East Ridge 22 Shelby Valley jumped out to a big 24-0 halftime lead against the Warriors and never looked back.

Corey Griffith, Donovan Layne and Andrew Brendan Lacy all scored touchdowns in the first half.

Jacob Skeens scored two touchdowns in the second half and Michael Fields added one late for East Ridge, but Shelby Valley’s lead was too big to overcome.

Pikeville 53, Powell County 12 It was all Pikeville from the start as Austin Charles broke a 59yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage for Pikeville.

Charles followed that with an 11yard TD throw to Austin Black on the next possession.

Pikeville’s Cody Estep scored on a 25-yard run at the end of the first half as the Panthers held a 32-6 lead. The Panthers cruised from that point.

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Pike County Bowl XXVII Pike Central 57, Phelps 6 Pike Central scored at will against Phelps as the Hawks cruised to a 57-6 victory.

Behind 20-second quarter points, Pike Central jumped out to a 34-0 halftime lead and had no problem cruising to the win.

Phelps stayed close to Pike Central early as the Hornets only trailed 7-0 late in the first quarter.

But Wes Pugh returned a 68-yard punt to end the first quarter and put Pike Central on top 14-0.

The Hawks never slowed down from that point, leading 41-0 after three quarters of play.

Justin Smith won his second straight Pike County Bowl MVP award scored three touchdowns for the Hawks.

Dakota Smith, which threw a TD pass to Tommy Stiltner as the game ended, earned MVP honors for Phelps.

Belfry 35, Harrison County 7 Belfry won its sixth straight Pike County Bowl by cruising past Harrison County 35-7.

Harrison County coach Mark Carroll returned home to take on his alma matter and former coach Philip Haywood. The homecoming wasn’t a fun one as Belfry scored 28 first half points.

The Pirates raced out to a 28-7 halftime lead and scored on the first possession of the third period to make the score 35-7.

Josh Robinson, which won the MVP award for Belfry, led the Bucs with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Justin Johnson ran for 97 yards, helping Belfry to 488 yards of total offense.

Harrison County QB Joe Korona led the Thoroughbreds with 109 yards through the air and was tabbed MVP for Harrison County.

The Belfry defense limited Harrison County to 165 yards of total offense.

Shelby Valley 55, East Ridge 6 Shelby Valley tailback Lucas Fields had a game that will go down as one of the top performances in Pike County Bowl history as his Wildcats routed East Ridge 55-6.

The Warriors had no answer for Fields as he broke highlight run after highlight run. Fields scored four total TD’s in the game. Fields finished with 204 rushing yards

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HISTORY Continued From Page 18 and three rushing TD’s on only nine carries. Fields also returned a punt 97-yards to paydirt.

The Wildcats led 21-6 at the half before busting out to a big second half lead.

East Ridge’s lone score came in the first quarter as Mikey Stiltner threw a TD strike to Cody Smith early in the second quarter to make the score 7-6.

Shelby Valley responded with 48-straight points.

Pikeville 35, Tellico Plains, Tenn. 8 It was hard to label Pikeville standout Randy Maynard the quarterback in the Panthers’ 35-8 victory over Tellico Plains.

Maynard was more than that, Maynard did a little bit of everything, running, throwing and catching the ball in the victory.

Maynard accounted for 233 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns.

Maynard got Pikeville off to an early lead with a 69-yard TD pass

to Cody Estep on Pikeville’s first possession to push the Panthers to a 6-0 lead. Pikeville led 13-0 after the first quarter as Maynard also caught a 23-yard TD pass in the opening quarter.

The 13-0 score would be the score at the break. But Pikeville scored twice in the third quarter, including a TD pass by Maynard, which earned MVP honors. The Panthers took a 28-0 lead into final quarter of play.

2010 Pike County Bowl XXVI East Ridge 30, Shelby Valley 6 Brad Allen’s Warriors came out ready. The underdogs came out and played with enthusiasm and fire. The Warriors picked up their first-ever win on the gridiron over rival Shelby Valley.

Patrick Casey scored on a 68yard run to give the Warriors and early lead and scored again with 4:40 left in the half to give East Ridge a 14-0 lead. Dalton Lewis scored with 2:46 left in the half and Brent Taylor hit a fiel goal as the route was on and East Ridge held a 24-0 lead at the half.

The contest got chippy late as

both teams had players to be ejected.

Dalton Lewis was named Pike County Bowl MVP for East Ridge and Tim Smith for Shelby Valley.

Belfry 20, Covington Holy Cross 13 The Pirates picked up their first win of the season, saw Belfry make a run.

Tyler Williams was named Pike County Bowl MVP for the Pirates. After Holy Cross scored first, Williams answered with a five-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 7-6.

Belfry took the lead as Gary Runyon scored on a two-yard run to cap off a 75-yard drive with 1:54 left in the third.

Williams put the Pirates up 20-7 after scoring on a 33-yard run with 2:54 to play.

Pike Central 47, Phelps 14 The Hawks used to Pike County Bowl to set the tone for the rest of their season as Alan Boggs and company lit up the scoreboard all season.

The Hawks high potent offense and hard hitting defense over-

powered the Hornets. Boggs found deep threat Wes Pugh for a 28-yard TD with 9:11 left in the first quarter and on the Hornets next drive, safety Corey Shouse intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it 100 yards to give the Hawks a 14-0 lead.

Justin Smith was named Pike County Bowl MVP for Pike Central, while Dakota Smith was named the MVP from Phelps.

Pikeville 16, Boyd County 7 The Panthers snapped a threegame losing skid in the Pike County Bowl with the win over Boyd County.

Pikeville trailed 7-3 at halftime.

Panther quarterback Randy Maynard gave Pikeville a 10-7 lead as he scored on a 24-yard TD run with in the opening minutes of the second half. Maynard scored on a 25-yard run with 1:20 left to play in the game to ice the win.

Maynard was named Pike County Bowl MVP for the Panthers with 116 yards rushing on 16 carries and two TDs and he threw for 48 yards by completing 12-of-17

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HISTORY Continued From Page 19 pass attempts; Maynard accounted for 164 yards of total offense.

2009 Pike County Bowl XXV East Ridge 32, Phelps 14 East Ridge used a balanced running game and a stingy defense to roll to a 32-14 victory over Phelps.

The Hornets struggled with turnovers, turning the ball over four times and the Warriors capitalized on the mistakes.

Patrick Casey and Dalton Lewis led the Warriors to victory. Casey rushed for 168 yards and one score to earn the MVP award. Lewis finished the game with 139 yards rushing.

Steven Dotson was named MVP for Phelps. Greg Blankenship led the Hornets with 68 yards rushing.

Belfry 28, Boyd County 14 Belfry tailback Thomas Varney recorded over 300 all-purpose

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yards as the Pirates won their fourth straight Pike County Bowl game with a 28-14 victory over Boyd County.

Belfry finished with 345 total yards in the game. The Pirates held a 7-0 halftime lead and extended it to 14-0 as Varney returned the second half opening kickoff for a touchdown.

Tyler Arthur turned in a gutsy effort for the Lions. Arthur finished the game with 133 yards rushing and 37 yards passing.

Shelby Valley 35, Pike Central 13 Shelby Valley used all of its weapons as the Wildcats knocked off Pike Central 35-13.

The Wildcats saw big games from several players including Dillon Hughes, B.J. Roberts, Cody Varney and Tanner Tackett.

After trailing 7-0, Shelby Valley scored 20 straight points to take a 20-7 halftime lead.

Both Shelby Valley and Pike Central were under new coaches.

The Hawks were led by first year coach John Chapman and the Wildcats are under the direction of Jeff Norman.

Senior quarterback Aaron Mc-

Guire was named MVP for the Hawks.

Cov. Holy Cross 32, Pikeville 14 Covington Holy Cross quarterback Markel Walker dazzled fans with a performance like no other that pushed the Indians to a 32-14 victory.

Walker finished the game with 312 total yards and three touchdowns. Walker threw for 137 yards and two scores and carried the ball 15 times for 175 yards and a touchdown.

Pikeville’s Blake Branham led the Panthers, completing 16-of-28 pass attempts for 196 yards. The Indians shut down Pikeville’s run game, limiting the Panthers to 23 yards rushing on 19 carries.

2008 Pike County Bowl XXIV Shelby Valley 60, East Ridge 14 The Wildcats rolled to a big win against East Ridge. B.J. Roberts led a balanced Shelby Valley running attack with 79 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and also scored a touchdown on an

interception on his way to being named MVP. Bryan Casey was named East Ridge MVP. The young quarterback moved the ball through the air and on the ground for the Warriors.

Shelby Valley coach Kevin Saunders moved to 3-0 in the Pike County Bowl, while East Ridge first-year coach Brad Allen lost his coaching debut with the Warriors.

Belfry 49, Louisville Holy Cross 14 Belfry had three players to rush for more than 100 yards against Holy Cross. Ivan Lee, Chase Maynard and Thomas Varney each rushed for more than 100 yards. Lee was named MVP for the Pirates as he rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Holy Cross lost its second straight Pike County Bowl.

Pike Central 53, Phelps 6 Michael Chandler led the way for Pike Central scoring three touchdowns. He scored rushing the ball and on a 66-yard punt return touchdown.

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HISTORY Continued From Page 20 Ryan Hager scored with 6:22 left in the game to put Phelps on the scoreboard. Jesse Peck lost his coaching debut with Phelps. Phelps dropped its eighth straight Pike County Bowl.

Corbin 23, Pikeville 15 The Panthers fell behind 16-0 to Corbin. Daniel Harmon led the way back as he gained 213 yards rushing and two touchdowns; he was named MVP for Pikeville.

However, Harmon and the Panthers came up a 1/2 yard short late in the game. Harmon caught a pass from Blake Branham, but fell out of bounds 1/2 yard short of the first down.

Michael Copley lost his coaching debut for Pikeville.

2007 Pike County Bowl XXIII East Ridge 27, Phelps 0 Senior running back Caleb Epling scored three touchdowns to

give Bobby Branham a win in his debut as Warrior coach. Epling finished with three touchdowns and was named MVP for East Ridge.

Phelps dropped to 0-7 in the Pike County Bowl with the loss, but the Hornets were credited for a victory after the season was over because East Ridge used an ineligible player. Patrick Dotson was named MVP for Phelps.

Belfry 21, Corbin 0 Belfry just overpowered the Redhounds. Senior fullback Dustin May led the way on offense as he ran over defenders for 142 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

He was named Belfry’s MVP. Belfry’s stingy defense shut down Corbin’s standout quarterback Clint Cashen. The Pirates pushed their record to 16-7 all-time in the Pike County Bowl.

Shelby Valley 34, Pike Central 12 The game opened with three straight turnovers. Cody Mitchell scored two touchdowns for Shelby Valley. He finished with 84 yards rushing.

Joe Nichols scored on an 84

yard interception for a touchdown for Pike Central.

Shelby Valley coach Kevin Saunders moved to 2-0 in the Pike County Bowl and the win marked his 100th career victory.

Pikeville 28, Louisville Holy Cross 18 Pikeville standout running back Daniel Harmon opened the second half with a 96 yard kick return for a touchdown. Harmon was named MVP; he finished with 161 yards rushing and two touchdowns to go with the big kick return.

The win snapped a two game losing streak in the Pike County Bowl for the Panthers.

2006 Pike County Bowl XXII Shelby Valley 79, Phelps 6 New Shelby Valley coach Kevin Saunders made a splash in first Pike County Bowl, leading the Wildcats to the most lop-sided win in Bowl history.

Shelby Valley also set a Pike County Bowl record for most points scored as quarterback Tyler Johnson earned Most Valuable Player honors as he passed for 125 yards

and four touchdowns. Running back Russell Johnson earned MVP honors for Phelps.

Pike Central 26, East Ridge 21 Gordon Varney joined the elite group of players who earned back-to-back Pike County Bowl Most Valuable Player honors as he returned from a knee injury and rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns in the Hawks’ win.

Quarterback Quirvon Merchant found wide receiver Joe Nichols in the end zone for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. David Ratliff was selected as MVP for East Ridge.

Henry Clay 31, Pikeville 0 The Class 4A Thoroughbreds shut down the Panthers after Pikeville drove down to the 5-yard line on its first possession. Pikeville had just 95 yards of offense after that drive and senior quarterback John Michael Mayo had to leave the game after suffering a concussion that ended his senior season.

Led by all-stater Dirk Minni-

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HISTORY Continued From Page 21 field, Henry Clay used three quarterback and collectively passed for 291 yards, completing 27 of 36 passes. Clark Jeter earned most valuable player honors with 11 catches for 121 yards.

Sophomore Daniel Harmon led Pikeville with 126 yards rushing on 26 carries and also completed a pass for 44 yards, earning him the MVP award.

Belfry 7, Newport Catholic 6 In a thrilling defensive struggle, Newport Catholic came up just three yards short of a second-straight Pike County Bowl win, but a two-point conversion try late in the fourth quarter was broken up, giving Belfry the win.

With two of the winningest coaches in Kentucky history on the sidelines, Philip Haywood got the better of Bob Schneider as Gerald Epling broke up a pass attempt with 2:47 to play to preserve Belfry’s lead. Epling also had an interception as he earned the MVP award.

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Belfry’s defense held vaunted running back and reigning MVP Michael Vicars to just 55 yards on 15 carries. Corey Chapman provided Belfry’s only touchdown with a 53-yard scoring run.

2005 Pike County Bowl XXI Henry Clay 43, Belfry 14 Henry Clay Clay scored 36 unaswered points and Salin Simpson was named MVP completing 11 of 17 passes for 190 yards.

Belfry’s Matt Maynard was voted MVP on the Pirate side scoring both TDs and gaining a 135 yards on 12 carries. Corey Chapman picked up 99 yards on the ground and Dustin May added 44 for the Pirates.

Pike Central 32, Phelps 14 Chris McNamee kicked off his second stint as Pike Central coach with a big win. Gordan Varney led the Hawks with 205 rushing yards and two touchdowns; he was named MVP. Quirvon Merchant added 87 yards and a TD in the win.

Phelps coach Chris Hagerman’s first game didn’t go as well

as he wished. Hornet QB Robert Gannon was named MVP with 138 yards threw the air, 88 yards rushing and two TDs. Shelby Valley 14, East Ridge 6 After a heat delay in the first quarter Shelby Valley was able to score to 14 first quarter points.

John McPeek was named MVP for the Wildcats gaining 91 yards to lead the Shelby Valley run attack.

East Ridge’s only score came near the end of the first half when QB David Ratliff hit Kyle Fletcher for a 51-yard score.

Newport Cathlolic 37, Pikeville 6 Newport Catholic controlled the line of scrimmage and gained 329 yards of offense. QB Sam Diehl had two passing and two rushing TDs. Running back Michael Vicars was named MVP for the Thouroughbreds picking up 130 yards on 15 carries.

Pikeville’s offense struggled all game long and were held to just 92 yards of total offense. The Panthers only score of the game came off a 13-yard TD run by Chazz Jackson.

2004 Pike County Bowl XX Pikeville 14, Prestonsburg 0 Pikeville senior fullback Robert Shurtleff earned MVP honors for the Panthers after scoring both of Pikeville’s touchdowns and running for 132 yards in the host team’s victory.

He scored both TDs in the first 13 minutes of the games on runs of three and 55 yards while the Panthers’ defense held the Blackcats to just 21 yards rushing on its way to the win.

Belfry 41, Estill County 14 Belfry started its second consecutive Class 2A state championship chase with 228 yards on just seven carries by senior tailback Doug Howard on its way to an easy win over the Engineers.

David Jones, who signed to play football for the University of Kentucky after graduation, posted 150 yards and three TDs on just five carries. The Pirates scored on their first three possessions.

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HISTORY Continued From Page 22 Pike Central 46, Shelby Valley 38 Pike Central senior Chase Snodgrass only had one touchdown in the 2004 Pike County Bowl but he made it count, plunging in from a yard away during the third overtime to give the Hawks their third bowl victory in a row.

The Hawks ran up 359 yards on the ground, with sophomore Gordan Varney accounting for 229 of them. Fullback Anthony Chapman ran for 146 yards and three TDs, including one in each of the first two OT periods.

Shelby Valley senior quarterback Timmy Griffith only completed one pass in the game, but it was his 14-yard throw to Patrick Tackett which forced the second OT. Griffith led the way for the Wildcats with 116 yards rushing and also ran for a TD. East Ridge 46, Phelps 40 Until East Ridge’s

Derek

Sesco fell on Phelps’ final onside kick, the outcome of the Warriors’ first-ever Pike County Bowl victory was far from assured.

East Ridge senior quarterback, Paul Deese threw two touchdown passes, ran for another TD and scored another on an interception return; he also hit two extra-point kicks and ran in a twopoint conversion on his way to MVP honors.

Phelps’ Chris Robinette split time between running back and quarterback, piling up 116 yards on the ground and 72 in the air with a TD each way.

The Hornets controlled the ball for 32-1/2 minutes and ran for 339 yards but East Ridge had a deeper roster and used that to its advantage, moving the ball at will in the second half. However, Phelps never got the message that it was supposed to go away and answered the Warriors touchdown for touchdown after halftime. A 19-yard TD pass from Robinette to Chris Hardin and Robinette’s two-point conversion with 25 seconds to go had the Hornets six points out of the lead before Sesco tracked down the onside kickoff attempt.

“They were like a gnat at a bar-

becue,” Deese said after the game.

“They just never went away.”

2003 Pike County Bowl XIX Boyd County 18, Belfry 0 Belfry’s run to the state’s Double-A crown could not have started more ignominiously. With new faces up and down the offensive line, the Pirates got shut out by Class 3A Boyd County.

Four years after getting drilled

by Belfry, the Lions came south and outplayed the Pirates in every aspect of the game, holding them to 58 yards rushing and forcing two key turnovers.

Junior running back David Jones was named Belfry’s MVP, but Boyd County limited him to 19 yards on only eight carries. Belfry Coach Philip Haywood said his team didn’t attack the Lions the way he expected and that Boyd County controlled the game.

Boyd senior tailback Jake Hughes was named his team’s MVP, carrying the ball 19 times for 88 yards to go with three catches for 25 yards. The Lions role up 256 total yards and ran roughshod over the Pirate defense for 212 yards on

the ground.

Lawrence County 26, Pikeville 0 Lawrence County made history in the nightcap of Saturday’s action at Hillard Howard Field, which was swathed in a brand-new coat of synthetic grass. But it wasn’t the kind of history local fans enjoyed.

Never before had Pikeville and Belfry both been shut out in the Pike County Bowl until Lawrence County TKO’d the Panthers on their own home field.

Bulldog running back James Storts made the Pikeville defense look pretty hapless in an MVP effort, blowing by the Panthers for 200 yards on 23 carries. Quarterback Bryan Short had what was recorded as a 56-yard touchdown run that will be remembered for his sideline-to-sideline dash that ended with a dive into the end zone. Lawrence County rolled over Pikeville for 311 yards on 53 running plays.

Weston Robinson was voted Pikeville’s MVP, with a 68-yard rushing effort that accounted for almost all of the Panthers’ ground attack. He was also Pikeville’s lead-

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HISTORY Continued From Page 23 ing receiver with two catches for 44 yards.

Shelby Valley 46, Phelps 6 The first meeting between Shelby Valley and Phelps in 13 seasons wasn’t quite as bad as the last time the two teams played each other.

In 1990, the two teams’ game was postponed one night after storms rolled through the Phelps area. In 2003, violent storms that blew into Robinson Creek held up the game for two hours once the lightning started flashing right at the end of halftime of the Friday doubleheader’s opening game.

Shelby Valley led 39-0 when the lightning started and cruised to an easy win after the game resumed.

Junior quarterback Timmy Griffith was voted Shelby Valley’s MVP for a 5-for-7 passing effort with 136 yards and three touchdowns — all in the first half. Joe Wyatt carried the ball 12 times for

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96 yards as the Wildcats picked up 406 yards of offense. Jared Branham had three catches for 106 yards.

For Phelps, Josh Johnson was named MVP after scoring the Hornets’ first-ever TD in the Pike County Bowl. He set it up with a 54-yard run off a sweep and got the rest of the yardage with a nine-yard run. He finished with 77 yards on eight carries.

Pike Central 43, East Ridge 8 Pike Central cleared the 40-point barrier for the second straight year and picked up its third straight win in the Pike County Bowl by running roughshod over the Warrior.

Literally.

Hawks Coach Johnny Poynter came into the game saying “Everybody knows we’re a passing team” after his team’s aerial output of 2002, but the Hawks scored four rushing touchdowns and three conversions in the first half in a game which ended after 1 a.m. due to the lightning delay in the Shelby Valley-Phelps game. The game started 1-1/2 hours late and ran into trouble at the start of the fourth quar-

ter when a blown circuit breaker knocked out the lights at one end of the field. However, officials and coaches agreed to allow both offenses to play toward the south end of the field.

The Hawks gained 230 yards on 39 rushing attempts. Team MVP Scott Combs had 76 yards on the ground while wide receiver Sonny Buckley had two catches for 71 yards.

East Ridge MVP Willie Collins had 35 yards on 10 carries.

2002 Pike County Bowl XVIII Belfry 14, Tates Creek 13 A clipping call on the final play of the game negated a potential winning touchdown by Class 4A Tates Creek and allowed the Pirates to claim a win over the Commodores.

Belfry trailed 13-0 in the first half but senior tailback Jonah Caudill scored with 11 minutes left in the game; senior kicker Joey Ramey hit the extra point to put Belfry ahead for good.

Caudill had over 100 yards on the ground and was named the game’s MVP. Quarterback Paul Howard scored Belfry’s other TD

with less than a minute left in the first half.

Pikeville 31, Campbellsville 8 Panther senior Paul Sullivan took the first steps on what would become a 2,000-yard season with 263 yards rushing and three touchdowns as Pikeville thrashed Campbellsville in the first game of the Saturday night doubleheader. He blew through the Campbellsville defense for a 75-yard TD run on Pikeville’s third play from scrimmage, scoring again later in the first quarter on a 64-yard sprint.

Fellow senior Jarrod Frasure also scored a TD and junior quarterback Derek Sword hit tight end Robert Shurtleff for what turned into a 40-yard score.

Shelby Valley 27, East Ridge 22 Joe Wyatt put Shelby Valley over the top with a 37-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter, then the Wildcats recovered East Ridge’s onside kick attempt with less than a minute left in the game to hand the Warriors a loss in their

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HISTORY Continued From Page 24 first game ever.

SVHS rolled up 308 yards rushing, led by Jimmy Henson with 11 runs for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

The game, played at Shelby Valley marked a first: Until this contest, no Pike County Bowl game had ever counted in a district race.

Pike Central 49, Phelps 0 Pike Central senior Justin McCurry was named the MVP of the game for good reason; he passed for 275 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Hawks to an easy win over Phelps that gave Johnny Poynter a victory in his debut as Pike Central’s head coach.

Pike Central junior Eric Coleman rushed for 60 yards on 10 carries and had a 40-yard TD reception to go with two touchdown runs. McCurry also ran the ball for 48 yards and one more touchdown.

The Hawks’ defense held Phelps to 119 yards. Hornet running back Josh Stratton led Phelps with 86 yards.

2001 Pike County Bowl XVII Belfry 14, Harrison County 12 Belfry used a quarterback shuffle of seniors Daniel Wright and Joseph Stanley the entire game, but junior Jonah Caudill led the Pirates to a last-second victory.

Caudill rushed for 175 yards, including 130 in the first half. Caudill took the Pirates’ first snap of the second quarter 80 yards for a touchdown and game Belfry a 7-0 lead at the half. Senior B.J. Wallace scored on a five-yard run to give Belfry a 14-6 led with 7:23 left in the game before Harrison County hit pay dirt. Will Blackburn knocked down the potentially-tying two-point conversion and the Pirates held on to get the win.

Lexington Lafayette 33, Pikeville 14 Pikeville standout senior running back Barrett Rogers was sidelined with an injury and Lafayette running back Elrazor Sharp took over. Sharp slipped the grasp of Panther’s defenders and rushed for 258 yards on 18 carries with four touchdowns to give the Generals the victory. Pikeville senior Paul Sullivan had 103 yards rushing on

12 carries, junior Jarrod Frasure finished with 92 yards rushing on 10 carries with one touchdown and senior Don Paul Branham recovered a fumble for touchdown.

Pike Central 33, Harlan 25 Pike Central used the offensive output of running back Kyle Wood and quarterback Justin McCurry to offset the Green Dragons’ Jamie Jacobs. The Hawks flew out of a 19-19 tie at the end of the third quarter with a touchdown apiece by Wood and Benny Grigsby. Wood rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns to earn MVP honors while McCurry threw for 176 yards and three touchdowns.

Paris 61, Shelby Valley 0 Paris broke away to a 33-point lead after the first quarter and went on to keep the Wildcats out of the end zone the entire game as the Greyhounds established the most-lopsided victory margin in Pike County Bowl history. Shelby Valley senior quarterback Kris Prater threw for 151 yards while the Greyhounds were led by the duo of Bruce Shaw, who rushed for 198 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, and Odell Cosby, who ran for three touchdowns and threw for another.

2000 Pike County Bowl XVI Belfry 35, Bourbon County 26 Belfry began the game with an offensive onslaught with a 20-0 lead before the Pirates fought off a late Bourbon County comeback for the victory. Belfry senior Curtis Childress led the Pirate attack by rushing 16 times for 122 yards and a touchdown and catching three passes for 23 yards and two more scores to claim the MVP honors.

Belfry quarterback Casey Lequire went 11-of-18 for 177 yards and four touchdowns.

Pikeville 46, Lawrence County 36 Quarterback Matt Branham threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more to earn MVP honors as Pikeville held off Lawrence County to snap the Panthers’ fourgame losing streak in the Pike County Bowl. Pikeville gained 289 yards on the ground led by junior tailback Barrett Rogers with 145 yards on 17 carries, while holding

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HISTORY Continued From Page 25 the Bulldogs to 28 yards passing.

The win game Pikeville Coach Chris McNamee the distinction of being the first person to win a Pike County Bowl game as both player and a coach.

Bellevue 60, Pike Central 0 Bellevue rode a 86-yard opening kickoff return to hand Pike Central what at the time was the most lopsided margin in Pike County Bowl history. Bellevue scored on its first four possessions and ran away with the game, which featured numerous miscues by the Hawks’ special teams. David Branham was named Pike Central’s Bowl MVP with many of the Hawks eyeing the future.

Harrodsburg 41, Shelby Valley 6 Harrodsburg and Shelby Valley opened the 16th Pike County Bowl with a contest quickly going from a 6-6 tie to an impressive Harrodsburg victory. Harrodsburg returned the opening kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown, but the extra-point was blocked by Valley’s John Akers. Valley quarterback Brandon Stevens hit Valley Bowl MVP Todd Newsome for the tying score, but Harrodsburg notched touchdowns in each of its next five possessions to take the win.

1999 Pike County Bowl XV Boyle County 24, Pikeville 6 Pikeville’s losing steak in the Pike County Bowl was extended to four games with its loss to eventual Class 2A state champion Boyle County. Pikeville’s defense gave up only two touchdowns, but could not get its offense started. In what would turn out to be uncharacteristic performances, quarterback Matt Branham was just 13-of-31 for 92 yards in the game, and wide receiver Jeremiah Akers caught just two passes for 28 yards.

Belfry 21, Boyd County 2 Belfry posted its first Pike County Bowl win since 1996 with its victory over Boyd County. Not everything went according to plan for the Pirates offensively, as highly-touted quarterback Jonathan Wright threw four interceptions

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and just one touchdown in the game.

Shelby Valley 46, Elkhorn City 12 Shelby Valley and Elkhorn City faced off in the first game of the Pike County Bowl in 1999. Valley senior running back Dusty Hall scored four times in the game, on three rushes and a reception, rushing for 181 yards on 13 carries.

Teammate Casey Newsome was equally dominate, running up 113 yards on seven carries.

Elkhorn City scored all 12 of its points in the fourth quarter, on a three-yard run from Jarrod Belcher and a 39-yard scramble from quarterback Adam Ratliff.

Pike Central 46, Phelps 0 Pike Central made Coach Barry Birchfield’s debut a successful one, running backs Joe Waugh, Stephen Varney, and Bobbie Worrix all rushed for touchdowns, and the Hawks’ running game put up a total of 272 yards on the ground.

Pike Central freshman quarterback Justin McCurry also made an impressive debut, connecting on all three passes he threw and getting 96 yards with two touchdowns.

1998 Pike County Bowl XIV Campbell County 7, Belfry 6 A blocked extra point was the difference in a defensive struggle.

Belfry took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on Jonathan Wright’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Smith, but kicker Curtis Childress’ extra point was blocked.

It hurt because Campbell County began the second half with a 60-yard drive which included four third-down conversions. Campbell County scored a touchdown on the drive and put through a critical extra point. Neither team would score again.

Breathitt County 33, Pikeville 0 New Pikeville Coach John Chapman began his tenure at PHS by taking on his former mates. Before coming to Pikeville, Chapman was the defensive coordinator at Breathitt County and his former defensive players didn’t lose a beat as they held Pikeville scoreless.

Pikeville running back Jonathan Chapman finished with 90 yards on 14 carries but Breathitt

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HISTORY Continued From Page 26 County’s Jason White was outstanding. He scored four touchdowns — on touchdown receptions of 69 and 50 yards, an eight-yard run and a 38-yard interception return. He rushed for 105 yards on 18 carries.

Breathitt County quarterback Kyle Moore was also outstanding, connecting on 14 of 20 passes for 242 yards.

1997 Pike County Bowl XIII Louisville Male 7, Belfry 0 Few expected Belfry to hang with Class 4A Louisville Male in the ‘97 Pike County Bowl.

The Pirates did, but eventually lost 7-0.

Belfry had a pair of opportunities to tie the game or take the lead late in the game. But the defense of Male, especially in the secondary, came up with the big plays.

The statistics told the story of how close the game really was. Belfry had 192 total years, while Male

has 189. Also, each team had nine first downs.

Male dented the scoreboard just before the half on Garner Byers’ two -yard touchdown plunge.

It would prove to be the only score of the game.

“I think our kids gave a good effort and played very hard and very physical,” Belfry Coach Philip Haywood said, “The boys were disappointed because we felt like we could’ve won it. But if we can keep that kind of intensity up, the rest of it will come around.”

Senior running back Micah Caudill paced the Pirate offense with 18 rushes for 48 yards and three catches for 70 more yards.

The game marked the debut at quarterback for Belfry’s much heralded sophomore Jonathan Wright.

He relieved Kevin Deskins in the fourth quarter.

519 total yards, including 503 on the ground.

Bowl MVP Jack Smith, a senior running back for Ashland, rushed 15 times for 203 yards and three touchdowns.

“Defensively, it was just poor tackling — bodies flying out of position and out of their space,” Pikeville Coach Royce Mayo said. “You just can’t play a good football team like that. With good backs, you have to get down and be aggressive ... And I’ll take the blame for that, not having our defenders ready to go.”

Ashland led 13-0 after one quarter, 38-16 at the half and 44-16 after three.

Chad Newsome, Pikeville’s bowl game MVP, rushed for 85 yards. Quarterback Ben Howard completed 9-of-15 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown.

Ashland Blazer 70, Pikeville 28 The nightcap of the 1997 Pike County Bowl was a shocker.

Ashland pounded Pikeville 7028 in what was then the most lopsided game in bowl history.

The Panthers simply couldn’t stop the Tomcats, which rolled up

1996 Pike County Bowl XII Belfry 40, North Laurel 0 Belfry’s slogan (”Angry red, enough said”) held to form in the second game of the 1996 Pike County Bowl as the Pirates crushed Class 4A North Laurel 40-0.

Belfry, coached by Philip Haywood, rolled up 413 yards, led by junior tailback Micah Caudill (offensive MVP), who had 118 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns.

The Pirates’ defense limited the Jaguars to only 87 total yards.

“Defensively, we controlled the game,” Haywood said after the game. “We played hard on both sides of the ball.”

Bardstown 28, Pikeville 6 Bardstown spoiled Pikeville Coach Royce Mayo’s debut, cashing in on four Panther turnovers to win the ‘96 Pike County Bowl opener 28-6 at Pikeville’s W.C. Hambley Athletic Complex.

Mayo, who was replacing departed Coach Hillard Howard, was disappointed after the game.

“We just couldn’t punch it in,” Mayo said. “And you can’t beat anybody with four turnovers.”

The Panthers were playing without the services of starting quarterback Doug Powers, who was injured in a preseason game.

Sophomore Ben Howard, son of

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HISTORY Continued From Page 27 Hillard Howard, got the nod.

Pikeville’s only score was a Howard touchdown pass to Todd McCoy in the fourth quarter.

1995 Pike County Bowl XI Pikeville 59, Paris 20 Pikeville rolled out to a 44-7 halftime lead and cruised the rest of the way, crushing Paris 59-20.

Panther running back Eddie Deramus was the game’s MVP. The junior rushed for 154 yards and had a touchdown run of 69 yards.

PHS Coach Hillard Howard was pleased after the game.

“If we score that many points every game, we’re not going to lose many ballgames,” he said.

The Panthers amassed 419 total yards to Paris’ 79.

Brent Coleman added 108 rushing yards for PHS. Belfry 28, Harrison County 0 Belfry sophomore running

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back Micah Caudill rushed for 173 yards on 21 carries and scampered for a 65-yard touchdown run to lead the Pirates past Harrison County 28-0.

But the story of the game was Belfry’s defense, which only allowed 135 yards running and none through the air. Mike Hardin anchored the Belfry “D,” recording 10 tackles.

In addition to snuffing out Harrison’s offense, Belfry rolled up 275 yards on the ground.

Adam Eastwood carried the ball 13 times for 58 yards.

1994 Pike County Bowl X Prestonsburg 26, Pikeville 21 Prestonsburg ruined the return of Pikeville Coach Hillard Howard when Blackcat quarterback Thomas Ratliff scored on a short run with two seconds left on the clock to boost Prestonsburg to a 26-21 win before an estimated crowd of 6,000.

However, it was a controversial win for the Blackcats. The side judge appeared to mark the ball just short of the goal line.

“I don’t think he was in,” said

Howard after the game. “I thought the officiating was poor.”

Brent Coleman led the Panthers as he ran for 126 yards.

Howard had turned the program over to Bill Allara the past two seasons and was in his first game back at the Pikeville helm.

Montgomery County 46, Belfry 21 Belfry committed nine costly turnovers and was blown out by a talented Montgomery County team, 46-21.

“We just destroyed ourselves with mistakes — one after another,” Belfry Coach Philip Haywood said after the game.

The Indians chewed up the Pirate defense, rushing for 333 yards and passing for another 49.

1993 Pike County Bowl IX Pikeville 26, Lexington Catholic 13 The Panthers rushed for 320 total yards and beat Lexington Catholic 26-13.

Pikeville senior running back J.I. Joplin was the games’ hero as he ran for 158 yards on 16 carries.

Joplin had rumbled for 41 and nine-

yard touchdowns runs.

Danville 53, Belfry 14 Powerful Danville increased its winning streak to 30 games as it thrashed Belfry 53-14.

Danville smashed through the Pirates defense, rolling up 350 total yards and limiting Belfry to only 57 rushing yards on 50 attempts.

1992 Pike County Bowl VIII Pikeville 20, Breathitt County 13 Pikeville quarterback J.P. Blair completed 9-of-14 passes for 180 yards to lead the Panthers to a 20-13 win over Breathitt County.

One of Blair’s completions was a 79-yard touchdown strike to J.I. Joplin — the longest pass reception in the history of the Pike County Bowl.

The score gave the Panthers a 20-7 lead in the fourth quarter.

Chase Goodman led the Pikeville defense with 10 solo tackles and a sack.

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make things happen.”

Pikeville rushed for 362 yards.

Jason Blackburn was the defensive hero, recording 16 tackles.

Belfry 21, Rockcastle County 6 Belfry junior quarterback Jason Stacy fired two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Pirates past Rockcastle County, a team ranked third in the state among 2A teams.

Rockcastle could only muster 128 yards on the ground on 28 carries.

Stacy completed six passes for 90 yards and ran in a 72-yard touchdown in the game’s first play from scrimmage.

“How about that!” Belfry Coach Philip Haywood said. “Overall, we showed a lot of poise.”

Belfry 21, Fort Campbell 14 Belfry downed Fort Campbell 21-14 to complete the first Pike County Bowl sweep in three years.

Pikeville had beaten Lincoln County earlier in the day.

With the score tied, 14-14, the Pirates went on a 13-play, 83-yard drive, culminating with a four-yard Kevin Varney touchdown run with 4:13 left in the game to put Belfry up for good.

Chris Phillips rushed for 164 yards on 14 carries. QB Shawn Hager passed for 51 yards and ran for another 31 to earn game MVP honors. Matt Varney had 16 tackles.

1991 Pike County Bowl VII Pikeville 27, Lincoln County 14 J.J. Bailey ran all over Class 3A Lincoln County, rushing for 240 yards, to lead Panthers to a 27-14 win.

“He is a phenomenal back,” PHS Coach Bill Allara said. “He can

1990 Pike County Bowl VI Beechwood 27, Pikeville 13 Beechwood had 247 yards on the ground and beat the defending three-time Class 1A state champion Panthers, 27-13.

PHS was only able to rush for 185 yards on 33 carries, led by

Shane Allara, who ran for 69 yards.

Pikeville closed the gap to 21-13 in the fourth quarter when Allara scampered for a 25-yard touchdown run with 9:59 left, but that was as close as the Panthers would get.

Belfry 38, Ft. Thomas Highlands 7 Belfry crushed the top-ranked 3A team in the state, Fort Thomas Highlands, 38-7.

The Pirates defense was suffocating as it only allows 121 total yards. Belfry rolled up 353 total yards — including 292 on the ground.

Dale Oliver led the Pirates with 101 yards on only seven carries and added a 45-yard touchdown run. J.J. Hylton had 11 tries for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

Dennis Fouch chipped in with 64 yards rushing.

Belfry led 17-7 at the half and 31-7 at the end of three quarters.

“I’m surprised by the score,” Belfry Coach Philip Haywood said.

1989 Pike County Bowl V Pikeville 21, Raceland 7

Pikeville, the defending Class 1A state champion, spotted the Rams a 7-0 lead, but 21 unanswered points spelled doom for Raceland.

Pikeville’s Steve Bailey scored all three Panther touchdowns on runs of 29, seven and five and rushed for 145 yards on 16 carries.

Shane Allara added 104 yards on the ground.

Bell County 17, Belfry 0 The Pirates suffered their first loss in the history of the Pike County Bowl as they fell short 17-0 to Bell County.

Belfry threatened to score on several occasions but could not get into the end zone.

The Pirates were held to 135 yards rushing. Russell Carter led the way as he carried the ball eight times for 51 yards.

1988 Pike County Bowl IV Pikeville 37, Newport Central Catholic 0 Pikeville, the defending Class 1A state champion, recorded its 15th win in a row with a 37-0 dis-

See HISTORY, Page 30

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

29

HISTORY Continued From Page 29 mantling of Newport Central Catholic.

The Panthers only yielded 79 yards on the ground.

“We played awfully well overall,” PHS Coach Hillard Howard said. “Our defense was outstanding. We came into this thing ready.”

Greg Hackney led Pikeville’s ground attack with a bowl-record 215 yards. He also scored three TDs. Belfry 16, Clark County 13 Belfry’s Chris Wingard, a transfer student from a North Carolina high school, booted a 27-yard field goal on the game’s final play to lift the Pirates past Clark County, 16-13.

Wingard, a 5-foot-7, 117-pounder, used to play soccer in the Tarheel State.

Mike Scott led Belfry’s offense with 145 yards on 17 attempts. He also caught two passes for 60 more yards.

“I’m real proud of our kids,”

30

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

Belfry Coach Philip Haywood said.

“They played their hearts out.”

1987 Pike County Bowl III Beechwood 21, Pikeville 20 (suspended) In the most bizarre game in Pike County Bowl history, a lightning storm at halftime forced the game’s suspension with Beechwood leading Pikeville 21-20.

After one hour of heavy rain, the game was ... well, rained out.

The two teams hooked up again in the Class 1A state playoffs and the Panthers went on to win that one 52-28 to advance to the state championship game.

Leading Pikeville’s defense that year was senior defensive back Chris McNamee, former Pike Central coach and current coach at PHS. Belfry 14, Corbin 10 Corbin took a 10-0 lead but Belfry railed to win 14-10.

The Pirates stopped the Redhounds on a key fourth-and-one play at the five-yard line and capi-

talized on their emotions when Pirate Keith May ran 85 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter to cut the lead to 10-7.

Mike Scott’s 44-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the difference. May and Scott rushed for 94 and 60 yards respectively.

Chris Ratliff had 10 tackles.

1986 Pike County Bowl II Paris 28, Pikeville 15 Paris, the No. 1-rated team in Class 1A, got past Pikeville 28-15 in the second Pike County Bowl.

The Panthers were limited to only 173 yards rushing.

Belfry 21, Harrison County 14 Down 14-7, Belfry mounted a comeback. Two third-quarter touchdowns were the difference as the Pirates got past Harrison County, 21-14, before about 5,000 fans.

Dwayne Francisco rushed 19 times for 72 yards and completed 4-of-7 passes for 41 yards. Anthony Tackett ran for 78 yards, while Mike Scott rushed for another 66.

1985 Pike County Bowl I Pikeville 27, Cumberland 21 The first-ever Pike County Bowl ended in controversy, but Pikeville won the game 27-21 over Cumberland.

Cumberland quarterback Freddie Maggard’s pass to Darren Jones fell short in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play with 1:20 left, but one official signaled touchdown.

After an officials’ discussion, the touchdown call was reversed and Pikeville got the ball on downs.

The Panthers ate up the rest of the clock and held on for the win.

A videotape showed Jones had in fact trapped the ball.

Keith Washington, a junior, rushed for 112 yards to lead PHS. Belfry 7, Somerset 6 Belfry trailed 6-0, but scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to take the win.

Anthony Tackett was the game’s MVP, as he carried the ball 13 times for 154 yards for Belfry.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

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33

J al ey A dk i n s is the seventeen-year-old daughter of Jeff and Stacy Adkins of Canada, Kentucky. She is a senior at Belfry High School and maintains a 4. 0 grade point average.

In her spare time, Jaley enjoys playing tennis, piano, and dancing.

She also enjoys instructing dance lessons, designing websites, and playing piano at her church each Sunday.

Jaley’ s honors include: 2019 Governor’ s Scholar, Hugh

O’ Brian Y outh Leadership Ambassador, Outstanding Speaker at the Kentucky Y outh Assembly and U nited Nations Assembly, 1 of 12 selected nationwide for Xposure Journalism Workshop at Western Kentucky U niversity, and was selected to participate in Georgetown College’ s Pre-College Academic Experience in Math and Science.

Jaley is a member of the tennis, robotics, academic, and Future Problem Solving teams;

U PIKE Dance Program; newspaper staff; Students Against Destructive Decisions; Campus 121; Football Statistician; U NITE; FCA; KY A, KU NA, and the Y -Club.

Jaley plans to double major in bioethics and medical humanities at Transylvania U niversity in the fall of 2020. She hopes to further her education at the U niversity of Kentucky’ s medical school in order to become a pathologist. Later on, she plans to obtain her PhD in medical ethics.

L ak i n P u c k et t is the seventeen-year-old daughter of Kevin and Cindi Puckett of Elkhorn City, Kentucky.

She is a senior at East Ridge High School and maintains a 4. 0 grade point average.

In her spare time, Lakin enjoys teaching herself to play the ukulele and mastering the art of makeup.

Lakin spends many hours volunteering her time in and around her community. She has participated in many events, such as: BETA/ PRIDE Community Cleanups, Toy Drives, Love Loud, Special Olympics, Elementary and High School festivals and fairs, and Community Meals/ Blessing Boxes. Her greatest event has been raising awareness and hosting a Dyslexia Awareness Walk in Elkhorn City in

honor of her best friend.

Lakin’ s honors include: All “ A” Honor Roll; Ranked 1st in Class 9th-11th Grades; PCY LC School Representative, Board of Directors, and Publicist; 2019 Governor’ s Scholar; 2018 Rogers Scholar and Class Ambassador; 2019 District Governor’ s Cup Composition Runner U p; 2018 Homecoming Attendant; 2018 HOBY Ambassador; Freshman and Junior Class President; KHSAA Female Student Athlete of the Y ear; 2017-2018 Pike County Spelling Bee Grade Level Champion; 2017-2018 U NITE Pike Composition Champion; 2017-2018 JV Challenge Composition Champion; 4th Place Composition 2017 District Governor’ s Cup; 3rd Place Composition 2018 District

Governor’ s Cup; and 3rd Place Composition 2018 Regional Governor’ s Cup. Lakin is a member of the academic, spelling, varsity volleyball, softball, and cheerleading teams; the East Ridge High School Principal’ s Leadership Team; PCY LC; BETA Club; Prayer Warriors; National Honors Society; Co-Producer of News Around the Ridge; Tiny Tribe Cheerleading Coach; 180 Degree Y outh Group; 4-H; Gifted and Talented; Prom Committee; and the Link Crew.

Lakin plans to major in biological sciences at the U niversity of Kentucky in hopes to pursue a career in dentistry.

After earning her degree, she is determined to move back home in order to help the people of this region.

istry.

Alpha Theta, and the LCA Lead-

H an n ah

R ot h

is the sevof

Hannah’ s honors include:

Lynn and Scott Roth of Lexing-

Top 10 in her class, KHSAA Ac-

ton, Kentucky.

She is a senior

ademic All-State First Team, LCA

at Lexington Christian Academy

Swimming Christian Sportsman-

and maintains a 4. 23 grade point

ship, U nsung Hero Award, and

average.

Mu Alpha Theta Secretary.

enteen-year-old

daughter

erica

ed ro

cer ified

lifeguard.

Hannah plans to attend college in order to obtain a degree in biology, in hopes to pursue a

Hannah is a member of her

enjoys swimming, singing, and

high school’ s varsity swimming

attending the Immanuel Baptist

team.

She is also a member of

would like to combine her love

Church Y outh Group, and volun-

the LCA Chamber Choir, Nation-

of science with her passion for

teering with the children’ s min-

al Honor Society, Beta Club, Mu

serving others.

with her All-Star Competitive

high

of

Cheerleading team and spend-

team. She is also a member of

Kimberly Dotson of Delbarton,

ing time with her friends and

the Beta Club.

West Virginia.

family.

enteen-year-old

is the sev-

daughter

She is a senior

at Mingo Central High School

Sierra’ s

career i

he

edical field

school’ s

he

cheerleading

Sierra plans to attend Marhonors

include:

shall U niversity in Huntington,

and maintains a 4. 2 grade point

Top 10 in her class, Beta Talent

West Virginia.

average.

1st Place, and Nationals for All-

continue her cheerleading ca-

Star Cheerleading.

reer and to obtain a degree in

In her spare time, Sierra enjoys competing and traveling PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

a

Hannah is also

In her spare time, Hannah

S i erra D ot s on

34

ership Forum.

Sierra is a member of her

psychology.

She plans to

S h ak i ra L es t er is the seventeen-year-old daughter of Lin-

Shakira’ s icro o

honors fice

include: eciali

da Lester of Phelps, Kentucky.

Awards in Word, PowerPoint, and

She is a senior at Phelps High

Excel; BETA Leadership Award;

School and maintains a 3. 975

FBLA Award; STLP Award; Word

grade point average.

Processing Class Award;

In her spare time, Shakira enjoys spending time with her

and

Best Blocker Volleyball Award.

Shakira is a member of the

U NITE; FBLA; HOSA; P7; 4-H; and U pward Bound.

Shakira

plans

to

attend

Eastern Kentucky U niversity to obtain a degree in pre-medical and biomedical sciences.

She

has hopes to continue to med-

Phelps High School volleyball

ical school after.

lived in Phelps her entire life,

team.

passion for helping others and

but would like to travel to many

of the National Honor Society;

would like to one day provide

countries in the future.

PCY LP; Spanish and Pep Clubs;

medical care in rural areas.

Bailey Drew Birchfield is the seventeen-year-old daughter o hilli a d ea her Birchfield of Pikeville, Kentucky. She is a senior at Pike County Central High School where she maintains a 4. 0 grade point average.

In her spare time, Bailey enjoys playing sports and volunteering at the Appalachian Pregnancy Care Center. She is also an active member of the Faith Baptist Church of Myra’ s youth group, Vacation Bible School, children’ s church, Easter plays,

and church choir.

Bailey’ s honors include: 9th11th Grades All “ A” Honor Roll; 60th District All-Academic Team; 9th-11th Grades Varsity Court Attendant; Link Crew Leader; 9th-11th Grades 60th All-District Team in Basketball, Volleyball, and Softball; WY MT-TV Classic All-Tournament Team; EKB Player of the Week in Basketball and Softball; KHSAA Triple Threat Award; and 500 Career Assists and Steals.

Bailey participates in her

school’ s varsity basketball, volleyball, and softball teams. She is also a member of the Student Council; Key Club; PCY LC; U NITE, National Honor Society; FCA, Family Resource Council; Principal’ s Advisory Council; and “ Hawk Talk. ” Bailey would like to remain in Pikeville in order to play basketball and obtain a degree in biology at the U niversity of Pikeville. After obtaining her degree, Bailey plans to attend the Kentucky College of Optometry.

E mma J oh n s is the seven-

in the children’ s nursery at Trin-

Pep Club; and Teens Who Care

teen-year-old daughter of Ryan

ity Harvest Church and serves

U nited.

and Jennifer Johns of Pikeville,

food to all ages of the commu-

Buddies”

Kentucky.

nity at the Trinity Harvest Dream

family and animals.

She has

She is a senior at

Pikeville High School where she maintains a 3. 857 grade point

Center.

Emma’ s

honors

include:

Miss Kentucky Teen 2019; Na-

average.

In her spare time, Emma enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her three sisters.

Emma also volunteers her time T ori H amp t on

She is also a member

is the nine-

teen-year-old daughter of Antho-

tional Honor Society; Homecoming Court; and Varsity Court.

Emma is a member of the soccer team; events.

Student Council;

Tori is a licensed phar-

macy technician.

ny and Renee Hampton of Pikev-

Tori’ s honors include: Hon-

ille, Kentucky. She is a senior at

or Student; All-District, Region,

Shelby Valley High School where

and Mountain in Basketball and

she maintains a 4. 0 grade point

Softball; Pike County Early Col-

average.

lege Academy.

Shakira has a

Emma is also a “ Best member where she

works alongside individuals with Down syndrome live a normal life.

Emma

plans

to

study

pre-medicine at the U niversity of Kentucky, in hopes to become a dermatologist one day. tional Honor Society; and FBLA. U pon

Tori’ s

high

school

graduation, she will also have her Associate’ s Degree in Science and Arts.

She plans to at-

tend the U niversity of Kentucky to obtain a degree in biochem-

In her spare time, Tori en-

Tori is a six-year member of

joys tutoring students, volun-

her school’ s basketball and soft-

istry, with hopes to attend the

teering at Faith Pharmacy, and

ball teams.

U niversity of Kentucky College

attending her church’ s charity

ber of the BETA Club; PCLY C; Na-

She is also a mem-

of Pharmacy.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

35

2018 Community Trust Bank / WYMT-TV Pike County Bowl Queen M i s s K as s i dy T ac k et t

Kassidy is the eighteen-year-old daughter of Sonya Tackett of Robinson Creek and Johnny Tackett of Dorton. She is a 2019 graduate of Shelby Valley High School where she maintained a 4. 0 grade point average. Since graduating from Shelby Valley High School, Tackett was accepted to the U niversity of Pikeville, where she is currently attending.

36

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

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PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

East Ridge and Phelps are in similar situations this season.

Both programs enter the season with longtime assistant coaches taking over as fir i e head coache “ It’ s a great game,” East Ridge coach Ben Runyon said. “ It’ s a great opportunity for us and it’ s a huge ball game for us this year. Pressure or no pressure, it’ s a huge game for us and we need to show up and play well.

Obviously you want to win every game, but for us, it’ s about showing up and playing good fundamental sound football, competing the best that we can compete and hopefully, if we do that, we can walk away with a win. ” “ East Ridge has had a couple of down years the past few seasons, having a coach q uit on them mid-way through the season last year is tough,” Phelps coach Andrew West said. “ Ben Runyon has stepped into that role and he has been loyal to them, ho e ly hi k he i he er ec fi or that program. The kids love him and respect him and he will give them the best opportunity to win football games. ” Phelps was winless in the Pike County Bowl until a couple of years ago. The Hornets have two straight wins over the Warriors.

The Hornets picked up a 44-0 win over the Warriors last season. “ The last couple of years, they really put it on us,” Runyon said. “ Andrew (West) is stepping in now, but

REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

BY RANDY WHITE

he field

i h he

e

aid

id e a d

hel

fi i hed la

ih a ill kicko

ea o

he 3 h

record la al p. m. Friday, August 30 at Belfry.

Community Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bowl at 6:00

a

season.

hel

left Phelps to take over the Bourbon County job.

West will be taking over for David Jones who

this season.

and was rewarded by being named the head coach

the Warriors to their only two wins last season

East Ridge in the middle of last season. He led

Runyon took over as interim head coach for

eryday. ”

“ Of course I’ m going to take my guys ev-

the strength.

“ We’ ve got the size on the line, the speed and

a y here o

“ X’ s and O’ s wise, I think we match up

tough team will walk out with a win. ”

up and is the most mentally and physically

and compete with them. Whoever s h o w s

think our kids will go over there

going to be a good matchup. I

ty is excited, but I also think it’ s

kids are excited, the communi-

do a good job over there. His

Andrew (West) is going to

anything different. I think

to win. I don’ t look for

give yourself a chance

good football, you’ ll

the coach, if you play

football. Regardless of

and they play good

built a good program

(Jones). David (Jones)

he’ s been with David

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

45

BY RANDY WHITE

get to him when he’ s young. Hopeful-

REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

ly in the future when they get to us, we can be like some of the more suc-

Ben Runyon stepped in and took over the East Ridge football coaching duties mid-way through last season.

Runyon helped lead the Warriors to their only two wins of the season.

He’ s looking to start laying the building blocks of a winning program this season. “ I know I’ ve said this over and over, but for us, it’ s just about being better football players,” Runyon said. “ We are trying to keep it as simple and fundamental as we can get. We’ re trying to get better every single day.

We’ re trying to implement our system.

We’ re going to try and do a few different things this year than we have in the past. When it comes down to it, you got to be a good solid football team and do things the right way and that’ s what we want to do. ” East Ridge is a young team.

The Warriors only have six seniors on the roster.

But to build the program, he will start looking at getting kids used to his system well before the high school level. “ We’ re trying to put down a

cessful programs around here instead of always starting over. What we a

o do i fi d ha co

i e cy

and build forward and build on the right foundation. ” East Ridge returns Cameron Hess this season.

Hess is a standout tight end/ linebacker.

The

Warriors

also return CJ Branham after suffering a broken ankle last season.

Branham played all

o er he field U p front, East Ridge will re r

e e

ofiell a d rey

Blackburn as well. “ We don’ t have a big senior class,” Runyon said. “ I’ m going to say right now, we only have fi e or i

e ior

co

le o kid

that we’ re really counting on are Cameron Hess and CJ Branham.

Besides those two we’ re really co

i

o

e e

ofiell a d rey

Blackburn because those guys have been through the wars in the trenches. We’ re really counting on those

solid foundation,” Runyon said. “ Not

guys to step up and be leaders for us

just with the high school either, we’ re

and help our younger kids. We don’ t

trying to look in the lower levels and

want them to just be role models on

get a system in place. A basic system

he field

e leader

he her i

that our kids can learn and and mas-

helping with the playbook and leaders

ter. When they get to us, instead of

in the school too. ”

them having to start over and break

After the re-alignment, the War-

things down on an elementary level,

riors will play in Class 2A Region 4

we’ ll be able to build upon our system

District 8. District 8 will be a six team

and expand it instead of focusing on

district with only four teams earning

and reverting back to teaching them

playoff spots.

a new system.

The

Warriors

will

compete

“ Sometimes football in our feed-

against Shelby Valley, Prestonsburg,

er schools, especially the two that

Martin County, Bath County and West

didn’ t have football, you’ ve really got

Carter in district play.

to harness that interest and try to en-

East Ridge will kickoff the sea-

courage these kids and get them out

son Friday, August 30 in the opening

here having fun. Y ou got to build the

game of the 35th Annual Community

football player from the ground up and

Trust/ WY MT Pike County Bowl.

46

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

47

48

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

a li

a ey

o o

ha dler

ockhar

all ood

yla

a ce

aylor

ere y

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e drick

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Bra do

Belcher

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Black

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rey

Hess

Branham

Cameron

CJ

Name

3

3

2

3

1

3

3

45

8

No.

B

B

B

B B

B

B B

B

B

B B

TE/ DE

RB/ LB

P os .

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

12

12

12

12

12

12

Grade or

ie

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al o

hri

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ack

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ere y

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hri ia

John

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12

1

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9

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23

44

B

B

B

B

B

B B

B

B

B

RB/ LB

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2019 East Ridge Warriors

12

11

12

1

9

9

1

1

1

1

1

1

11

11

11

e e e e c c c c o

e e e e c c c c o

a Bel ry a ay ho e ho e a ay ho e a ay ho e a ay ho e a ay

hel Be y ay e i e ille r dy re o r ar i o y Ba h o y hel y alley e ar er o e ral

a Bel ry ho e a ay ho e a ay ho e a ay a ay ho e a ay

32 3 2 1 32 1 1 1

1 3 1 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2019 East Ridge Schedule 19 19 13 19 2 19 2 19 19 11 19 1 19 2 19 1 19

3

hel a ofi o y e ki heldo lark e lie o y Be y ay e i alley re o r hel y alley o e ral o er e

2018 East Ridge Schedule 2 1 31 1 1 1 1 21 1 2 1 1 12 1 19 1 2 1 2 1

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

49

BY J

Francis.

OSHU A

BLANK

Francis was the q uarterback during the

ENSHIP

seven-on-seven offseason clinics.

SPORTS WRITER

Phelps

er when you can run the rock the way he is

ended

last season with a 5-5 record,

while

ance in the KHSAA A

playoffs

where the Hornets’ season came to an

ackfield “ One of the No. 1 things these guys have to learn is how to overcome adversity and me switching some things up and putting some guys in some different spots has really shown that these guys can overcome adversity. I was bringing Dom (Francis) from running back to q uarterback, but Riley Dot-

end via Lynn Camp.

However

capable of it’ s hard to not have him in the

also

making an appear-

Class

one

thing stood out to new head coach Andrew West,

son has shown that he is going to step up and run the offense and I think we have found a q uarterback in him. “ Dom Francis is just a dog. There really

the work the Hornets put in

isn’ t anything he won’ t do to make the team

during the offseason. “ When two bodies collide

better and there isn’ t anything he won’ t do for

al

that extra yard. It’ s just his mentality. Even

ways wins, always,” West said.

not playing q uarterback, Dom (Francis) has

o

he field he

West

ei h roo

took

preemptive

measures to make sure his players

a handle on the offense and wants to be a leader in every aspect of the word. ” The Hornets have retooled and a young

got a next level type of training in a

the weight room.

ra ci i

he ackfield i

yrell

“ We started in January with the new weight training

q uickly put defenders in his rearview, but isn’ t

program,” West said. “ It was

shy when it comes to running between the tackles or being a threat through the air.

program that just seemed to

Throughout the season, Phelps will face

have the guys more engaged in

opponents that will help them set new benchmarks and goals for the rest of the regular

their strength and conditioning. ” The young coach even hired a strength

season and post season.

and conditioning coach that had the same vi-

“ Shelby Valley, Pikeville and Hazard are

sion as him when it came to the regimen for

really going to show us where we are truly

the team to follow.

at,” West said. “ Pikeville is always tops when

“ He implemented what I was wanting

it comes to single A. Hazard is hard-nosed

and he kind of threw in his own ideas,” West

and then on top of that they are loaded with

said.

good coaches. Then Shelby Valley is going to The

Hornets

also

have

recently

had spring ball and participated in a sev-

be big, talented, well coached and they are he o r h or fi h a e i

he ea o

o

e

en-on-seven clinic at the U niversity of Pikev-

will see them before Pikeville or Hazard so we

ille

will really get to see where we are as far as

ere hey o o fi e

e o e kill o i

tion slots that the team has had to retool over the offseason. “ All together with the weight training, spring ball and seven-on-sevens, it has made us grow together as a team and as a staff,” West said.

Phelps is returning a lot of talent going

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

oi i

Hollis. Hollis is a talent that has the speed to

a more intense college-based

50

Howev-

skill. ” The Hornets are in great position to improve from last season and by all accounts believe they can.

Phelps is scheduled to open the season Friday, August 30 at Belfry against East id e a

3

i

he fir

a e o

he

into the 2019 season, but one of the most

35th Annual Community Trust Bank/ WY MT

anticipated players to watch is Domineck

Pike County Bowl.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

51

52

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

Dotson

Mayhorn

Francis

Land

Seth

Dominick

Christian

Caleb

Riley

Collie

Dotson

Corey

Scott

Johnson

Cameron

Joey

Gross

Tyler

Sanson

Asbury

Justin

Cameron

Taylor

Randy

Sammy

Conway

Cody

4

11

25

2

50

88

6

3

12

64

13

1

51

65

15

Smith

Johnson

Daniel

No.

WR/ DB

RB/ DB

WR/ LB

Q B/ DB

OL/ DL

FB/ DL

RB/ LB

WR/ DB

WR/ DB

OL/ DL

FB/ LB

WR/ DB

OL/ LB

OL/ DL

FB/ LB

P os .

11

11

11

11

11

11

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

Grade Hollis Morrison Ratliff Land Dotson Morrison

Tyrell Kendall Kenseth Cainan Landon Konnor

18 8

Mounts

Hayden

Cameron McCarter

24

34

Fields

5

54

Daughtery

Layne

Bryson Blake

Blankenship

Tristian

9

7

53

60

10

66

55

20

52

56

Lucas

Locklear

Bryson

Lee

Layne

Dalton

Ricò

Sanders

Domanic

WR/ DB

WR/ DB

WR/ DB

FB/ LB

RB/ DB

OL/ LB

WR/ DB

Q B/ DB

OL/ DL

OL/ DL

WR/ DB

OL/ DL

OL/ DL

RB/ LB

OL/ DL

OL/ DL

2019 Phelps Hornets

Name

11

9

9

9

9

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

11

11

11

Aug 30, 19 Sep 6, 19 Sep 13, 19 Sep 20, 19 Sep 27, 19 Oct 5, 19 Oct 11, 19 Oct 18, 19 Oct 25, 19 Nov 1, 19

Aug 24, 18 Aug 31, 18 Sep 7, 18 Sep 14, 18 Sep 28, 18 Oct 4, 18 Oct 12, 18 Oct 19, 18 Oct 26, 18 Nov 2, 18

at Belfry home away away home home home away away away

East Ridge Harlan Martin County Shelby Valley Betsy Layne Eminence Pikeville Jenkins Hazard Tolsia, WV

at Belfry-Pikeville away away away home home away home away home

2019 Phelps Schedule

East Ridge Sheldon Clark Jackson County Tug Valley, WV Fairview Hazard Pikeville Jenkins Frankfort Lynn Camp

2018 Phelps Schedule

7:00 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 3:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30

PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM

(W)44-0 (W)26-0 (W)34-30 (L)24-30 (W)52-0 (L)6-35 (L)0-47 (W)50-8 (L)12-36 (L)20-43

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

53

54

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

It will be a battle of contrasting styles.

Lexington Christian Academy will try to use it’ s agility and q uickness, while Belfry will try to be physical and control the line of scrimmage. “ Everybody knows what Belfry is going to do,” Lexington Christian coach Doug Charles said. “ That’ s when you know what you teach is engrained into the kids and the program. When you can say we’ re going to do this and take your dudes and go out and do it and the other team can’ t stop you, that’ s Belfry football. We know we’ re in for a challenge and they’ re going to be physical and have size. We’ re playing with house money. We are going to be the best we can be for the game, but we know we have a huge task at hand. We want challenges and this is one of the toughest around. ” “ They’ re very talented,” Belfry coach Philip Haywood said. “ I know they’ re a Class 2A school, but they have a lot of talent there. They always ha e eed a d ick e e ee he o fil but we’ ve never played them. It’ s going to be a great challenge for us and we’ re looking forward to it. I think they’ ll present some problems for us that we need to see early in the year. ” Lexington Christian played Pikeville in the last two Pike County Bowls. The Eagles beat Pikeville 49-21 in 2017, but fell to the Panthers 50-7 last season. “ We know that there is going to be a huge crowd for the game,” Charles said. “ Pond Creek Nation comes out and supports their guys like no other team in the state.

What a great program. The state’ s all-time winningest coach, the 2017 National Coach of the Y ear, we’ re going to be in for a challenge. But he’ s such a q uality human being. I always

REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

BY RANDY WHITE

look forward to speaking to him. There are a million reasons why we’ re excited to play Belfry in the Pike County Bowl. ” Belfry usually opens its season in the Pike County Bowl, but will have a game at Pulaski County the week prior this year.

The Pirates will be ready for the big atmosphere early in the season. “ I think the Pike County Bowl, I don’ t go to the Pikeville one, but I think the one at Belfry is getting bigger each year,” Haywood said. “ Our crowd here at Belfry has been amazing the last couple of years. We expect the same thing again this year. People are kind of getting a hankering for football season to get started and this is a way for them to do that. Plus you get four teams playing here, so that brings in some extra crowds as well. It’ s a great opportunity for us to host it and to play in it. ” Charles is familiar with Belfry and its success over the years. “ I’ m a graduate of Pikeville, so I have deep roots when it comes to mountain football,” Charles said. “ I go way back and was a graduate in 78’ and played against coach Haywood when he coached Prestonsburg. How he’ s been able to run such a q uality program for such a long time is unbelievable. I mean his record speaks for itself. He’ s the all-time winningest coach in the state and we get to play them at their place in the Pike County Bowl in a playoff-type atmosphere. ” Belfry and Lexington Christian will sq uare off Friday, August 24 at 8:30 p. m. at Belfry’ s C. A. M. Stadium in the 35th Annual Community Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bowl.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

55

BY RANDY WHITE REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR Lexington Christian Academy will undergo a bit of a new look this season.

The Eagles have a new coach in charge.

Pikeville native Doug Charles takes over for Ethan Atchley this season. “ This is my eighth year here at Lexington Christian,” ill

e

y fir

Charles said. “ This year a

head coach

though. I guess you can say it’ ll be my fir

year i

he i

ea

he i

e

difference that I’ m seeing in the new role is just the preparation from dayto-day. I’ ve been here for a while, so I been here during the building process and we’ ll still use some of the same X’ s and O’ s and terminology because I’ ve coached all these guys for years. There isn’ t any major changes to what we’ re going to do, but we will make a few

56

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

changes here and there. I’ ve got most of the staff back and we all know each other well. So the transition has probably went as smooth as possible. ” Last season, Lexington Christian fi i hed i h a 9 record he a le had a young sq uad and had to replace a lot of starters from the 2017 season.

The Eagles are still young, but the guys got a lot of experience last year. “ It really did kind of help us going into this season because we had to play a lot of young guys last year,” Charles said. “ We played a lot of freshmen and sophomores. But now we’ ll have a good mix of experience along with some juniors and seniors. ” Lexington Christian is known for its explosive offense. “ We return a o 9 percent of our o f-

e e harle aid e fi i hed i h a 9 record a d ere o r oi a ay ro reachi he a e e ifi al The Eagles will have most of its starters back on the defensive side of the ball as well. “ We return the bulk of our defense too,” Charles said. “ We just have to develop some depth now. We have a former nine-year NFL veteran on coaching defense and that helps too. We are going to run a 30 base defense and we’ ll move around and use our speed and q uickness. ” The Eagles are looking to be in the mix for a Class 2A state championship by the end of the season.

Lexington Christian will open the season Friday, August 23 at home against Louisville Moore. The Eagles will follow that with a visit to Belfry Friday, August 30 at 8:30 p. m. in the 35th Annual Community Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bowl.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

57

58

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

NICHOLS

WATTS

WILL

BRAY DEN

THOMPSON

EVAN

WHITE

BROWN

XAVIER

THOMAS

BROWN

HU FF

ANDREW

EVAN

MOORE

TEJERINA

JOSH

BARNHARDT

HAMMOND

ELIJAH

MASON

NIEVES

DREW

JAY DEN

BRU CE DRAKE

JOHNNY

MORRIS

TY LER

VERNON

SMITH

DEARIU S

LALONDE

SELBY

JEFFERY

HAY NES

NIEVES

EVAN

WILL

KNIGHT

FRANKIE

Name

28

24

23

22

20

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

8

8

6

4

3

2

No.

10

9

11

10

10

9

12

10

12

9

10

10

9

10

11

10

12

10

10

10

Grade

AARON

NATHAN

CARTER

DREW

TRENTON

WILES

SPENCER

DORIAN

BRADLEY

LU KE

KY LE

TREY

ANTHONY

DREW

GRANT

GABE

NEAL

BEN

ANDREW

MATTIE

DU STIN

BOLLING

BOGGS

GILLISPIE

CASTLE

HALE

JOHNSON

PRU DEN

RIDDICK

Q U ENEMOEN

HALL

LIVENGOOD

HOOD

JOHNS

LONG

VAU GHT

BRY NE

DICKEY

ROY SE

DOBBS

LEBRY K

WHEATLEY

84

75

72

69

66

65

64

63

62

61

60

59

58

56

54

52

51

50

44

41

33

12

11

9

9

9

10

10

10

10

10

9

12

10

12

10

11

11

10

10

11

12

2019 Lexington Christian Eagles

Waggener Pikeville Vincennes Lincoln, IN Lexington Catholic Walton-Verona Kentucky Country Day Middlesboro Somerset Danville Estill County Prestonsburg Shelby Valley Somerset

home away home away away home home away away away home away away

(W)34-20 (L)7-50 (W)43-38 (L)13-54 (W)38-21 (W)35-7 (W)49-8 (L)0-35 (W)14-13 (W)44-14 (W)46-14 (W)43-0 (L)31-35

Nov 1, 19

Oct 18, 19

Oct 11, 19

Sep 27, 19

Sep 20, 19

Sep 13, 19

Aug 30, 19

Aug 23, 19

Paintsville

Somerset

Washington County

Williamsburg

Lexington Catholic

Madison Central

Belfry

Moore

away

home

away

home

home

at Madison Southern

at Belfry

home

7:30 PM

7:30 PM

7:30 PM

7:30 PM

7:30 PM

5:30 PM

8:30 PM

7:30 PM

2019 Lexington Christian Schedule

Aug 18, 18 Aug 25, 18 Sep 1, 18 Sep 7, 18 Sep 14, 18 Sep 21, 18 Sep 28, 18 Oct 12, 18 Oct 19, 18 Oct 26, 18 Nov 2, 18 Nov 9, 18 Nov 16, 18

2018 Lexington Christian Schedule

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59

BY RANDY WHITE REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

Belfry football.

That’ s all you need to read to know what to expect from the Pirates.

Belfry football is physical and hard hitting and the Pirates will look to improve each day and then try and make a run for the Class 3A state title once again. “ We’ re excited about the future of this team,” Belfry coach Philip Haywood said. “ We feel like we’ ve got some pretty good senior leadership coming along. We’ ve got a lot of young players, so the one of the big keys for us is going to be developing our youthful offensive line and some tight ends because that’ s where we graduated a lot.

We got a new q uarterback coming in and we’ ve also got to develop our defense too. Our other big concern is going to be our depth. We’ ve got these guys ready to step up and play, but we’ ve got to get somebody behind them, especially in our skill positions. We’ re excited about the season and we think we’ ve got some talented kids and we’ ll do fi e e ha e o de elo a d ro re like e al ay do a d e a li le e er each day Even though the Pirates have to develop some new lineman, expect the offensive line to o e o e hole or a ale ed ackfield o r through. “ We got some pretty good skill kids,” Haywood said. “ We’ ve got Ben Bentley and Isaac Dixon at running back. Peyton Hensley was out most o he year la year i h a al i ry ha we think is well now and he’ s back at fullback. At q uarterback, Brett Coleman is probably the front runner right now, but we got two or three other guys in there working right now. Of course, Brett (Coleman) will be new to the position. That’ s our ackfield e e o o e re y ood kill and some guys who can run the football. We’ ve got a young line that I think is going to get better e ery i e hey alk o o he field o i a matter of being patient and and doing what we do. That’ s getting better each day and I think we’ ll be OK. ” The defense returns all of the secondary and a couple of talented linebackers. The defensive line will see some new faces, but look for the Big Angry Red Defense to be solid once again. “ Defensively most of our secondary is back,” Haywood said. “ That’ s a plus and I don’ t have the exact numbers whether it’ s three guys or all four back, but that helps. We’ ve got some defensive lineman that we’ re counting on to be better this year than they were last year.

Hopefully, Seth Mounts is a big key for our de e e e a i red o o he year la year and even his ninth-grade year, but when he played, he made a difference in our defense.

So at linebacker that’ s going to be a big key.

Last year, we had two seniors out there when he wasn’ t out there, so that will make a big difference if we can keep him out there. He’ s been working hard and I think he’ s going to be in good shape this year. ” The Pirates only have nine games currently on their schedule. Belfry is still looking for the 10th game this season. “ We start off a with before the Pike County Bowl this year and we’ re not used to doing that,” Haywood said. “ We had trouble getting games this year and that one will be on the road against a good Pulaski County team. Then we come back to the bowl game and then we may have an open date after that. Then we come

60

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

back with a game against a large school in Ohio.

We’ re still working on getting that 10th game beca e e ha e o i ye he ched le i the schedule. We play some good teams early and hopefully, it’ ll make us better. We play some eo le a d fi d o ho ca lay a d ha e need to work on. I feel like with this team, every team has a personality and every team has some re h yo i h ay e e o o fi d ha our kids do best this year. We know what we done la year a d fi e year a o e e o ofi d out what we’ ll be able to do this year and what it is that they do best. It’ s going to take us a little while to get all of that together.

I think somewhere a r o u n d mid-season in October, we’ ll start fi ri i out and start playing pretty good. ” Belfry will open the season on the road August 23 at Pulaski County at 7:30 p. m.

The Pirates will follow that up by hosting Lexington Christian Academy Friday, August 30 at 8:30 p. m. in the 35th Annual Pike County Bowl.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

61

62

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

Name yler ey o aac eh aiah a iel eal Be Bre Bre de Brayde li ah aac Blake Brad Brayde rael a ero dy oah ade aco ida erek

11 12 11 11 12 12 9 12 11 1 1 11 12 9 11 9 1 1 9 9 1 12 11 1

oe e i Be hri hri oh ideo ichael ray o a e a er a y arc a o a ha re o o o a o h ri a ake a y Bra o yler o e arre

hafi de dki arre hilli h r re o rry ook iller rco i hilder i ley a ldi e illo Belcher Bai de o o ar ey ih a field ield e ley ih 1

1 2 3

2 2 2 29 3 31 32 33 3 3 3 3 3 39

B B B

B

B B

B B

B

B B

12 9 1 11 9 12 1 9 12 1 9 9 11 1 12 9 11 1 11 9 9 9 9 9 11 ar i

ley

a ero

e

o e cer

r ley

o er yla

hacker

ick iley

ochra Bailey

ea

2

2

9

3

2

hacker Blair

1

e

Bra do

i

a ha iel

o e

Brodi

1

ole Bailey

ale o er

1

ear a field

al o

9

11

12

9

9

9

12

1

11

12

1

11

9

11

Brayde

3

2

acey hri ia

1

11

11

12

12

1

11

11

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1

9

3

2

ack

e

ih

ida

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ale

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all

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ichael

2019 Belfry Pirates

No.P os .Grade ha fi 1 B e ley 2 B i o 3 B o B Birchfield li er o ley B Be ley 9 B ole a 1 B a h 11 B a h 12 B ield 13 ear 1 rley 1 B o e 1 o o 1 a er ry 1 B ar ey 19 Black ell 2 B Bro 21 B ice 22 Bai de 23 aylor 2 B e co 2 B

e e e c c c o

e e e e c c c c o o o

23 19 3 19 13 19 2 19 2 19 19 1 19 2 19 1 19

2 1 31 1 1 1 1 21 1 2 1 1 12 1 19 1 2 1 2 1 9 1 1 1

ho e ho e ho e a ay a ay ho e ho e a ay ho e a ay ho e ho e ho e

o h e er e i o hri ia rch i ho l er ike ille a ofi o y loyd e ral a re ce o y ike e ral oh o e ral

a

la ki o a Bel ry a ay ho e ho e a ay ho e a ay ho e

y

2019 Belfry Schedule

i o Brya a io e or e ral a holic ike ille heldo lark loyd e ral a ell idla d a re ce o y ike e ral oh o e ral arrard o y e i o a holic Boyle o y

2018 Belfry Schedule

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2

21 3 2

1 1

3 2 2

91 21 2 12 3 21

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

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64

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019 Shelby Valley and Pike Central stole the show in the 34th Annual Community Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bowl.

The two teams have developed a friendly rivalry in the Pike County Bowl. hi ill e he fi h straight matchup in the Pike County Bowl for the two teams.

Shelby Valley picked up a 43-35 double overtime win over the Hawks last year. “ These kids look forward to it,” Shelby Valley coach Anthony Hampton said. “ They look forward to the crowd and they look forward to the game. U s and Pike Central have been playing so much that we’ re very familiar with each other, I’ ll put it that way. They look forward to it. They are 10 minutes down the road and most of these kids are friends and know each other and hangout. I guess it’ s bragging rights more than anything, but I would say it’ s a friendly rivalry. It’ s not heated and it’ s fun and it’ s a great game to be a play in, to coach and to watch. It’ s just phenomenal.

I know a lot of people have talked about wanting to move it over the years and switch who we play, but this rivalry has developed into something friendly and enjoyable. It’ s not horrible, debated and heated, it’ s just fun. Eric (Ratliff) and I talk about it and we don’ t get caught up in it because we’ re friends and we know kids are going to have fun and play ball. ” “ It’ s a really good game for both of us,” Pike Central coach Eric Ratliff said. “ They’ re really good and always competitive. We try to be competitive as much as we can with them. The last couple of years it’ s been really close. I look for that same type of game this year. It’ ll be a hard hitting game and a one or two type possession type of game. We know those guys and they know us. It’ s a friendly rival-

RANDY WHITE

BY REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

Tr a ditionally, it’ s been a good football game and this year, it will be important for our RPI because they’ re doing those things for the playoffs. I’ m looking forward to it and I know they are.

It helps you get better and measures where you are and where you need to get better early in the season. ” Both teams lost a few starters to graduation.

But the experience and the atmosphere is the biggest thing each coach takes away from the game. “ The Pike County Bowl is phenomenal to me,” Hampton said. “ Early in the season, you just don’ t get crowds like that.

It’ s an atmosphere that these kids had probably never seen before until they got there. The atmosphere and culture of football is amazing to me. As far as the game goes, I feel like Eric (Ratliff) and I can just hangout because we see each other every single year, we’ ve coached together and been friends for a long time. ” “ The Pike County Bowl is a great atmosphere because you’ re looking at playoff type of crowds,” Ratliff said. “ Normally, you open up and games aren’ t going to have those types of crowds or be that intense. It’ s almost like playing a playo a e he fir a e o he year i h he cro d a d y e o competition you have, so we’ re looking forward to it. It’ s just a great measuring stick to see where are and where you got to be and how you can progress throughout the season. ” Shelby Valley and Pike Central will kickoff the second night of the 35th Annual Community Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bowl at 6:00 p. m. Saturday, August 31 at Hillard Howard Field.

ry.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

65

BY RANDY WHITE REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

Everything starts at the line.

Luckily for Shelby Valley, the Wildcats’ entire line is back on both sides of the ball.

The Wildcats lost 2,000 yard rusher Seth Johnson, but return the guys who opened the holes for him to run through. “ What we try to pride ourselves here with is physicality,” Shelby Valley coach Anthony Hampton said. “ Myself and all of the coaches try to base this program on physicality on offense and defense. Our line will have some three- and four-year starters up front. These guys are extremely experienced and know what to expect. We’ re going to rely on them a lot this year and they know it. So far, they’ ve accepted the challenge and have taken pride in it, so it looks really promising up front. ” The guy leading the way on the line on both sides is Peyton Blackburn. “ When you have a guy like Peyton Blackburn, what you get as a coach is that you don’ t always have to worry about teaching kids and telling kids what to do because they’ ll watch each other,” Hampton said. “ Kids see how he goes, they see his techniq ue, his effort and the offseason work he puts in. Football is not a sport where you just show up at practice and are good at it. It’ s a year-round deal and it takes work in the weight room and dedication and conditioning and techniq ue. This kid has really bought in and has worked hard.

He leads by example and it really helps the younger kids and even the older kids at times to see this is the way it needs to be done at all times to play with a high motor and a high level of physicality. ” Even though Shelby Valley lost a 2,000 yard rusher in Johnson, they return Dalton Meade who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards. Meade is a factor on both sides of the ball for the Wildcats.

Last season on offense, Meade rushed for 812 yards and 13 touchdowns.

On defense, he led the Wildcats with 129 total tackles. “ He’ s (Dalton Meade) going to be the leader this year,” Hampton said. “ He is our one returning skill kid. He was a 1,000 yard rusher last year and he’ s on track to break the schools record for all-time tackles. He’ s the guy and we’ re going to rally around him. To be honest, more is expected of him this year. We’ ve changed positions to put more weight on his

66

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

shoulders, but he has responded well and he has taken to it and he wants that role. I think he’ s going to have a great year and he’ s going to surprise a lot of people. ” Besides Meade, the Wildcats offense will have a lot of new faces. “ We’ ve got a lot of young kids,” Hampton said. “ We return a lot of kids up front, but we rerun a skill kid. There are a lot of opportunities for guys. Right now, we are probably going to share the ball around a lot. A lot of kids will touch the ball. I’ m not going to try to rely on a guy this year to carry the ball all of the time. It’ s just not fair. Right now with the line the way it is, it’ s like it’ s our security blanket.

It’ s good for the young kids who are going to step into new positions and new roles to know

that up front they’ ve got some protection. ” Shelby Valley is scheduled to open the season at home August 23 against Letcher Central.

The Wildcats will follow by taking on Pike Central at 6:00 p. m.

Saturday, August 24 in the 35th Annual C o mmunit y Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bowl.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

67

68

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

Blankenship

Tackett

Damron

Braxton

Christian

Wyatt

Lowe

Braydan

Tyler

Little

Keathley

Jordan

Riddle

Dorton

Lucas

Mikey

Lance

McCoy

Mullins

James

Bentley

Hinkle

Isaac

Ethan

Newsome

Jayden

Wright

Meade

Dalton

Wright

Bentley

Davy

Jesse

Ratliff

Jordan

Joseph

1

Swiney

Braydon

52

51

45

44

35

24

21

18

14

12

11

10

8

7

5

4

3

2

No.

11

9

11

12

12

11

9

12

12

10

10

11

11

12

9

12

11

9

10

Grade

Miller

Blevins Anderson Mullins

Chase Jase

Billiter

Lincoln Logan

Cook Edmonds

Carter

Ascencio

Rafael Jesse

Blackburn

Peyton

Y onts

Jordan Reynolds

Johnson

Adam Ben

ha ďŹ Branham

re o Gavin

Hopkins

Layne Johnathan

Bentley Compton

Lovins

Caleb Michael

Belcher

Dakota Evan

Thompson

Trevor

76

57

50

84

81

80

79

77

73

72

70

68

63

62

60

59

55

54

53

10

11

11

10

10

9

9

12

9

9

12

10

1

12

10

11

9

9

9

12

2019 Shelby Valley Wildcats

Name

Jenkins Pike County Central Ridgeview, VA Knott Central Morgan County Betsy Layne Prestonsburg Leslie County East Ridge Boyd County Middlesboro Lexington Christian

away at Pikeville away home away away away away home home home home

(W)47-6 (W)43-35 (L)0-49 (W)50-8 (W)61-21 (W)50-0 (W)49-0 (W)49-38 (W)61-0 (W)45-7 (W)42-0 (L)0-43

Aug 23, 19 Aug 31, 19 Sep 6, 19 Sep 13, 19 Sep 20, 19 Sep 27, 19 Oct 3, 19 Oct 11, 19 Oct 18, 19 Oct 25, 19

Letcher Central Pike County Central Ridgeview, VA Knott Central Phelps West Carter Prestonsburg Martin County East Ridge Bath County

home at Pikeville away away home away home at Sheldon Clark home home

7:30 6:00 7:00 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30

PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM

2019 Shelby Valley Schedule

Aug 17, 18 Aug 25, 18 Aug 31, 18 Sep 7, 18 Sep 14, 18 Sep 21, 18 Oct 4, 18 Oct 12, 18 Oct 19, 18 Oct 26, 18 Nov 2, 18 Nov 9, 18

2018 Shelby Valley Schedule

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

69

BY RANDY WHITE REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

Pike Central is looking to build from last season. he a k fi i hed he 2 1 ea o ih a 3 record a d a k ocked o o he fir round of the Class 3A playoffs by Lexington a holic e re ill early i he ea o o co r e ike e ral coach ric a li aid he hea has been a little tough on us and we’ ve not been able to do some of the things that we needed to do. We’ ve been going early in the morning and it’ s hurt our numbers a bit. I think i icki a li le i hi eek has been better and the weather ha coo era ed ell o e e had a ood eek o rac ice r kid are e h ia ic eca e e e o a lo o kid ack o i o ee a i eachi eriod or a ch a getting better at what we’ ve been doing the la co le o year a ea o he record did re ec i the Hawks kept getting better throughout the ea o hey had lo he a ori y o ar er o o e e a d de e e ro he 2 1 ea o “ We started the season last year by losing a ch o kid ro he year e ore a li aid “ We had to rebuild the whole offensive line and e had a co le o r i ack ack ill had o reak i a e ar er ack al o he year ro re ed e o e er a ood ea should. I think this year we’ re ahead of where we where last year and that’ s really helped us progress in what we’ re trying to do offensively a d de e i ely r kid der a d ha e a a a coachi a a d ha i i c i do ha lear i c r e a lo a ea o yler ook o er ar er acki d ie or he a k ir hi yler ri i e eri e ce a li aid e a a really ood d al hrea ar er ack a d y he e d o he year hi k he hre aro d 1 o chdo a e a d ra or a o yard y i e yo o a kid like ha ack i h ha ki d rod c i i ty it’ s big. He’ s the leader of the offense and ha ee here or hree year o e ca e everyone lined up where they need. He started as a freshman one game when our starting ar er ack e do e re really or ae to have him and his leadership on the offensive side. He has really been how we’ re gauging our o her kid y e really do e a rea o a a leader and I think where we’ re at right now is ahead of where we where at the end of last year a d ha lar ely i ar o hi The Hawks return most of its line on both sides of the ball and that will be a strong point this season. ro e e o e ery ody ack a li aid e e o all fi e y ack e o all o o r o e i e li e e ack a d e o o h o o r i h e d ack o e eel ha a ro point of our offense and maybe the strong point of our team right now is our offensive line. We’ ll lean heavy on them early in the year. We like o r he oo all a d co rol he clock e hi k i h he li e ei ack a d he ro re

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PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

hey e ade e ca ha o r ha o ha e want to do and that is shorten the games and possessions. The offensive line has really done a ood o a d hey re e i he e o or he re o he ea a e o er had a h e ea o a li e acker la ea o o er re r a ell a odri e a he li e acker o “ We’ ve got both of our inside li e acker ack a li aid “ We’ ve got our defensive ro ack e e o o ild o r ec ond-

ary a little bit. We’ re ryi o fi d o e lay er ack here a d ild o e de h i he eco dary U p front is probably one of our strong points. Those guys are ofe i e li e e hey lay de e e a ell a e o er had a really good year. We’ re looking for i year o o odri e a d some other people that we think ca lay i h o e re earchi or o e eco dary eo le ro hi k e ll e alri h a d o r li e acker ill e re y ood al o i h re ali e he di ric ill look a li le di ferent this season and in the fir o ro d o he lay o yo ill lay di ric opponents. r di ric i ro ably as good as any 3A di ric i he a e a liff said. “ Y ou’ ve got a perennial powerhouse in Belfry. They’ re the top team every year. a re ce o y year in-and-year-out is traditionally really good. Floyd Central has had really ood cce der coach Shawn Hager. They’ re going to be really good. The fourth team that they brought i a a ofi o y heldo lark le a ofi o y ha had o e cce he di ric ca e really co e i i e hi k o lay i hi yo r di ric i ha fir ro d a d eco d ro d o he layo o ha added a li le bit of intrigue to the season with how you’ re oi o lay ho e a e ike e ral ill kicko he ea o 23 a ho e a ai re o r he Hawks will follow by taking on Shelby Valley o he eco d i h o he 3 h al o munity Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bowl o 2 a

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

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PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

Name No. Tyler Hunt 1 Isaac Hunt 2 Matt Goff 3 Jacob Y oung 4 RJ Talbot 5 Noah Iricks 6 Jonah Jett 7 Andrew Hopkins 8 Brayden Jarvis 10 Cameron Maynard 11 Keaton Scott 12 Xavier Rogers 13 Oscar Little 14 Peyton Edmonds 17 Curt Anderson 18 Andrew Wood 20 Alex Perez 21 Ethan Justice 22 Aaron Slone 23 Teddy James 24 Eric Perez 25 Brady Adkins 26 Glen McCombs 27 Nick Roberts 29 Isaac Blankenship 30 Matt Anderson 32

P os .

Q B RB RB RB R RB RB R R R R R R RB R RB R R R RB RB RB R R RB RB

Grade 12 12 12 12 11 10 9 9 9 12 10 11 11 12 11 10 12 11 11 10 10 11 10 10 9 9 Jakobe Jacob Kyle Kyle Cameron Keegan Adrian Brayden Robert Tanner Shawn Dalton Zack Rogan Cameron Ethan Brayden Dakota Shawn Nate Conner Michael Joey Chris Mason Tyler Cory

Justice Frantom Standifur Hall Kimbles Hall Anthony Huffman Gibson Hunt Nevitt Coleman Brooks Sanders McCombs Johnson Kendrick McKinney May Roberts Gilliam Coleman Adkins Hall Clevinger Y oung Turnmire

33 34 40 42 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 65 67 69 70 71 72 75 76 78 81

RB R R RB OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL

2019 Pike Central Hawks 11 12 10 10 11 12 11 11 11 12 10 10 10 12 12 9 10 12 10 12 9 11 11 10 10 10 9

at Pikeville away home away home away away home away home away

(L)35-43 (L)0-36 (W)45-6 (L)0-50 (W)49-32 (L)35-42 (L)7-38 (W)44-0 (L)6-47 (L)14-47 (L)18-58

Aug 23, 19 Aug 31, 19 Sep 13, 19 Sep 20, 19 Sep 27, 19 Oct 4, 19 Oct 11, 19 c 1 19 Oct 25, 19 Nov 1, 19

Prestonsburg Shelby Valley Perry Central Letcher Central Floyd Central Tug Valley, WV Lawrence County a oďŹ o y Belfry Breathitt County

home at Pikeville home home away away home a ay home away

7:30 6:00 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 3 7:30 7:30

PM PM

PM PM PM PM PM PM PM

2018 PIke Central Schedule

Shelby Valley Bell County Hurley, VA Letcher Central Floyd Central Perry Central Lawrence County Sheldon Clark Belfry Ridgeview, VA Lexington Catholic

2018 Pike Central Schedule Aug 25, 18 Aug 31, 18 Sep 7, 18 Sep 14, 18 Sep 21, 18 Sep 28, 18 Oct 5, 18 Oct 12, 18 Oct 19, 18 Oct 26, 18 Nov 2, 18

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

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PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019 e ready or he fi al a ike o ike ille aea d he

o e fire ork e o he 3 h al o iy r Ba k y Bo l ill ea re o e lo i e o e e ay ha e he e ide recei i cor i he i o e ral ha ar a ly he o recei er i o ai ae ike ille o ho ore ar er ack aac c a ee ill e hro i o ar ard co i ack o e ley hi hly o ed e h h ach ockhar a d lay i ley i o e ral ar er ack ayli oad ill e hro i o re a field Bo h o e e oi here i a lo o e ci e e aro d hi a e ike ille coach hri c a ee aid do k o i hi i ri h or o heard i heir fir e er o o a e a e k o hey re a airly e chool co i o er here a d ei clo e a d ei i he o l a e i al ay a i deal or hi k i a i deal or he ei i i hi year oach a o doe a ood o o er here here i a lo o e ci e e o er here e ec here o e a i cro d here ha a rday i h e ay ha fir a e a ai ike ille i o e hi ha ake o r y co e i a d ork e e harder eca e hey k o i i ike ille o i or lo e e e efi ro layi a ea like he i o e ral o e i e co ordi a or oey ield aid he ike ille a ei a i a e

REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

BY RANDY WHITE

e ca hy a ay ro ha hi ill e he fir e er ee i e ee he o chool e ere a le o lay he la year i o e e o a idea o ha hey like o do y eei he yo er y c a ee aid k o hey e ee orki hard o er here a ell hro h ocial edia k o ha hey e o a co do clock ayi i e o ea ike ille a d all o ha e ca look or ard o ha a e ye eca e e o he Bard o a e fir here i a lo o ha a e or o r area a d o r re io hey are a ery ood oo all ea a ea ha a o clo e o i i a a e cha io hi la ea o a d hey ha e a lo o y ack ield aid hey are ri i a lo o y ack ha eo le do k o a o i e are a ery yo oo all ea a er hi year all e lo e i a ard a d a lo recei er a d e re r e eryo e el e ih ei he yo ea e are oi o e a ood early o i he ea o a e ill e a he e d a lea ha ha e ho e i o e ral ill ake i fir e er a eara ce i he ike o y Bo l a d i ea a lo o he i er ike ille a d i o e ral ill are o i he 3 h al o iy r Ba k ike o y Bo l a 3 a rday 31 a illard o ard ield

a d

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

75

BY J

OSHU A

BLANK

ENSHIP

SPORTS WRITER Ever since the berth of the program in 2011, Mingo Central has strived to be conventionally unconventional. From the way the Miners walk out on game day, their uniforms, the way practices are ran and even team building.

All of this is a mantra that appeals to the modern athlete.

The Miners have been consistently dominant since day one. Last season was more of he a e or i er a a he ea fi i hed the regular season 8-3 as well as having substantial post-season success.

However a team like this doesn’ t revel in past successes. They put it behind them and continue to build onto the legacy they have already laid the foundation for. This is a process that starts in the weight room. “ We have had great numbers in the weight room, maybe the best we’ ve had here in the July period, working out three to four days a week and having 30 plus guys consistently,” said Mingo Central offensive coordinator Joey Fields.

One thing that does hinder most West Virginia schools is only having a three-week window before the season starts to get in as much q uality work that they can. Which is exactly what the Miners did. “ As far as June starting, we had the three week period which is 12 practices where we had 90 percent attendance (50 plus guys),” Fields said.

The Mingo Central coaching staff takes fun to an whole new level with the lengths they go to just to make sure their guys stay engaged and are constantly growing as a unit. Whether it be events like “ Mingo Mania” where some of the coaches put on a little show for the guys or taking them bowling, hosting a fun day on a a er lide a he field hi e all a e a d so on. “ (The events) were just a way to reward them for working so hard,” Fields said. “ These have been some of the hardest practices I have been a part of here. ” So what better way to keep a team from feeling like the process is becoming monotonous then to play as hard as you work. “ Y ou try to reward these kids, because they could do anything, like go on vacation or anything,” Mingo Central assistant coach Logan Lester said. “ Y ou know how kids are, but to have the participation we do with the 30 plus in the weight room and 90 percent of our team ei here yo o e he ha or he acrifice they make for the team. ” ea illi o acrifice or he e er ment of each other is a q uality that you don’ t see often and it speaks for itself when you see hi ad ake he field o riday i h “ We are worried about us (Mingo Cen-

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PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

tral) and our goal here is to always win a state championship,” Fields said. “ What people don’ t know about us is we are still a young football team. We lose a guard and slot receiver after this year, then return everyone next season. ” With the Miners being the young team they are both coach Fields and coach Lester agree that the team will not look as good early on in the season as apposed to later in the year.

If you’ re a football fan in the mountains you know this doesn’ t mean losses for the Miners.

This is simply the ironing out process before reaching peak playoff form by the end of the season.

The Miners will be sporting a high powered offense led by returning stars Daylin Goad and Drew Hatfield he duo led an offense that was seemingly unstoppable last season putting up a staggering 50 points per game.

The Mingo Central staff has made it clear that the young men who have shown up have bought in to the program more than ever before, so if you’ re a betting fan it’ d be a safe bet that the Miners are looking to put themselves in prime position to compete for a state title.

The Miners fir a e i a ai the Pikeville Panthers on August 31 at 8:30 p. m. at Hillard Howard Field. The Miners and Panthers are scheduled as the last game of the 35th Annual Community Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bowl. This will be i o e ral fir e er ike County Bowl appearance.

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

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PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

Name Norman Hunter Daylin Kaleb Isa Preston ay e Gage J. R. e i Tanner re Jackson Damon a id Jacob Ryan Kyle Jake Garrett Zion Zach Kaeden Donovan Peyton

Kennedy Collins Goad Edwards Scales Dingess a field Chambers Perry a field Lambert a field Pack Voshall a field Cantrell Conley Campbell Nagy Runyon Martin Patrick Bolding Johnson Cisco

8 9 1 11 13 15 16 1 20 22 23 24 25 26 28 30 32 33

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6

P os . Grade WR/ DB 10 WR/ DB 10 Q B/ LB 11 DL/ OL 11 WR/ DB 11 WR/ LB 12 B 1 WR/ LB 10 RB/ LB 9 B 1 WR/ LB 12 B 12 WR/ DB 9 WR/ DB 9 B 9 WR/ LB 10 WR/ DB 9 RB/ LB 9 LB/ RB 11 RB/ LB 10 RB/ LB 9 RB/ DL 11 RB/ DB 9 RB/ DB 9 WR/ LB 9 Chris Asbury Chris Toops a er i co Westan Christian Jacoby Thornsbury Kean Maynard Chase Smith Jacob Lester Scott Collins a o a field Ryan DeBoard Dustin Ferguson Josh Lester ho oe Eli Jones Cody Dotson Branson Nagy Zach Dillon Dalton Jackson J. D. Brewer arri o ardo yla la cock a all e rey li e e i a i o h Bla ke hi OL/ DL OL/ Dl OL/ DL OL/ DL OL/ DL OL/ DL

59 60 64 65 66 68 1 3

OL/ LB OL/ DL Ol/ LB

34 35 3 42 44 45 50 51 52 3 54 55 56

RB/ LB RB/ LB B B RB/ LB DL RB/ LB OL/ DL OL/ DL OL/ DL

2019 Mingo Central Miners 10 12 12 12 10 9 11 12 11 11 12 11 11 9 11 12 12 11 9 12 12 1 1 11 12 9 1

away

ho e

ho e

away

home

away

a ay

away

ho e

away

home

(L)42-35

(L)65-36

9

(W)50-21

(W)56-6

(W)65-26

2

(W)39-36

(W)29-24

Aug 31, 19 e 19 e 13 19 e 2 19 e 2 19 c 11 19 c 1 19 c 2 19 o 1 19 o 19

Pikeville ay e o a i o ille oca i ro co oo er ha a ille e io al i field

at Pikeville ho e ho e ho e ho e ho e a ay ho e ho e a ay

3

3

3

8:30 PM

2019 Mingo Central Schedule

i field Point Pleasant

o 2 1

ille e io al Nov 11, 18

a

Hoover, WV ha

Oct 19, 18 1

Scott

Oct 12, 18 c 2

Nitro, WV

oca

Sissonville, WV

o a

Wayne, WV

Points Pleasant

Oct 5, 18

e 21 1

Sep 14, 18

e

Aug 31, 18

Aug 24, 18

2018 Mingo Central Schedule

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

79

BY RANDY WHITE REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

Pikeville was so close to winning the Class A state championship last season.

The Panthers ultimately fell to Beechwood 21-20 to come up just short.

Pikeville was driving for the win, but an interception i he fi al o ments ended the Panthers’ bid to win a state title. “ I think everybody is excited to get star ted,” Pikevi l l e

coach McNamee said. “ W e ’ v e been hard at it and worked out a lot in June and were able to get back out and put our helmets on last week. We’ ll get our shoulder pads on later this week. There is a lot of excitement surrounding this year because the guys have worked hard in the offseason. We’ re expecting a lot out of them this year. ” ike ille ill ha e o fill some big roles. For one, q uarterback Connor Roberts graduated.

That opens the door for talented sophomore q uarterback Isaac McNamee. “ Looking at q uarterback, replacing Connor Roberts is going to be tough to do,” McNamee said. “ Isaac (McNamee) has worked hard in the offseason, so hopefully he’ s going to step up and help us out there. Obviously we’ ve got several of our receivers back, but we lost Christian Billiter which is a huge loss as well. Y ou also lose guys like Bradyn Hunter and Brandon Pruitt and those guys up front, but we’ ve got Cade Slater, Matt Compton and Jackson Mullins back. We’ re still looking or a e y o e i a d fill ha offensive line. ” Isaac McNamee got some time playing varsity last season and had a full season at the junior varsity level.

He’ s also worked with a talented receiving corps this summer.

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PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

“ That was big,” McNamee said. “ We had some games where we were a le o fi hi i a d ork i h he o 1 receivers. That’ s a big deal. Then of course he got to work with the JV team and he got to q uarterback that team all year. He’ s worked with these guys in the offseason and a lot of that is going to help. It’ s going to be a little different and I know that people are expecting a lot out of him as I am too, but stepi i o hi fir ar i y a e i i h take him a little while to get used to it, but I think he’ ll realize what he has to do. He’ s got guys around him who can make some plays and I think he’ ll be OK. ” Pikeville has one of the most talented wide receiving corps anywhere in the state and that will be a positive for this team. “ I feel good about all of our receivers,” McNamee said. “ We return Jackson Hensley and Seth Pugh who were both starters for us last year. We also have Zack Lockhart who played a lot last year and had a great JV year and he’ s really stepped up. He’ s worked himself into a starting role as of right now. Peyton Boyd-Blair has come back out and he’ s worked really hard to get himself in great shape. Clay Tinsley is a new addition as well, so we got some guys who we can get the ball to.

There’ s a few more too who we can get it to. We feel like we have some young guys who can step in and help us. ” The Panthers return three starters on the offensive and defensive line.

Also on offense, Cody Raines is set to take the reigns at running back.

Pikeville’ s defensive is explosive just like it’ s offense. The Panthers are athletic and force turnovers with their speed and agility. “ Defensively, we’ ve got most of our guys back. Jon Collum, Conor ri h Brody Birchfield ack o (Hensley) and Seth (Pugh) all of those guys are coming back with another year of experience, so we’ re expecting big things from them. ” The Panthers’ linebacking corps is as talented as anybody around. “ I mentioned those guys coming back like Jon Collum, Connor Wright a d Brody Birchfield all o ho e y started for us last year at linebacker,” McNamee said. “ They’ re all going to be seniors. Kyle Watkins is a big loss for us because he was able to cover and step up and help with the run. Cody Raines is stepping up and we’ re looking at Carson Wright a little bit. Nate Collins is going to step up and help us out some this year. We’ ve got a lot of guys we can call on and when they get in, we expect them to make some plays. ” Pikeville will open the season Saturday, August 24 at home at 6:00 p. m. against Bardstown. The Panthers will follow that by hosting Mingo Central in he fi al a e o he 3 h al o munity Trust Bank/ WY MT Pike County Bo l a 3 a rday 31

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

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PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

Name Jackson Seth Clay Cody Tanner Ethan Zach Isaac Wade Zac Peyton Blake Brody Logan Steven Hunter Adam Josh Joshua Jonathon Isaac Brandon Tyler Elijah Jon Grant Carson Connor Kaden Nate Isaiah

Hensley Pugh Tinsley Raines Hamilton Terry Rowe McNamee Hensley Lockhart Boyd-Blair Birchfield Birchfield Reed Banks Jones Blankenship Varney Taylor Banks Coleman Lowe Varney Layne Collum Holland Wright Wright Caudill Collins Coleman

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 28 30 32 33 34 35 40

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 10 9 10 12 9 12 9 9 11 10 9 10 9 10 10 10 11 12 11 9 12 12 11 9 Grant Barrett Caeden Luke Bryce Jackson Devin Cade Ricardo Nick Landon Gaige Noah Jackson Brady Conner Corbin Mason Riley McKenzie Peyton Matthew Luke Jeb Noud Xavier Kendel Andrew Blake Devin Brayden

Scott Caudill Bartley Ray Dempsey Wilderson DeRossett Slater Perez Thacker Hammock Conn Honaker Mullins Clark Hall Robinson Sayers Thompson Hamilton Sayers Compton Onkst Wilkerson Campbell Cantrell Wright Thacker Justice Bertley Adkins

2019 Pikeville Panthers 41 44 45 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 60 62 65 67 68 71 72 74 75 76 77 84 85 87 88 9 12 12 10 10 10 9 9 12 9 12 11 9 10 11 10 10 9 11 11

9 10 10 9 10 9 9 12 9 9

Aug 24, 19 Aug 31, 19 Sep 6, 19 Sep 13, 19 Sep 20, 19 Sep 27, 19 Oct 11, 19 Oct 18, 19 Oct 25, 19 Nov 1, 19

Aug 17, 18 Aug 25, 18 Sep 7, 18 Sep 14, 18 Sep 21, 18 Sep 28, 18 Oct 12, 18 Oct 19, 18 Oct 26, 18 Nov 2, 18 Nov 9, 18 Nov 16, 18 Nov 23, 18 Nov 30, 18

away home home home away home away away home home home home home at Kroger Field

Bardstown Mingo Central, WV Paintsville Raceland Belfry Lawrence County Phelps Hazard Jenkins Ridgeview, VA

home at Pikeville away home away away home away away home

2019 Pikeville Schedule

Holy Cross Lexington Christian Paintsville Belfry Point Pleasant, WV Hazard Phelps Grundy, VA Tolsia, WV Pineville Lynn Camp Williamsburg Raceland Beechwood

2018 Pikeville Schedule

6:00 8:15 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30 7:30

PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM

(W)46-0 (W)50-7 (W)36-13 (L)21-36 (L)34-41 (W)33-27 (W)47-0 (W)47-8 (W)48-8 (W)49-16 (W)55-8 (W)57-16 (W)38-19 (L)20-21

PIKE COUNTY BOWL 2019

83