LEXINGTON — Pikeville's Brendan Anthony accounted for all three touchdowns and the defense made key defensive stops, as the Panthers defeated the Raceland Rams 21-0 in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Class A state championship game at Kroger Field.
The win made it Pikeville's third-straight and eighth overall.
Anthony earned game MVP honors behind 25 carries for 237 yards and two long rushing scores. The junior running back threw a halfback pass to teammate Bradyn Hall for a 26-yard to cap off the title win.
Anthony also led the Panthers on defense with 10 tackles — 8 of those being solo — and had a sack. Freshman Jeremiah Anderson recorded 2 sacks and 6 solo tackles and Jayden Justice racked up 3.5 sacks to go along with his 5 solo tackles.
The two teams met in Pikeville on Sept. 8 in a big regular season rematch of last year's state championship game. The game turned into a defensive battle, with Raceland pulling off a key goal line stand to leave the Eastern Kentucky mountains with a 7-6 win.
Similar to the last game, Pikeville struck first on their opening drive. As Anthony found a hole and streaked 58-yards for the game's first points. Keyton Looney added the extra point and the Panthers led 7-0.
Raceland (11-4) pieced together a long, time-consuming drive. Quarterback Logan Lundy threw a swing pass to Noah Wallace for 20 yards on the first play of the drive. Then later Lundy hit a crossing Parker Fannin for a 10-yard gain on fourth-and-seven to extend the drive to the Pikeville 14.
But the Panthers defense would foil Raceland's scoring chance, as defensive back Sam Wright intercepted a double-pass from Jonah Arnett in the end zone with 4:01 left in the opening quarter.
Pikeville (12-2) would struggle for the rest of the half on offense, running just 10 plays for 16 yards after Anthony's scoring run.
The Rams would get inside the red zone again during the second quarter with another long drive. A bad snap would lose 13 yards on first down, putting Raceland back at the Pikeville 35. Lundy would scramble for 17 yards on the next two plays to set the Rams up with fourth-and-six.
But Lundy's fourth down pass would be tipped at the line of scrimmage and fall short of his receiver. The stop would leave the score at 7-0 at the half.
Lundy completed 13 of 21 passes for 101 yards. The senior quarter back also carried the ball 18 times for 25 yards. Wallace was held to 54 yards rushing, but had three catches for 36 yards. Receiver Bryson Rowsey caught a game-high four balls for 36 yards.
In the third, the Rams would great field position at Pikeville's 40 following a short punt. Wallace would move them closer with seven yards on a punishing third down run to put Raceland at the 29. But the drive would stall out, as Lundy would be sacked on fourth down and give the ball back to Pikeville.
On the ensuing play, Anthony would take a hand off, bounce outside to his left, and burst his way down the sideline with a 61-yard touchdown run. Looney's point after would make it 14-0 with 1:56 remaining in the third frame.
Raceland would start their first drive of the fourth from their own 5 and put together another long drive. Lundy would complete passes to three different receivers on the drive, including a critical 12-yard gainer to Wallace on fourth down to put the Rams at the Pikeville 27.
But two plays later, Pikeville would come up with a fumble recovery at the 18 with 5:48 remaining in the game.
Pikeville would use eight-straight run plays from Anthony before he would throw his touchdown pass to Hall to seal the 21-0 win.
Raceland's defense was headed by senior Jaxson Heighton, who recorded 7 tackles and an assist. Wallace registered 5 tackles and Linden Sammons had 4.
Raceland 0 0 0 0 = 0
Pikeville 7 0 7 7 = 21
First Quarter
Pike — Brendan Anthony 58 run (Keyton Looney kick), 9:26.
Third Quarter
Pike — Brendan Anthony 61 run (Keyton Looney kick), 1:56.
Fourth Quarter
Pike — Bradyn Hall 26 pass from Brendan Anthony (Keyton Looney kick), 1:45.
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Race Pike
First downs 13 11
Rushes-yards 38-76 30-244
Passing yards 101 37
Total yards 177 281
Cmp-Att-Int 13-22-2 3-8-0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-81 7-97
Punts-average 3-37.3 5-34.4
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Individual Leaders
RUSHING–Raceland: Logan Lundy 18-25, Noah Wallace 15-41, Issac Browning 5-10; Pikeville: Brenden Anthony 25-237 2-TD, Issac Duty 3-minus 4, Tayvian Boykins 2-11.
PASSING–Raceland: Logan Lundy 13-21-1-101, Jonah Arnett 0-1-1-0; Pikeville: Issac Duty 2-7-0-11, Brendan Anthony 1-1-0-26 TD.
RECEIVING–Raceland: Bryson Rowsey 4-36, Noah Wallace 3-36, Parker Ison 1-3, Parker Fannin 3-21, Jonah Arnett 1-6, Cameron Bell 1-minus 1; Pikeville: Jeb Wilkerson 2-11, Bradyn Hall 1-26 TD.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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