WOW ! This one surprises me. I was pulling for Pikeville but had predicted Beechwood.

Congrats to the Pikeville Panthers Players, Coaches, fans - families !! :thumb: :thumb:

Now, Belfry and Johnson Central win and it'll be a great 2015 season for the mountains! Congrats Pikeville!!

Well, we still have 7 perfect entries out of 22 in the King of the Carpet contest.

Having watched Beechwood earlier this year and being impressed as I was, I think Pikeville deserves serious Kudos for this win. Impressive!

Congratulations to Pikeville! It was a clean, fair game and the best team won tonight. As always, Pikeville fans were very gracious winners.

 

BTW, the new Hyatt on campus is the BEST place to stay for the game.

Didn't Coach McNamee play on those late 80's Pikeville teams that beat Beechwood in the Semis?

Congrats Pike, too physical!

 

 

I hate this for BW, hang in there Tigers, it is a step closer and BW is always back!

Yes, way to show up strong Pikeville!!!

Great game for both teams, and I hate to see Beechwood lose this one.

The scoring and time details are in the box score linked in post #26, so I will give more of a game summary for this one.

 

Two excellent football teams went toe to toe in this one. You can divide the scoring in this game into three runs. Pikeville won two of them and came away with the trophy.

 

Each team did nothing on their first possessions and punted. Then on their second possession, Pikeville went to work. They moved fairly quickly and easily down field from their own 31 and QB Wyatt Battaile hit Chatlin Jarrell on a perfectly executed 18 yard slant pass for the opening TD of the game. Beechwood again went three and out and Pikeville again scored again on a pass by Battaile, this time from 25 yards out to Cody Charles. That 88 yard drive made it 14-0 and there was still 2:30 left in the first quarter.

 

Beechwood needed to do something fast or this game was going to get ugly, and they did. The offense finally got on track and moved to the red zone from their own 19. But Pikeville got a big play in the end zone when Cody Charles found a ball thrown straight to him. He snagged it for the big TD saving INT and ran it out to the 13. Beechwood's defense came up big and forced a 3 and out. Then each team had a possession where they moved the ball but got stopped on 4th down. Beechwood had the ball back and needed a score bad as the half was coming to an end. All they could muster was one 1st down before being forced to punt. Pikeville had the ball and a 14 point lead and were looking good as halftime neared. Then they tried to sneak one past the Tigers when they ran the same slant pass that scored their first TD. Beechwood sophomore CB Elijah McKenney played great technique and didn't get fooled on a pass all year, and he wasn't about to let it happen in the championship game. He read the play perfectly, jumped the route for a great diving INT at the 49. That was just the play Beechwood needed. Time was short but they moved the ball to scoring position and finally got on the board when QB Kyle Fieger hit Mr. Everything Brett Slusher on a 4 yard TD catch with just 5 seconds to go in the half. That got us to our halftime score of 14 - 7 in favor of Pikeville.

 

Beechwood received the second half kickoff and now it was their turn to go on a scoring run. The Tigers started mixing in runs by Slusher from the Wildcat formation and 4 minutes into the half they tied the game on a 1 yard run by Slusher. It looked like Beechwood was taking control of the game. Pikeville had done nothing on their last three possessions and now needed to make something happen. Beechwood's defense was pumped up with the game tied and forced another 3 and out, the key play being a QB sack by Slusher. The Tigers started their next drive at their own 23 and methodically moved the ball toward the end zone, mixing runs and passes with a heavy dose of Slusher in the Wildcat. Pikeville made them work for it but the Tigers were getting push up front and getting the first downs they needed one by one. With 59 seconds to go in the 3rd quarter, Slusher scored on a 3 yard run and the Tigers had their first lead of the game at 21-14. That was 21 straight points for the Tigers and Beechwood fans now felt they had this game in control. Pikeville started their next drive at their own 29 and it looked like Beechwood was going to stuff them again. Then on 3rd and 6, the play of the game happened. Blake Charles ran a short out to the flat from his fullback position and Battaile found him near the sideline. Beechwood missed one tackle then another and Charles was off. Slusher ran him down, catching him up to him inside the five and tried to punch the ball out as he tackled Charles. Charles held tight and fell just over the goal line for the 67 yard scoring pass on the last play of the third quarter. The 21 point scoring run for Beechwood was over and now it was the beginning of the third scoring run of the game.

 

On Beechwood's next possession, they tried to strike back quickly at Pikeville with a trick play on 3rd and 1 from the Wildcat formation with Slusher at QB. With QB Fieger lined up as a WR, as he had done all game from the Wildcat, Slusher pitched the ball to Beechwood's freshman standout Logan Castleman and he then threw a long pass to Fieger. Pikeville was too well coached and disciplined to let the play succeed and broke the attempt up. Sitting at their own 38, Beechwood didn't dare to go for it on 4th down in a tie game and punted the ball away. Then it became Daric Pugh time. The Tigers had done a pretty good job containing Pugh to this point, but you can only contain a back like Pugh so long. Just a few plays into the Pikeville drive, Pugh powered over the right side of his line and rumbled, then sped into the end zone for the 54 yard go ahead score. With 8:57 to go, Pikeville now had the lead. Just three minutes earlier it looked like Beechwood was on their way to title #12. Now the Tigers were running out of time and needed a score. A good return by Slusher got the ball to the 49 to start the drive but the Tigers committed a penalty that put them in a first and 15 hole that they could not get out of. Their 4th down pass attempt was incomplete and Pikeville had the ball again at their own 36. Beechwood's defense had to stop this drive but they could not get it done. Fullback Blake Charles converted on a 4th and 1 run at the Beechwood 30. On the very next play, Pikeville ran the same play to Charles and he ran it in from 29 yards out, making it 35-21 with just 3:26 to go.

 

Now Beechwood was in the two minute offense and needed to score fast. Unfortunately, on the first play of the drive they fumbled after a reception and Pikeville had the ball again at the Beechwood 49. If the fumble wasn't the nail in the coffin, the next play hammered that coffin door closed when Pugh again blasted through the line and sprinted in for the 49 yard score. Now it was 42-21 Pikeville and only a miracle much greater than the one Paintsville pulled off against Pikeville earlier in the year could save this game for Beechwood. The Tigers never give up though and they moved quickly down field for a score, Fieger to Aiden Justice from 7 yards out. It was 42-28 with just 1:39 to go. Everyone knew what was next - the onsides kick. The Tigers executed the try pretty well and the bouncing ball was knocked loose from Pikevlle but went out of bounds before a Tiger could fall on it. With no timeouts left for Beechwood, this game was over.

 

Pikeville 42 Beechwod 28

Congrats to Pikeville.

 

I would agree once Beechwood took the lead I thought this one was over. Hats off to Pikeville for not folding. True Champions don't fold they just keep playing.

Pikeville owned the 1st quarter.. Beechwood tightened up in the 2nd qtr and started getting some stops and eventually got a late score to cut the lead in 1/2, but, it was a pretty even quarter.. The Tigers got the better of the Panthers in the 3rd qtr and if not for the late tying Pikeville score, would have been a Tiger dominated qtr. The 4th qtr, the Panthers made the plays they needed to retake control of the game. You could give the Tigers the 2nd and 3rd qtrs. and give the Panthers the 1st and 4th qtrs.. Overall, the more physical team got the win and while Beechwood was known for it's balance, Pikeville held it's own thru the air while dominating in the running game.. A really good HS football game to watch..

So what's next for Beechwood?

 

Rebuild. The Tigers lose a lot

 

I am interested to see what Beechwood returns.

 

Do they really lose a lot? I would say they lost more talent (in quantity) from 2014 to 2015. Losing Brett Slusher will be a huge hit. I don't think he missed a game his entire career. Having to replace a 3.25 year starter at QB will also be an issue but several of the seniors on this 2015 team were backups in 2014 and they performed well in 2015. This 2015 team also has a good number of underclassman playing so its reloading more than rebuilding.

The scoring and time details are in the box score linked in post #26, so I will give more of a game summary for this one.

 

Two excellent football teams went toe to toe in this one. You can divide the scoring in this game into three runs. Pikeville won two of them and came away with the trophy.

 

Each team did nothing on their first possessions and punted. Then on their second possession, Pikeville went to work. They moved fairly quickly and easily down field from their own 31 and QB Wyatt Battaile hit Chatlin Jarrell on a perfectly executed 18 yard slant pass for the opening TD of the game. Beechwood again went three and out and Pikeville again scored again on a pass by Battaile, this time from 25 yards out to Cody Charles. That 88 yard drive made it 14-0 and there was still 2:30 left in the first quarter.

 

Beechwood needed to do something fast or this game was going to get ugly, and they did. The offense finally got on track and moved to the red zone from their own 19. But Pikeville got a big play in the end zone when Cody Charles found a ball thrown straight to him. He snagged it for the big TD saving INT and ran it out to the 13. Beechwood's defense came up big and forced a 3 and out. Then each team had a possession where they moved the ball but got stopped on 4th down. Beechwood had the ball back and needed a score bad as the half was coming to an end. All they could muster was one 1st down before being forced to punt. Pikeville had the ball and a 14 point lead and were looking good as halftime neared. Then they tried to sneak one past the Tigers when they ran the same slant pass that scored their first TD. Beechwood sophomore CB Elijah McKenney played great technique and didn't get fooled on a pass all year, and he wasn't about to let it happen in the championship game. He read the play perfectly, jumped the route for a great diving INT at the 49. That was just the play Beechwood needed. Time was short but they moved the ball to scoring position and finally got on the board when QB Kyle Fieger hit Mr. Everything Brett Slusher on a 4 yard TD catch with just 5 seconds to go in the half. That got us to our halftime score of 14 - 7 in favor of Pikeville.

 

Beechwood received the second half kickoff and now it was their turn to go on a scoring run. The Tigers started mixing in runs by Slusher from the Wildcat formation and 4 minutes into the half they tied the game on a 1 yard run by Slusher. It looked like Beechwood was taking control of the game. Pikeville had done nothing on their last three possessions and now needed to make something happen. Beechwood's defense was pumped up with the game tied and forced another 3 and out, the key play being a QB sack by Slusher. The Tigers started their next drive at their own 23 and methodically moved the ball toward the end zone, mixing runs and passes with a heavy dose of Slusher in the Wildcat. Pikeville made them work for it but the Tigers were getting push up front and getting the first downs they needed one by one. With 59 seconds to go in the 3rd quarter, Slusher scored on a 3 yard run and the Tigers had their first lead of the game at 21-14. That was 21 straight points for the Tigers and Beechwood fans now felt they had this game in control. Pikeville started their next drive at their own 29 and it looked like Beechwood was going to stuff them again. Then on 3rd and 6, the play of the game happened. Blake Charles ran a short out to the flat from his fullback position and Battaile found him near the sideline. Beechwood missed one tackle then another and Charles was off. Slusher ran him down, catching him up to him inside the five and tried to punch the ball out as he tackled Charles. Charles held tight and fell just over the goal line for the 67 yard scoring pass on the last play of the third quarter. The 21 point scoring run for Beechwood was over and now it was the beginning of the third scoring run of the game.

 

On Beechwood's next possession, they tried to strike back quickly at Pikeville with a trick play on 3rd and 1 from the Wildcat formation with Slusher at QB. With QB Fieger lined up as a WR, as he had done all game from the Wildcat, Slusher pitched the ball to Beechwood's freshman standout Logan Castleman and he then threw a long pass to Fieger. Pikeville was too well coached and disciplined to let the play succeed and broke the attempt up. Sitting at their own 38, Beechwood didn't dare to go for it on 4th down in a tie game and punted the ball away. Then it became Daric Pugh time. The Tigers had done a pretty good job containing Pugh to this point, but you can only contain a back like Pugh so long. Just a few plays into the Pikeville drive, Pugh powered over the right side of his line and rumbled, then sped into the end zone for the 54 yard go ahead score. With 8:57 to go, Pikeville now had the lead. Just three minutes earlier it looked like Beechwood was on their way to title #12. Now the Tigers were running out of time and needed a score. A good return by Slusher got the ball to the 49 to start the drive but the Tigers committed a penalty that put them in a first and 15 hole that they could not get out of. Their 4th down pass attempt was incomplete and Pikeville had the ball again at their own 36. Beechwood's defense had to stop this drive but they could not get it done. Fullback Blake Charles converted on a 4th and 1 run at the Beechwood 30. On the very next play, Pikeville ran the same play to Charles and he ran it in from 29 yards out, making it 35-21 with just 3:26 to go.

 

Now Beechwood was in the two minute offense and needed to score fast. Unfortunately, on the first play of the drive they fumbled after a reception and Pikeville had the ball again at the Beechwood 49. If the fumble wasn't the nail in the coffin, the next play hammered that coffin door closed when Pugh again blasted through the line and sprinted in for the 49 yard score. Now it was 42-21 Pikeville and only a miracle much greater than the one Paintsville pulled off against Pikeville earlier in the year could save this game for Beechwood. The Tigers never give up though and they moved quickly down field for a score, Fieger to Aiden Justice from 7 yards out. It was 42-28 with just 1:39 to go. Everyone knew what was next - the onsides kick. The Tigers executed the try pretty well and the bouncing ball was knocked loose from Pikevlle but went out of bounds before a Tiger could fall on it. With no timeouts left for Beechwood, this game was over.

 

Pikeville 42 Beechwod 28

Great summary.....thought the first half great interception and momentum changer was by Castleman and was caused by Pikeville getting a little greedy when the logical play was to give it to Pugh and let the half end 14-0. Hats off to BW staff for having the boys prepared for this and for #32 making a GREAT play.

BW was overpowered by Pikeville's line play most of the night. Pugh is tougher and faster than I imagined. BW forced into one dimensional game which was predictably tough. Pikeville's pass defense was as tough as anticipated and forced BW into a non-vertical game.

 

Pikeville was the real deal and a worthy State Champion. Stringer would have made a huge difference!

Not an excuse, but does anyone else feel something is wrong with television controlling the momentum of a high school championship game? This game's flow was impacted for both teams. IMO KHSAA needs to re-visit. No programs for the fans is another slight that should not exist in a State Championship experience. I guess I am a curmudgeon!