Final.

 

 

Enjoyed watching this one. Pikeville has a nice team. I have read about, heard about, and watched bits and pieces of their success over the years but this was the first time I had the opportunity to see them play in person. With Boyd, about the strides the program has made under Evan Ferguson and I believe under him they will tend to grow. I think this was great game for them to prepare for the playoffs. 

Pikeville looked like they were going away with this as they got a score on their first drive, a quick stop and then another score to go up 14-0. The rest of the first half had Boyd on the defensive in a lot of ways. Although they moved the ball well at times Pikeville made a couple deep runs, including one to get into Boyd County territory where they missed a field goal. Boyd started to get momentum before the end of the first half, but Pikeville would stop them going into the first half up 14-0.

The second half was wild. Boyd opened up with the kick return and Rhett Holbrook ran back his second kickoff return for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-7. Pikeville bounced right back with a big run from Brenden Anthony and went up 21-7. The two teams exchanged scores back and forth, with Boyd's passing game shining and Pikeville's run game looking powerful. I felt like the momentum shifted in Boyd's direction when Pikeville would go up 34-21 and miss the PAT. If Boyd get stop, that could have been a game changer. But after a short drive to midfield, Boyd would try a direct snap play, the snap was fumbled and Pikeville recovered. Issac Duty would make an impressive play off play action the next play. After evading a Boyd County tackler, he would roll out to the right side under heavy pressure, make an off balance throw deep to Bradyn Hall who would go in for the touchdown to put Pikeville ahead 40-21. The teams would trade touchdowns before Pikeville would run out the clock and win 47-35.

This game was good for both teams. Hats off to Pikeville. It was a treat, seeing them in person for the first time. Really liked how Brenden Anthony ran. He had a huge game and I don't have totals of his at this time but he broke a couple of long runs and I don't think it's unrealistic to say he was in the range of 200 yards rushing. Also liked Pikeville's line - they looked like a basketball team. Had great height and were explosive off the ball. That #64, Caden Thacker, I thought especially was a load to handle and made some great blocks. I'm sure Pikeville will be looking to tool the passing defense over the next week to put them in a position to make another deep run at state championship.

Rhett Holbrook would finish 23/32 with 291 yards and 3 touchdowns along with 81 rushing yards for Boyd while Cole Hicks would snag 11 receptions for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns. I'm not sure if Hicks' number of receptions was a Boyd County record or not. My only comparison is Ashland.  For a long time the record was 9 until Ricky Padron would snag down 11 receptions in his first game as a Tomcat in 2021. Hicks' numbers were astounding and I'm sure Boyd will be a tough out in the playoffs despite having to go on the road to a very good Covington Catholic team that can run the ball. This experience against Pikeville could provide the opportunity to make the needed adjustments against the run (Covington Catholic has two guys that will likely finish the season with 1,000 rushing yards, one is already there) to be competitive in that game. Boyd is 5-5 and unfortunately there are no asterisks for playing in a highly competitive district with three of 4A's top 10 and one that is in the top 5, but they are strong 4 seed. To show how much this district has improved with the addition of Ashland, Johnson Central, and a much-improved Greenup County squad go look back at Boyd's district from 2022. If they were in that same district they would be walking away with another district title.

Should be an exciting state tournament! All the best to both teams.

Boyd Co.'s passing game was for real last night. Pikeville had a tough time defending the pass, and QB Holbrook did a great job avoiding the pass rush, especially in the 2nd half. Prior to the game, I felt Boyd Co. was a much better team than last season's version, and they proved it. Kudos to the Lions for playing a very competitive game, and congrats to the Panthers on the win.