The Panthers are looking to rebound after a tough State Semifinals loss to the Raceland Rams. The Panthers return pretty much the house from last season excluding a star wide receiver, a couple lineman, and a linebacker. They only lost 7 seniors from 2025 team.  The Panthers 2026 Schedule will look like this. 
 

Aug 21 vs. Christian Academy Louisville
Aug 29 vs. Prestonsburg (Pike County Bowl)
Sep 4 at Raceland
Sep 11 vs. Johnson Central
Sep 18 vs. Belfry
Sep 25 at Powell County
Oct 2 vs. Southwestern
Oct 9 - BYE
Oct 16 at Paintsville (District)
Oct 23 vs. Hazard (District)
Oct 30 at Bracken County

Will 2026 be the Panthers return to the 1A State Championship?

Pikeville will be a tough out in 2026.  That early matchup with Raceland will tell us a lot about Class 1A. 

And, of course, there will be a round 2 of that match-up about 9 weeks later. 

Should be fun to see what changes from the first match-up to the second. 

Edited January 13Jan 13 by Ram

Panthers have picked up Connor Holbrook from hazard. Kid is a stud. I think Panthers will be in the drivers seat this year in 1A. 

On 3/28/2026 at 6:05 PM, DearToday said:

Panthers have picked up Connor Holbrook from hazard. Kid is a stud. I think Panthers will be in the drivers seat this year in 1A. 

Cool.  Did his dad get a new job with a mining company in Pikeville, or something? 

On 1/10/2026 at 3:27 PM, Bac2369 said:

The Panthers are looking to rebound after a tough State Semifinals loss to the Raceland Rams. The Panthers return pretty much the house from last season excluding a star wide receiver, a couple lineman, and a linebacker. They only lost 7 seniors from 2025 team.  The Panthers 2026 Schedule will look like this. 
 

Aug 21 vs. Christian Academy Louisville
Aug 28 vs. TBD (Pike County Bowl)
Sep 4 at Raceland
Sep 11 vs. Johnson Central
Sep 18 vs. Belfry
Sep 25 at Powell County
Oct 2 vs. Southwestern
Oct 9 - BYE
Oct 16 at Paintsville (District)
Oct 23 vs. Hazard (District)
Oct 30 at Bracken County

Will 2026 be the Panthers return to the 1A State Championship?

Looks like Pikeville is set to host Prestonsburg in the 2026 Pike County Bowl.

1 hour ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Looks like Pikeville is set to host Prestonsburg in the 2026 Pike County Bowl.

That's the definition of a front loaded schedule.

Bump.